the other day at work I was bored and browsing the Thomann website (big European musical instrument supplier).

I idly purchased their T-Bone MM1 measurement microphone. T-Bone is Thomann's own brand, kind of like the Woolworths of the recording world.

I'd always wanted to try a measurement mic: they are among the cheapest mics available, and they are generally not considered suitable for music, being supposedly cold and clinical and super-harsh sounding. They are designed to be used for 'measuring' - sound fields, noise pollution etc. I always suspected that they were looked down on largely due to audiophlle recording-engineer snobbery.

Well it arrived today. It's £30 very well spent. Blow me if it isn't highly detailed, rich, transparent, with a smooth top end, and far from cheap sounding. Haven't tried it on acoustic instruments yet (only vocals) but I imagine it'd work very well. It's a condenser, so it needs phantom power (which most music soundcards/mic preamps provide). I'm definitely getting another, so I can do proper stereo recordings. It also looks very cool in a 1970s-idea-of-the-future kind of way.