BLUE MICROPHONES SPARK

Beauty is in the ear of the beholder

FOR: Smoking tones in an attractive package. If you could fall in love with a mic based on appearances alone, get ready to elope with Spark—and it sounds just as good as it looks. In tracking guitars and vocals, we got the feeling that this cardioid condenser mic would sound great no matter what we put in front of it. Inserting the Focus button allows you to roll off some low end in a very musical way. The wooden box, pop screen and shock mount only make the whole experience that much more enjoyable.

NOT FOR: Lo-fi loyalists.