Sony C-800
A tube condenser that traces its capsule straight back to Sony's first serious microphone, and that engineers keep reaching for on sax and piano.
Overview
The C-800 keeps the mechanical polar-pattern switching and the capsule lineage of the original C-37A. Its sibling went with an electrically switched dual-diaphragm arrangement instead. Engineer Tom Jung, quoted in EQ (March 1994, p.28), prefers the C-37A over the C-38/C-800G because of the mechanical pattern switching and because it sounds more natural to him. He extends that to the C-800, which he describes as a new version with the same capsule and a low, digitally compatible noise floor. He calls it his all-time favorite saxophone mic and uses it on vocals as well.
The C-37A it descends from was Sony's first condenser, built around 1955, rugged and aimed at broadcast work. Owners of that original describe a very flat response with low distortion and an interesting midrange quality. They also describe a noisy, low-output mic that demands you keep the source on-axis. The C-800's job was to keep the character and fix the noise. Jung found the C-37A too noisy once digital arrived, and he still reaches for the C-800.
The capsule is a hand-selected 6AU6A vacuum tube design, according to Mix (May 1996, p.69), which noted the mic's 150 dB maximum SPL and dynamic range of more than 126 dB. That means it handles a loud source and keeps quiet detail above its own noise floor, which the original C-37A couldn't do.
The C-800 is transparent rather than flattering. Roger Nichols, writing in EQ about hearing the prototypes after the AES show, described the Sony tube mics as very transparent, picking out the detail in a piano's sound, the nuances in the harp resonance, the ambience in the instrument itself. Mix (May 1996, p.69) notes the engineers at DMP Records reaching for it routinely, and it appears in the gear lists of working engineers and facilities throughout the 1990s.
If you're hunting one, the C-800 and the C-800G are not the same microphone, and the prices are not the same either. Nichols, writing in EQ, reported the C-800 at $4,400 and the C-800G at $5,600 at the time of the AES show. The mechanical pattern switch is the tell.
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