The Back side of this mic is a little brighter than the front side. Figure of 8 pattern like most ribbon mics.

The Royer R-122 is the world's first phantom powered, active ribbon microphone. Yes, you need to turn phantom power on when you use an R-122! The payback is far more output than you've ever imagined from a ribbon microphone.

More importantly, the R-122's electronics place a perfect impedance load on the ribbon element, greatly expanding the number of preamps that will match up well with the R-122. Before the R-122, all ribbon microphones were passive devices, meaning that they were 15 to 30dB less sensitive than average phantom-powered condenser mics.

In addition, passive ribbon mics depend entirely on the input impedance of the preamp they're mated with to set the proper impedance to the ribbon element. Simply put, even the best ribbon mics can sound mediocre if they're plugged into the wrong mic pre. With the Royer R-122 ribbon mic, gain and impedance issues are a thing of the past.