Well, Dgatwood, the only statement you have made about AKG that I fully agree with is that they are remarkably inconsistent. They have built a huge number of models over the years. Very few are truly great, but some are very good, some are OK, and some really do suck. Of course, they have to be compared at their price point to whatever else is available at the time they are made. Many old timers have great respect for the old C12, and many of those same old timers dislike the reissue. I've never used either one- too rich for my blood.
As far as their dynamic vocal mics having no body, that is one of the areas where they have produced some real winners and some real losers. I am a big fan of D190, D320, D690, D770, and D3800 tripower. I think D770 is one of the most versatile cheap dynamic mics ever made, like an Austrian SM57. D12 and D112 have proven themselves as low frequency standards, and the D112 is a better vocal mic than most people realize.
Among their condensers, C2000B, C451, C535, C414 are all very good mics, especially the C414, which has impressed enough engineers and producers to find it's way onto more Grammy winning tracks than Australia has Dingos.
The Perception series compares well to everybody else's entry-level Chinese condensers, but that's all they are.
The latest crop of AKG dynamics doesn't sound as good to me as the older AKG dynamics, and the price is going up. On the other hand, I bought
my D770's brand new on ebay for $50 each, and my D3800 brand new at Guitar Center for under $100 with the flight case.
My conclusion is that AKG is a *huge* company that produces mics that are winners, and mics that are losers, and the price often has nothing to do with whether they are any good or not. Beats the hell out of me. I'm pretty sure that I have no use for C1000, C3000, D880, D77, D88. C4000 I don't know about. I've never used one, but I've heard mostly good reviews. I suspect that may be one more mic that got lumped in with C3000 and C1000s. The difference between C2000 and C4000, though, is that C4000 is a $500 mic, and has to be compared against some better competition. I bought
my C2000's for $100 each, and I still use them quite often. What the hell?-Richie