AKG mics have always been part of the furniture in the best professional studios but that Austrian quality doesn’t come cheap and to own a classic workhorse like a C414 is likely to be beyond the budget of all but the most well-heeled home recordist or project studio owner. The less expensive alternatives tend to be mics made in the far East and there are shed loads of those available these days including, as it happens, a range from AKG. Fully aware of the market demand, the company have come up with their own budget Perception range – designed and engineered in Vienna just like the top of the range mics but manufactured in China to keep the costs down.