Sony C-80

The Sony C-80 is a great "modern" sounding microphone that delivers a very clean, high-quality sound that can easily cut through a mix. It is somewhat reminiscent of the legendary, but significantly more expensive Sony C-800-G.

The C-80 has a low self-noise and can handle decently high sound pressure levels. The high-pass filter is a small but nice addition, as it is rather gentle (supposedly at around 70Hz). The one issue with this microphone is the included shockmount, as it is very fragile, and at this price one would expect better.

But the sound of this microphone alone easily surpasses most microphones in this price range and even some that cost more than twice as much.