The Clips

Apex 205 (guitar only)
Apex 205 (w/ drum loop)
Shure SM57 (guitar only)
Shure SM57 (w/ drum loop

In vain self-promotion and fear of copyright law I jammed on my own song, 58008, for the clips. The shootout is hardly scientific. Someone smart taught me this so keep it under your hat. I knew I would prefer the Apex so I placed the Shure first. I turned on my amp, no guitar yet attached, pulled on my headphones, set the amp gain to max, and found the spot with the most hiss. I did the same for the Apex.

The Story

My Studio Projects B1 was not giving me the distorted guitar sound I wanted. I didn’t want to use plugins; I wanted my amp’s sound. After a lot of research and egging on by colleagues, I broke down and bought a Shure SM57.

I hated it immediately. I’d call it coarse, squashed and bitey and lots of stupid words no one understands, but basically it didn’t sound like my amp no matter where I put it.

I read and read and read and everyone seemed to favor the Royer R121 on guitar cabinets. The problem? The thing is about $1200. I started to hear about the various folks selling cheaper ribbon mics like Cascade and Shinybox, and the budget bin Chinese ribbon mics from T-Bone, Nady and Apex. As far as I hear tell, certain models from the last three are exactly the same thing with different badges on the front. I found the Apex 205 to be the lowest priced bang for buck (same price as the 57), so I ordered one.

Recommended Listening for those of you without a DAW

1. Download Audacity
2. Go to Project->Import Audio, select the two (or more) files you want to compare.
3. Hold the Shift key and click on the solo button on one of the tracks. This will isolate the track, so when you Shift-click Solo on the other track, you won’t have both playing.
4. Listen! Go back and forth, compare the two and see which one you prefer.

The Apex 205 has great transient response. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. You can capture all the dynamics of a great guitar player, but this can easily lead to clipping if you’re not careful with the levels. If you’re doing fancy garbage jazz on the clean channel like I like to do, you had better run the gain lower.

Both of these mics require a lot of amplification. I practically cranked my M-Audio DMP3 (which says it has 66dB of gain) to get a decent level. Neither mic requires phantom power. You can always do the opposite and crank the gain on the amp, but I have roommates and neighbors in the way of that.

The Shure is fine for what it is. Many folks recommend it to be used in conjunction with a condenser mic (placed further back) for studio use. I tried this with my B1 and was not really happy. To tell the truth, the Apex and Shure sound great together. One thing you may have to do, if you are a lazy idiot and do not understand phase relationships, (like me) is to phase correct the recordings. Open up the ‘guitar only’ clips in your recording program, and zoom as far in as you can, but not so far that you can’t see the waves. One of them will be slightly ahead of the other. If both the clips are panned center (or you’re listening to mono), it will sound like garbage - no high end, lots of bass. Now that you’re zoomed in, take the move tool (or whatever shifts the audio in time) and move one wave so that it matches up with the other. Listen again. Sounds great, huh? Now adjust the levels until you think it’s best.

Shure vs. Apex: The last word

The decision is yours! In my opinion, if you want a mic that you can throw at a guitarist, get the SM57. You can step on it, leave it in the middle of the floor, step on it all the time, use it live, record a fart, whatever. The Apex, despite its low price, is still first and foremost a fragile studio mic. Apex recommends you store it standing upright in its bag or box, never blow into it, shake it, or hit it. Avoid using phantom power with the Apex - its circuitry protects against the 48v current damaging the ribbon, but make sure 48v phantom power is OFF when attaching the mic to the preamp. You can turn it on once securely connected.

This is pretty caustic, so if you like this mic, you should probably skip it.

The Naiant is an omnidirectional condenser meant to run off anything 9v to 48v. I was considering lots of mics but this was on sale as it was being discontinued. It was hailed as a ‘bang for buck’ mic but I really should have listened closer to the sample recordings. At ~$25, you get what you pay for. I foolishly bought a stereo ‘matched’ pair. Wasn’t a whole lot of use. Combined sound with my large diaphragm condenser was almost palatable, but putting the two Naiants together wasn’t a noticeable improvement on using one by itself.

They were convenient, small (about 3 inches high, most of the mic was the Neutrik XLR jack) and received in a padded envelope, so I’m certain I overpaid for shipping. They’ll only fit into the spring-loaded ‘butterfly’ type mic clip, which I had to buy elsewhere, as Naiant wanted something like $5-9 each. Probably a decent ‘first mic’ for someone with no experience, or something to play around with. Despite claims of flat frequency response (yeah right) the low end is non-existent, except (oddly) sub 100hz. I’d say scooped mids if the mids extended down to 200hz. Very tinny, empty sound for an acoustic guitar.

Should’ve cashed in on the 7 day money back guarantee but I was too optimistic. BTW I hear this is essentially one of those ‘build your own mic’ features you’d see in a DIY audio magazine, just a tad improved. I’m awful at craftsmanship so I’d never give it a try. There is a new series out now that promises the ’same great sound’ with lower noise, but noise wasn’t really an issue for me. Save your money for a brand name if you want an honest sound - I’m done buying cheap mics.

I did a sample recording of me sloppily playing my Seagull Folk guitar, one take playing rhythm, one playing lead, each in stereo. You can listen here (right-click to download, 192kbps MP3, 3.1 MB )

What’s wrong with a USB mic?

They have their purpose, but they’re very limited, and I don’t recommend them at all for musicians. The biggest problem is the lack of one my favorite things: cable. The USB mic is a microphone, a preamp, and an analog/digital converter in one device. Sounds convenient, but the trouble is:

Want to use your mic with another interface? Want to plug it into your amp, use it in a live setting or hook it up to a 4 track? Want to record in stereo? Multitrack? Want to use the included preamp and A/D interface with another microphone or connect a guitar, bass or keyboard directly? What happens if one part of the device fails? Tough Luck. They’re great for teleconferencing, voiceover recording, but music? Not so much.

What’s wrong with an audio interface?

Not a lot, it has the same “all-in-one” issues as USB mics - you can’t usually bypass the preamps, though you can turn them down low if you want to try something else up front. The one thing that seems to dog interfaces, though this is very rare, maybe less than 5% (don’t quote me on that), is drivers. This is why I like my stuff split up. Every once in a while, someone will have a heck of a time just getting the device to work properly with their computer. I have personally sent something back I spent an entire weekend fiddling with. This is no strike against interfaces in particular, the same issues tend to come up with PCI or PCMCIA cards. Then of course, you can always just jack your preamp into another card instead of having to send the whole kit back.

Again, there are few rules, just opinions. Some like having their gear split up, some like having it all in one box. Guitarists are always arguing over having one big multi-effects device or many separate stompboxes. It’s whatever you like best!

Read the specs - for your sake!

Never ever go by the product’s name alone. The M-Audio 410 has 4 inputs, but one is MIDI and the other is SPDIF. It’s freaking lame, but that’s how stuff gets sold. Don’t be a sucker! Read the specifications carefully - it may have 4 analog inputs, but only 2 preamps. Not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you have a spare stereo pre. Buying a condenser mic that needs 48v phantom power? Make sure your preamp comes with it!