I really can't rate it anything less than 5 stars, as it is an excellent mic with excellent sound. The build quality is spectacular, exactly what you expect from Neumann. I feel the conviction to wash my hands before I touch it, so as not to even mar the surface with one single fingerprint smudge. The only thing negative I can say about it is that I don't understand the design choice of lights to indicate the polar pattern, pad, and LF rolloff selections. I much prefer a design that shows at a glance the chosen selections. This mic will show your selection for a bit, and then it turns the lights off to not be a distraction. But being able to see your settings with a quick glance is very helpful. As it is, I need to press the joystick to have them come to life to see what setting it's on. Just one extra step to "measure twice, and cut once". If there was an option to choose if the lights stay on or not, that would be great. Don't get me wrong though, the whole design of the switch and lights is beautiful, is very classy and sleek, but maybe not 100% practical.