Mojave Audio

What makes Mojave different?  A Mojave microphone’s journey begins and ends in Burbank, CA. US made Jensen transformers and NOS (new old stock) tubes are shipped offshore and mated to capsules and bodies, according to David Royer‘s design specifications, at a highly respected factory that David has worked with for over 15 years. All Mojave microphones are constructed with respect to David’s unprecedented research and attention to electronic design and quality. After assembly, they are shipped back to Burbank for extensive QC inspections. Prior to packaging, every mic is burned in for 24 hours, tested and personally listened to by David.

Very few companies (and none in Mojave’s price range) invest so much in the audio components. The high-quality Jensen transformers alone cost more than many import mics. The NOS tubes are military spec. The FET’s are top quality and the resistors are custom made. At Mojave, it’s a given that no sacrifices are made in the critical signal path electronics.

This hybrid of domestic and overseas manufacturing allows Mojave Audio to make superb microphones that are affordable without compromise.

David Royer is one of an elite group of microphone designers who know that music and sound are inseparable from electronic design. Everything David designs come from his deep, lifelong love of music.

David’s focus on sound started in his home, where he grew up absorbing the classical and folk music that his parents played constantly. From an early age, he was transfixed by the orchestral recordings he heard, leading to a love of classical music that continues today. At 21, David decided to create his own recordings and purchased an Ampex 960 tape recorder and a couple of off-the-shelf consumer microphones. Unhappy with his early results, he started experimenting with his microphones and soon began an in-depth, lifelong study of microphone design and electronic theory.

After a four year hitch in the Navy, where he honed his skills in electronics and acoustics as a sonar technician, David started designing his own microphones. He founded a small company called Mojave Audio in his garage in Fullerton CA, where he modified amplifiers and made his own condenser microphones, mic preamps, and compressors. Building gear under the Mojave and DVA labels, he created a number of condenser mics that have become studio staples among a small group of high-end audio engineers. In 1997 David designed his first ribbon microphone, The R-121, which led to the opening of Royer Labs in 1998. In a short period of time, it became a breakthrough ribbon microphone that reintroduced ribbons to engineers around the world. David also designed a number of ribbon “firsts,” including phantom-powered ribbons and tube ribbon mics.