User Reviews of Apex 460 Microphone- All Tube, MultiPattern, Brushed Aluminum, Shock mount & Power Supply Included; Apex 460

I HAD TO GIVE IT ALL 10'S BECAUSE FOR THE MONEY NOTHING COMES CLOSE...I COMPARED THIS THE DAY I BOUGHT IT NEXT TO A T-3 C-1 ALONG WITH SOME SE PRODUCTS...THEY HAVE TOO MUCH POPPY AIR PRESSURE...THE SPL HANDLING WAS NOT GOOD...AS SOON AS I HOOKED THIS UP AND SANG MY FACE DROPPED WITH SUPRISE!..UNBELIEVABLE!..BUT I MUST TELL YOU I RAN ALL THE TEST THROUGH A UA-LA610 TUBE PREAMP..NOW MY VOCALS KICK BUTT!..I RAN IT THEN UP AGAINST A T-103..BLEW IT AWAY..I WAS PREPARED TO GET THE HIGHER DOLLAR MIC BUT GLAD I DIDN'T DONT DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE A FULL BLOWN STUDIO DOING IT AS A LIVING...AND EVEN THEN I WOULD STILL NOT BE AFRAID TO PULL ONE OF THESE OUT FOR THE CUSTOMER TO TRY...BRAVO APEX BRAVO!

I have two of these mics. Make a nice stereo pair and can do m s with variable pattern. Omni is not perfect but good. Figure 8 is fantastic. 9 selectable pattern variations allow nice control over how much room noise to be recorded. Sound is lush full and fat. Have used as drum oh, leslie top mic, vox and acc guitar. My only sonic complaint is they have a relatively high noise floor. This apparently can be somewhat remedied by subbing a lower mu tube but at the expense of output. I replaced the 12ax7s with some nos rca and that helped a bit. This all sounds a bit negative but don't get me wrong, these mics sound great and at the price point you really can't go wrong. A number a people have a b'd these against mics costing 3 to ten times the price with some pretty surprising results. One other caveat, these suckers are heavy, make sure you've got decent stands or at least some mini sandbags handy. Overall highly reccommended

This mic was used for the Post Production class I instruct at the conservatory or recording arts and sciences audio school here in Gilbert, AZ. and I was quite surprised at the level of clearity it offered. I use a decca tree mic technique to record our 7 piece brass players. I used 3 apex 460 and it had a nice bright sound and a more stereo 3 D open sound to it. I usually set up 3 neimann U-87s to do the job but it just sounded a little darker and not as open as the 460. And as for the price and value of this mic... I was obviously shocked and very well pleased .... I am going to add these mics to my collection... I can already see them being used as great stereo over heads for drums, keys, guitar, and even vocals. A good mic to have in your stock.