I liked this shot gun mic! It is very solid and feels professional indeed (an entry level, but very, very respectable). I actually was interested in a less expensive shotgun mic at first, but ended up getting Sennheiser MKE 600 and Sony PCM M10 portable recorder. I was able to compare Sennheiser with several other microphones side by side when keeping the gain constant, and I used 2 different recording devices - Sony recorder and Nikon digital camera.Please check my video review on YouTube to listen to Sennheiser MKE 600 mic in comparison with some other mics (Please search for "Microphones compared: Sennheiser MKE 600, Bronstein BRN-900, BRN-400, Sony PCM M10, Nikon D7000" on YouTube or follow the link in the comment below for this review). This test was designed to compare the ability of the microphones to record a distant (or quiet) misic. I intentionally placed the mics fairly far amd compensated by increasing the gain on the Sony recorder, so the noise level relative to signal is higher compared to when speaking directly to mics.Of these microphones, I liked PCM M10 onboard omnidirectional stereo mics for the high sensitivity, very low self noise and fuller, crisper sound (but it records every ambient noise), and I also liked the MKE 600 shotgun that can help isolate the sound that is natural, loud enough and has a relatively low background hiss. I used this Sennheiser mic with both 48V phantom power from a Mackie mixer and 2 AA batteries (required an XLR to 3.5mm adaptor). The performance was comparable (it is supposed to be slightly better with phantom power, according to the specs). It is a real boon to use AA batteries for such a mic, as I can use it with my Sony recorder or plug directly into digital camera. In addition, the mic comes with a nice pouch. Good job Sennheiser!The microphones I was comparing are not in the same price price category, of course, so it may be not a fair comparison. But I was wondering if cheaper mics will do just fine for my purpose or I need a more expensive one. I initially purchased a relatively cheap mic (BRN-200), but ended up returning it, and then I got a Sony personal recorder and also tried more expensive shotgun mics to supress back/side noises and pickup more distant, fainter sounds from the target source. At the time of each purchase (January-March 2014), Sennheiser was sold at Amazon for $330, Sony PCM M10 for $210, BRN-400 for $130, BRN-900 for $70 and BRN-200 for $50. The price for BRN-400 recently dropped nearly 25%, and the price for Sony increased. Although the more expensive microphones (Sennheiser and Sony) performed much better recording low volume sounds, if you would place any of these, even cheaper mics very close to the source and also optimze the gain on the recording device, the quality of captured sound will likely improve. I personally liked PCM M10 onboard omnidirectional stereo mics for the high sensitivity, very low self noise and fuller, crisper sound, and, of course, I also enjoed the MKE 600 shotgun mic. I think the low frequencies, especially for voice recording, appear to be more faithfully rerpoduced by Sennheiser, compared to Sony recorder, so the voice from MKE 600 sounds a little fuller. But the sound is a little crisper when recorded with Sony recorder without a shotgun mic.