I was gigging last night and the sound guy put one of these over my little jazz cocktail kit. I'd previously given up believing that a single overhead could offer any more than general ambience and treble boost, but this baby was a revelation. Not just the cymbals, but also the (small) drums just seemed to expand immensely and capture the real sound of the kit - in a very open way. Hard to explain, but it just felt right and the sound of the kit from hats, to drums and onto swizzle ride and splash all felt 'connected' and controlled.

I WAS thinking of getting some close mic gear for live and recording, but now, I know exactly what I'll be using from now on - one of these!

I have been using the AKG C1000 for a couple of years now and it has never let me down. It's like having a big audio swiss army knife and the best £100 you could ever spend - especially if you are setting up a home recording studio like I have. You want to record an acoustic guitar? No problemski - mike it at the 12th fret about a foot away and hey presto. Get two and have one off axis just to add to the swank factor of the sound quality. Vocals? Fantastic. get a pop shield and go to town on it, sing up close for extra warmth - great for deep voiced crast test wannabes like me! I advise making sure you always have two 9 volt batteries handy for it - one in it for instant use, one backup. The reason for this is the quality you get from using a battery in the C1000 - far superior to using phantom power, in my opinion.

The durability of the mic is also fantastic, be sure to have a shure or two of course, but just be aware that after you have used this hefty, well constructed edifice of a mic, shure mics will feel like they will splinter apart in your meaty fist. Use it anywhere, for anything, and feel secure in the knowledge that if a meteorite hits it will be the last thing standing. Even if you arent!

So in conclusion, get one. Just get one. From high end hobbyist to professional studio, you all need one. Even entry level home enthusiasts will benefit - especially as you can use it for instruments, rooms, vocals.. getting stones out of guitarists hooves. Overall its a big saving over buying several cheaper supposedly specialised mics, and will probably outdo them in most if not all common recording jobs.

This mic is fantastic. If you need a mic to cover pretty much any situation, this is the one. I use it live and for recording and everything so far has sounded great.

For vocals and instruments, this mic wins hands-down. The extra detail a condenser achieves over a dynamic like a '58 is fantastic. It also sounds great in front of a small guitar amp so you don't lose the detail in that clean sound you've spent an hour perfecting!

The accessories make this probably the deal of the year, especially for live use where you need to change the polar pattern or frequency response to eliminate feedback or enhance the precence without using MORE EQ.

All in all, a fantastic buy, especially as you don't need phantom power to run it - always a bonus for recording on location with a minidisc or laptop.