the t.bone EM 800 Stereo Set

I'd been looking for a replacement lectern / pulpit mic for my church for some time, struggling to find a small diaphragm for the right price with a tight pattern. The Samson C02 came close, but it was a little wide and didn't have the same presence as the old mic. I thought I might as well have a punt on a t.bone as the spec was promising and the price was right.

I was not disappointed. The EM-800 has a very similar sound to the mic it replaced and a nice tight pattern for high gain before feedback (we worship in a 200 year old building that isn't about to change). Into the bargain it has respectably low self-noise and high sensitivity.

The only very slight negative was the two MICs in the box were not matched - differing by 1-2dB between 10-12kHz, which didn't matter for me.

Amazing quality for such an incredible low price. I cant believe you get them that cheap. I am just afraid somebody gets payed badly for his work. Sounds precise and clear, perhaps a bit rough, but not in a negative way. I would like to take them with me in the field, using for simple but precise recordings, under rough conditions without having to worry. Or just trying them out as an alternative when disliking the flavour of another mic on a certain instrument.
Unusual low self noise for such a cheap mic! At least the pair I got. Sound characteristics: I subjectively almost would like to compare with the dynamic mic sm 47. Even it may sound stupid, I dare, because I tried those a little out beside each other, along with others. But sorry, I dont´t believe you they are super cardioid, no other side rejection than cardioids, even if you think they look like due to the side openings of the grill, sorry they are not, I really tried it out, they are just cardioid, and thats giving them one star less, because the discriptione says something else . The shock mount is crappy and difficult to use but hey, look at it as a bonus due to the crazy low price of these good mics, they are better with than without.

I've been looking for a decent mic and not so expensive to start recording different sounds sources than musical instruments and get samples from it, for example singing bowls, minor percussion, grains on surfaces, etc.

I have to say that the microphones are quite nice with a clear recording and for the price I admit that these is a nice choice, at least if you don't need and excessive amount of clarity.

One thing to keep in mind is when you use it while playing live, I was generating some uncomfortable feedback and is very worrying to play with background feedback and preventing it to get bigger.

The packaging is very good, hard black box ideal to transport and move in luggage, even if you let the box drop to the ground (not recommended) the box and internal protection surely will absorb part or total impact.

One thing to keep in mind is noise or static generated when you touch the microphones, when they are connected to the sound card with you can hear a tiny noise in the background and when you stop touching it disappears, this is normal static around any electrical devices, but just keep in mind to be aware of it and avoid any background noise in your recording unless you want it for experimental reasons.

In general terms if you don't have much budget and want a decent pair of microphones I would strongly advise to buy these couple.