Out of the box, this mic feels surprisingly light, which was slightly disconcerting, but so far this has not posed any problems. All the switches are affirmative and secured correctly. So overall, no complaints. Seems to be solid.
Mainly I'm using this mic to record handheld percussion and acoustic guitars so far. It seems to me to give a very forward, present sound and works really nicely with some light compression. Noticeably more complimentary than other similar mics I have. (akg c1000 v1)
It also has really good side and rear rejection. This is the biggest bonus for me. Obviously important in untreated rooms, and live use. In the mix, you really hear whether the difference is. I seemingly have more detail apparent, and things sounds more polished before I apply any eq.
So a really nice mic in my drawer. No doubt after more time working with it and comparing to my other mics, I'll find things that it's weaker on and the others might do better. But all in all, a great mic. If you only have room/need/budget for 1 mic for recording. This will do you handsomely.
Now here's my only gripe, and hence the deduction of 1 star overall. I have no use for the 'air' feature. In my application, it just makes everything brittle sounding. I've only tried it on acoustic guitar. Without the air setting, fantastic. With it engaged, to my ears at any rate, it adds nothing I want.
So that said, I would still heartily recommend this mic. For some applications the Air setting must be good, indeed I've heard demos where it seems to add a lovely shimmer. But it's not something I'm using, but this does not put me off at all.
