I bought two of these for use mainly in my home "studio" for drum overheads, piano, acoustic instruments etc.Mine are nice looking and reliable. They have a lower self noise than many SDC mics at much higher price points.I have never had any trouble with them in the studio and have even taken them into the field for recording.They are very useful and mine get used very often. If I had a larger budget I may have chosen a different SDC, but I'm actually I tried the GXL1200 as I have always achieved very good results. I don't really plan to replace them with more expensive SDCs for my purposes at the moment as sort of my home recording is for songwriting purposes. If I lose one or it gets stolen, I would most likely replace it with another GXL1200.I think they would suit most amateurs and hobbyists quite well.