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To cheap condenser or not to cheap condenser: That is the question
Having been a long-time user of the 414, the famed C12, and the C3000, I was excited when the Perception 200 showed up on my doorstep. I had heard through the grapevine that, due to its ability to handle enormous SPL, the Perception 200 was a good all-purpose mie on pretty much everything from snare to vocals. Nevertheless, I'm a bit wary of mies in this price range, so I didn't have huge expectations coming in. Maybe the Perception 200 would prove that perfectly good condensers exist for less than a mortgage payment? Maybe it would simply reinforce the opposite opinion. There was only one way to find out. . . .
OVERVIEW
Housed inside an all-metal body with a I", gold-sputtered, large diaphragm true condenser capsule, the Perception 200 is essentially the same as its kid brother, the Perception 100, save for the addition of a bass cut filter (which rolls off at 12dB from 300Hz down) and a 1OdB pad. The Perception 200 is fixed in a cardioid pattern, and handles an SPL of 145dB with the pad on (135dB with the pad off).
As with all AKG mies,...