| User Review | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 5 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 |
Overall:  4.5 |  Apex 210 |  Apex 210
The Apex 210 ribbon mic is not only a well constructed, great looking and great sounding mic, it's also one of the most inexpensive and comes in a really nice aluminum flight case. This was one of the first Chinese ribbon mics to be manufactured, and paved the way for all the others that have followed. This is a big, impressive looking mic that weighs several pounds. Being a so called "long ribbon" mic, it has an extended upper frequency profile, and is a tad more detailed than a short ribbon mic like the Cascade Fathead. One unique feature of this mic is a hard wired cable. The cable that came with mine was about 12 feet long. I actually prefer the hard wired cable as it makes connecting the mic a bit easier. One of the neat things about the Apex 210 is that it is easily modified for even better performance. There are high frequency resonator waffle plates inside of the mic that if removed, really open up the sound on both the high and low ends. Detailed directions for doing that can be found on the web. I've owned many of the inexpensive and medium priced ribbon mics, and my modded Apex 210 beats them all. Overall, the Apex 210 is a really great sounding mic and one of the best buys in a ribbon mic that you will ever find. | | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 3 | | Bang for buck | | 4 |
Overall:  3.75 | | great bang for the buck
I am musician who likes the freedom to be able to record on a whim in the studio space at my house. Because I do not do this professionally, price / performance is always a concern of mine when purchacing new gear. I decided that my mic locker could benefit from the edition of a ribbon mic and after reading many posts on this and various other forums, I decided to go with the Apex 210. One of the things that attracted me most to this mic is the ease of modification and the shootout clips against a Coles ribbon. The mic on its own sounded pretty good but things got really exciting when a few simple mods were done. I performed the well documented mods...removed the inner grill, removed the protective windscreen, switched out the transformer and insullated the mic body. I also retensioned the ribbon being that it came with a lot of ribbon sag. Most of the mods are quite easy if you are confident with your solder skills and are not afraid of neat meticulous work. After the mods, I am very happy with the sound of this mic. It works great as overheads on drums and on acoustuc guitar as well. Beaing that this is such a cheap mic to buy, you wont be dissapointed with the results and if you are a diy'er then this is a fun platform to work on with results that are well worth the effort | | |
By
ivmike
on
13th December 2011
| | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 4 | | Features | | 4 | | Bang for buck | | 5 | |
Overall: 4.25 | | Apex 210 review
If you are looking for affordable ribbon mics that will give you professional results (AKA great sounds) look no further than the Apex 210 and it's little brother, the 205.
Drum overheads not warm enough? Drop one or two of these over your kit and suddenly cymbals sound like cymbals and not high-pitched ringing things. You'll find increased warmth in the drums themselves, as well.
Guitar cab too trebly? Throw a 210 in front of it and listen to how great your amp can sound; this is how your guitar should sound.
Storage is an issue (if you are one of those types of people that leaves stuff lying about) as you must store these mics upright (and it's a good idea to cover them to prevent dust).
Outstanding sound, outstanding value. | | | | | | Sound Quality | | 4 | | Ease of use | | 5 | | Features | | 5 | | Bang for buck | | 5 |
Overall:  4.75 | | APEX 210 = Cello Win!
While researching the Royer R121 I stumbled on some threads praising the APEX 205. I stopped by the local L&M and saw the APEX 210 for $150. Not knowing much about it, I bought it on a whim with my wife who is a cellist. We got home, plugged it straight into a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 and crank the pre up to 10. I put some cans on and moved the mic around while listening back. Instantly impressed! What I found most satisfying was how forgiving the mic was regarding placement. It really captured the darker tones of her cello. I did not find the lows boomy, as some noted (Peluso P12 was a nightmare with cello boomy resonances). The highs were soft. The midrange was very smooth. I ended up positioning it about 1 1/2 feet away. The mic picked up a very satisfying amount of the room. I was concerned that the pre wouldnt' be enough and was having thoughts about a cloudlifter, but 10 on the Focusrite ended up being too much for the cello, I drew it back to 7 or 8, so no worries about gain on this baby if you use a prosumer unit, though I'm sure a cloudlifter would give even better results. I added a pair of SDC L and R of the cello about 3 feet away pointed towards the f holes and mixed this in with the APEX 210. The combinate was stellar. As compared to say, an NT1A, the results were much more satisfying. So much so that I ended up not processing the recorded cello at all (well, okay, just a touch of saturation from UBK-1). I also found the APEX 210 more satisfying for recording a dark, emotional cello performance than the AKG 414, which I felt was too clinical and captured too many of those "ugly" noises that sometimes creep out of a cello. I later tried the APEX 210 on my wife's voice and, once again, the results were great. I stuck a pop filter in front of it, and ran it through the Focusrite again. This time the gain was around 9, but there wasn't noticeable noise which made me happy. We tracked a few harmonies for backing vocals on a weird bjork style folk tune and it really nailed it. Sat back in the mix, put an LA2A on the group, then through Slate VCC RC tube and DONE. Most definitely recommended to anyone and everyone. What a pleasant surprise. Good job China!  | | | |
|
Add Review 
