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I bought one of these mics for my mic locker several years ago. It has never been out of my home studio, never been dropped or mistreated. I've used it a handful of times since I bought it. I took it out to use in a recording session last month and it didn't work. I contacted AKG (Harmon) tech support who said the problem could be "....corrosion in the components, aging of the components, wiring issues, diaphragm degradation, mechanical stress, etc.", and that they couldn't do anything about it since is was out of warranty. I'm shocked that any of these failure mechanisms could occur in a "quality" product that has spend its life in a climate-controlled environment and only been used a handful of times. I have "cheaper" mics (MXL, Behringer) that have performed flawlessly for years longer. I paid more for this mic when I bought it for the extra "quality". My guess is that AKG is used to the high profit margins they make on their expensive mics and that on a less expensive mic like this they expect the same margins, leading to scrimping on materials and workmanship to the point where the product has a substandard life expectancy. I don't recommend this mic, and I'll never buy another AKG product.