The AKG Perception 820 Tube is a microphone that is designed for use in the recording studio.  I wouldn't recommend using this outside the studio at all since it is a tube mic and isn't made for any sort of wear and tear.   This is a fragile microphone that should be treated well.  The mic has three set polar pick up patterns including cardioid, omnidirectional, and figure eight.  It also has six different pick up patterns that fall between each of this, which is very cool because it gives you something to experiment with.  The 820 comes with a power supply and a special cable to hook up to it.


OVERALL OPINION

I haven't used the AKG Perception 820 Tube all that much, but I've used it a number of times in different situations and I can confidently say that this is a very good microphone.  While this doesn't have the same warmth that a Neumann tube microphone or other high end tube mic will have, it still has a very warm sound and is good for a number of different applications.  The first thing that I used the Perception 820 for was a grand acoustic piano.  I used a pair of them to get a stereo picture of an acoustic piano and found that this microphone did a great job of doing this.  I could hear everything quite clearly while at the same time there was a thick and warm feeling to it.  The next time that I used the AKG Perception 820 Tube was for an acoustic guitar and then I used it one other time for vocals and I was definitely happy with the overall sounds that I was getting.  I love having so many different pick up patterns as it makes the microphone extremely versatile.  The price of this microphone is definitely reasonable for a tube microphone of this quality and in my opinion is a very good deal for a home studio owner looking to get a very nice sounding tube microphone at a budget price.  The AKG Perception 820 Tube is the perfect in between tube microphone for those who can't afford a great deal of money but still want a very useful and versatile tube microphone.