While Electro-Harmonix is a well-respected $27 million / yr manufacturer of effects pedals, they do not make their ribbon mic. This is simply a re-branded Oktava ML-52 ribbon mic. Yes, made by that "old school" mic manufacturer in Tula, Russia started in 1927 that predates Neumann by more than a decade.
btw - Foxconn has nothing to do with low tech stuff like microphones.
I've actually been to most of the major microphone manufacturers in China - all of them have individual strengths and blind spots.
oh, btw - Cascade? They simply re-brand and import mics. They do no design work or ribbon work themselves. Broken ribbon? They simply replace the motor rather than re-ribbon it.
And...ribbon sag? Do you know why ribbon sag occurs? Not because the ribbons are not initially installed at proper tension. Nope. Because the ribbon manufacturers don't know about the ribbon installation technique discovered by the BBC during the development of the mic now known as the Coles 4038. There is a a proper way to install a ribbon to avoid ribbon sag - this bit of arcane knowledge can't be "reverse engineered" by looking at a physical design.
oh, btw - the Apex 210 is a dog - very resonant headbasket design, poor ribbon corrugation technique that sags easily and the body is too large to fit any normal shock mount. The Apex 205 is far superior.
So in my book, until I release my own ribbon mics, there are only two excellent value ribbon mics - the $99 Apex 205 "long ribbon" and the $79 Nady RSM-5 "shorter ribbon". Yes, Lundahl transformers and other mods improve them, but they work out of the box if you check for ribbon sag first.
