Cheap ribbon mic Apex or Nady??

R

RandyW

New member
I'm thinking about trying some ribbon mics. Right now I can't see any reason to invest much for what I'm doing. Probably the most expensive mics in my arsenal are a couple of AT4040s at around $300 a pop.

Just reading a few reviews it looks like APEX and Nady both have a couple offerings in my price range that are suppose to be fair for the price.

I'm looking for something that will cover male vocal and woodwinds are either of these going to be of any use to me? I know they require a lot of gain and have serveral external preamps so that shouldn't be a problem.
 
I've also heard good things about the Shinybox and Cascade, but haven't had the spare cash to try them yet.

What woodwinds are you looking to cover?? I'm looking for something for tenor sax myself...
 
AFAIK, many of the nady and apex ribbons have the same innards-- there's a chinese brand called alctron. The smaller apex ($99?) at Frontendaudio.com was getting good reviews on here when I pulled the trigger on a Nady RSM 4 (exact same mic as the Cascade Fathead, only no Shockmount.)

My band's tenor sax player was recorded with an in-bell condensor, a dynamic, and the Nady on the same take and he really dug the sound of the Nady ribbon.

I don't think that you will notice too much difference between any of the ribbons you're considering. Go with whichever one fits your price range, has a look you dig, and is sold by a company that you respect. Can't go wrong.

Also, I believe I even put some phantom power through to my ribbon, and have not noticed any diminishment in its performance. Could be that they're built tough or that I'm just darn lucky. Or my ears are fried.

Also, do some searches. You'll find out a lot m ore on the topic.

Joe
 
Well you missed Chance's group buy which had the "fathead" style and the "Royer" style ribbons. If you want to wait in the next group buy will be a tube ribbon mic. Just look in the mic threads for "group buy interest". Also I think Musicians Friend has one of these Nady ribbon mics for around $100. You can always send it to Michael Joly for a mod to make it a very nice ribbon mic.
 
TimOBrien said:
I've also heard good things about the Shinybox and Cascade, but haven't had the spare cash to try them yet.

What woodwinds are you looking to cover?? I'm looking for something for tenor sax myself...
Click to expand...


Alto and soprano sax.

I figured if they are the same element I might as well go with the Apex for now.
Thanks for the input guys.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top