B1 : Still gets regular use in my home-based studio

This is a good first condenser for the home studio (as it was for me), or as a secondary mic if you've got something else already. I got a lot of use out of it for a few years although now that I have a selection of pricier (and multi-pattern) mics, this usually gets relegated to less-critical duties. That said, I used it for recording a number of very varied singers recently, from young children up to baritone adult males, and was pleasantly surprised at how well the recordings came out.

My only reservation is it can be quite bright sounding, but in practice that's nothing a bit of careful EQ can't sort out.

If you've got the budget, spend more. If not, or you're only dipping your toe into this recording lark, you should still be able to get excellent results with this, and you won't have broken the bank. I've had mine 6 years and it still works perfectly. My 4 star overall rating is in the context of the low cost, and the added pad switch.