I've owned both the apex 210 and the apex 205, and I sold the 210 (the big one) after only a few days of experimentation. Really bad ringing from the grille and/or body resonances, terrible high end, and inferior build quality (to almost every mic I've ever used). The 205 on the other hand, while half the physical size and not as impressive looking, contains exactly the same ribbon element yet is built ten times better (same build concept, just way better put together and much fewer resonances etc), has more high end, is sturdier, and in my opinion is one of the best lead guitar mics on the planet irrelevant of price. Well ok, for $2000 I can do better, but seriously it's a great mic for certain uses, where the 210 needs such major physical rebuilding inside (mods etc) to muffle resonances and open up it's tone that it's just not worth it. And the 205 is half the price, it's as cheap as a used sm57!!
Haven't used any oktavas personally yet but heard great things about the trion 7000 and some others on your list, but for cheap and easy to find I do recommend the 205 for lead guitars and other situations (at least for a queen-esque lead guitar tone that's nice and bright out of the amp).
Cheers,
Don
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harley-OIART  If you ever have the spare time, I am really hoping you can formulate an opinion for me as to which of the low priced ribbons on the market are actually hidden gems. So far a colleauge of mine told me the "large" Apex ribbon is a great find (I think Apex 210), but I am curious to find out which of the cheapies really is the hidden gem. Basically I am looking for the best cheap cheap cheap stop-over on my way to Royer 122V's  |