I got a hold of Royer Labs demo CD at AES and was very impressed. It demonstrates their mics in a variety of situations and you can decide for yourself what aplications you like. It even has a comparison recording of an R-121 and a Coles 4038 on a sax. I'm assuming that the DA7 pres can give you enough gain but they are coming out with a new "active" series that will have more output. The CD is free on their website www.royerlabs.com