Sontronics Apollo

[BeatsB]

APOLLO
Stereo ribbon microphone
Since the launch of our SIGMA ribbon microphone last year, we noticed that many musicians were using it in stereo pair configuration. As a result, we have created the APOLLO, a Blumlein X/Y stereo ribbon microphone, with all the silky smooth characteristics of the SIGMA... times two.
The open basket design allows APOLLO to soak up every nuance of your recording, capturing the whole ambience and resulting in a truly complete sound. If you wish, you can use just one channel of APOLLO for us in mono recordings, making it truly versatile.
APOLLO uses a similar unique shockmount system to SIGMA and this is extremely effective in providing isolation from noise transmitted through the mic stand.
The APOLLO and its special shockmount system are supplied in a luxury, velvet-lined ABS flightcase.
Try APOLLO today... a microphone that hears the way you do!

LINKS
Lifetime warranty
Application guide
APOLLO user guide
Products main page
TECHNICAL DATA
Response: 20Hz - 20kHz
Sensitivity: 18mV/Pa -33dB ±1dB (0dB = 1V/Pa 1,000Hz)
Polar pattern: Blumlein stereo/figure-of-eight
Impedance: ≤150 Ohms
Equivalent noise level: 12dB (A-weighted)
Power source: Phantom power 48V ±4V (x2)
Connector: Six-pin connector to 2x three-pin XLR-M
(cable supplied)

TYPICAL FREQUENCY RESPONSE GRAPH - APOLLO

[Surgegainsboard]

LOOKS NICE

[NorseHorse]

Reviews, anyone?

[pro]

This is looks great for summer...as it can zap Mosquitoes too?

[NorseHorse]

In case you were curious about the size.

That's a Rode NT5, AT40-series, and CAD KBM412 (by special request!).

[bee]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

Reviews, anyone?

[NorseHorse]

Apollo Sontronics in action. My main set-up for this ensemble is a Schoeps stereo mic in blumlein m/s in the middle of the church and a SASS in the very back of the church (the conductor likes a very distant, blended sound). However, I thought the Apollo might work as well, so I used it as my back-up for their most recent show. I was very pleased with the results and would be happy to use just this instead of the other two mics. I will be consulting with the director to see what he thinks.

You can hear the Apollo in blumlein along with some reverb in post. No EQ. The mic is visible in the video.



I will try to post some dry samples of other groups soon.

[NorseHorse]

I would like to give a shout-out to Sontronics for their great customer service.

I had an AC hum in one of the channels in my Apollo, so I sent Sontronics an email. Trevor Coley was sick in bed, but he and Lisa still took the time to listen to the sample I sent and give me some feedback. They suggested it sounded like a grounding problem, which could potentially come from a problem in the Y-cable.

Because of their quick feedback, I was able to fix the cable on my own in time for a very important recording (in which the Apollo is key; see above), and Lisa still sent me a spare Y-cable from England so I won't be caught off guard again.



Do yourself a favor and give 'em a try sometime.

[didier.brest]

Thanks for your choir and piano samples. I should receive my Apollo today.

[mamabuna]

I just want to bump this thread since I find this mic very intriguing. So are any samples on ac. guitar ? I am very curios how this mic works with the ac guitar. On their website Sontronics says that the noise level is -12dB which is quite low especially for a ribbon mic. I had the Woodpecker and it was horrible noise wise. Is sounded more like a LDC mic that a ribbon.

[CAT5]

I have recorded a 12-string with just the apollo some weeks ago. I will try to post some samples soon

[mamabuna]

very curios about this...

[didier.brest]

Originally Posted by mamabuna

On their website Sontronics says that the noise level is -12dB which is quite low especially for a ribbon mic.

This figure is not all relevant with my experience from this microphone: even after removing the hum noise which I encounter at home with this mic (I did not yet use the Apollo elsewhere), it remains 3 to 4 dB noisier than a Schoeps MK21, the self-noise of which is rated at 14 dBA. Just check the noise floor above 10 kHz from both attached piano samples. The proximity of the acoustic screen behind the Apollo may be a drawback for the sound from the Apollo because of its figure-of-eight directivity. For the other comparison with a pair of Beyer M130 in Blumlein just above the Apollo, I removed this screen.

[mamabuna]

thank you for sharing this. I was very curios about that noise level. My experience with ribbon mics was that they were quite noisy for acoustic guitar. The woodpecker was the worst one. I think I am going with the VR1 from SE electronics.
all the best

[mamabuna]

here are same samples with the Voodoo VR1
SE Electronics Voodoo VR1 & VR2 Ribbon Mics

[CAT5]

Here's the 12 string recorded with the apollo. This is a guitar track to supplement other guitar tracks. I just took one of them. No editting, eq or anything. Just normalised it. Room is pretty big but dry with a gobo about 2 mtrs to the left and to the right. Apollo is at about 80 cm from the guitar. 1 track completely left, one complety right.

As you can hear, the apollo is a very silent ribbon. Awesome as a blumlein pair or even in (sort of) MS. Also using 1 of the ribbons sounds pretty good.

[steins]

I have an Apollo which pretty much lives front of my Leslie. Sounds wonderful! Haven't tried it on much else, must find some time to do that...

Stein Tore

[didier.brest]

Another piano track recorded with the Apollo. May be compared with Manley Reference Stereo in XY, Rode Classic II in XY and Blumlein (same processing) here.