Pricing and availability
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Average Price: $14,230
High-end/Boutique
$100
$401+
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Standard
High-end
Price History
Based on price data from 4 merchants for "Sony C-800G". Prices shown reflect NEW condition. Tracking began Apr 2, 2026.
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Description
Step into the realm of professional sound recording with the Sony C-800G, a large diaphragm tube condenser microphone that sets a new benchmark for audio quality. A radical departure from its predecessors, this mic utilizes a K67-type dual diaphragm capsule for superior sonic fidelity. Its standout feature is the inclusion of a massive heat sink/cooling system, a significant upgrade from the original C800. This innovative addition drastically reduces noise and distortion, ensuring your recordings are crystal clear and devoid of unwanted feedback.
Key Features:
- Large diaphragm tube condenser microphone
- Polar patterns switchable between omnidirectional and cardioid
- Incorporates a K67-type dual diaphragm capsule
- Employs one 6AU6 tube in the microphone's amplifier and two in the power supply as rectifiers
- Features a large heat sink/cooling system to lower noise and distortion levels
Product specs
| Microphone Type | Tube Condenser |
| Polar Pattern | Cardioid, Omni |
| Frequency Response | 20Hz-18kHz |
| Max SPL | 131dB (cardioid), 134dB (omni) |
| Output Impedance | 100 ohms |
| Signal to Noise Ratio | 76dB (cardioid), 73dB (omni) |
| Sensitivity | -32dB/Pa (cardioid), -35dB/Pa (omni) |
| Self Noise | 18dB (A-weighted) |
| Tube | 6AU6 |
| Power Source | External AC-MC800G Power Supply (included) |
| Connector | Multi-pin (mic), XLR (power supply) |
| Dimensions | 9.37" x 7.62" x 2.25" |
| Weight | 2 lbs |
| Included Accessories | Windscreen, Shockmount, 26' Cable, Carrying Case |
FAQs
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What is the primary application of the Sony C-800G microphone?
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The Sony C-800G is primarily used for high-quality vocal recordings in studios and film post-production houses, renowned for its clarity and detail.
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What polar patterns does the Sony C-800G offer?
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The Sony C-800G provides both cardioid and omni polar patterns, allowing flexibility in capturing sound from different environments and applications.
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How does the Sony C-800G handle high sound pressure levels?
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The Sony C-800G can handle a maximum SPL of 131dB in cardioid mode and 134dB in omni mode, making it suitable for recording loud sources without distortion.
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Does the Sony C-800G require an external power supply?
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Yes, the Sony C-800G comes with an external AC-MC800G power supply, which is essential for its operation due to its tube condenser design.
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What are some notable artists who use the Sony C-800G?
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The Sony C-800G is favored by artists such as Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey, Eminem, and Rihanna, known for its exceptional vocal clarity and presence.
Videos
The Press Recording Studio
Slate VMS vs. Sony C-800G Mic Comparison feat. Dave Hollister
Reviews
PROS
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Rivals top studio classics for modern, shiny production
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Exceptional clarity and transparency in sound
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Captures minute vocal details vividly
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Impressive performance from the start, minimal warm-up needed
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Ideal for high fidelity vocal recording
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Unique look makes it memorable
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Inspires standout performances, reducing post-editing work
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Modern classic with reliability and warranty advantages over vintage mics
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Provides crisp, clear, and authentic sound across various applications
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Tube warmth adds character to recordings
CONS
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Expensive, representing a significant investment
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Requires 2-3 hours of tube warm-up for optimal performance
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Sony C-800G.
Use cases and applications
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It has been used successfully on acoustic guitar and percussion, but its bright nature can feel overly realistic, lacking character for some instruments.
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Despite its price, the C-800G is often used in major studio vocal tracking sessions, delivering a commercial radio-ready sound with just the mic and a Grace Designs preamp.
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Despite its vocal focus, the C800G has been employed in mono drum overhead setups, adding brightness to drum recordings.
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The Sony C-800G is favored for its bright, airy sound, ideal for hip-hop, R&B, and pop where vocals need to cut through the mix.
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The mic's popularity in Japan remains due to its unique airy sound, reminiscent of Mariah Carey's early hits, which helped cement its reputation.
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User experience
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Some users describe the C-800G's sound as the clearest and cleanest from a tube condenser, emphasizing its high fidelity in studio settings.
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Owners find it fragile and expensive, which may limit its broader use beyond vocal applications.
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Owners report that the C800-G often requires EQ adjustments to manage its extreme top end, making it less versatile than other high-end mics.
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Value and pricing
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Only about 1 in 100 tubes meet the strict quality standards for the C-800G, contributing to its high cost due to extensive part rejection.
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Features and functionality
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The mic's Peltier device uses a heat pipe and heat sink, similar to technology in power amps, to manage thermal conditions effectively.
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The C-800G employs a Peltier cooling system to reduce tube heat, minimizing self-noise and maintaining signal clarity.
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The C800-G offers a detailed, airy sound that can feel pre-processed, which some find sterile while others value its clarity and presence.
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Comparisons
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The C800G's high-end emphasis between 1kHz and 10kHz distinguishes it from the flatter frequency response of the U87, which is more mid-range focused.
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The C800-G is likened to a "sports car on a slick surface," requiring careful handling to achieve desired vocal effects, compared to the more forgiving TLM49.
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The TLM49 is preferred by some for its ample midrange and clean sound, contrasting with the C800-G's bright and sibilant nature.
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Build quality
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The C800G is described as large and cumbersome, making it difficult to position for non-vocal recordings.
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Critic Reviews
4.5 out of 5
Based on 2 Reviews and 18 Ratings
Artist usage
Add artist
In this picture from Mariah Carey and Luther Vandross duet "Endless Love" music video, Mariah was using Sony C-800G. Mariah was one of the first artists to use this microphone (around 1993) considering she was signed to Sony at that time, and she has been seen using it many times in her career
DaBaby uses the Sony C-800G condenser microphone for recording his music, as shown on his Instagram.
Used for "In da Club", as stated by producer Dr. Dre in this transcribed March 2005 interview.
50 CENT
"In Da Club"
Producer: Dr. Dre
Engineer: Vito (Mauricio Iragorri)
"With 50, he's an artist with such an amazing voice," says Vito. "You just put him behind a microphone and it just sounds good! My job is make sure it doesn't distort and it's not overloading. While he's vibing and doing his thing, I'm scrambling to make sure nothing is going wrong with the signal path."
"Recording vocals with Dre is a meticulous process," Vito reveals. "There are some exceptions, like 50 is an exception. There are some people that just do it, and there's not much punching involved. And there are other people who need a lot of punching, and that means maybe a couple words at a time until all the rhythm and the pockets are correct. Dre has an amazing sense of rhythm. He hears all these crazy rhythms in the vocal and, because he's a rapper as well, he knows how it should be performed. As a producer he's great, but as a rapper he knows what pocket they should be hitting and he can really coach someone well. Working with Dre on vocals is cool because you get to see how he directs someone and they actually sound the best they've ever sounded."
Signal Path: Tracking
"I like my vocals to sound 'crystal,'" says Dre. "I use the Sony C800-G for vocals because it has a clean sound and about 85% of the people that get behind it sound great. My main objective is that the vocal sound is present and clean and ultimately does not distort. I get the sound I want out of the EQ on the SSL. We've used it forever and have made many hits on it, including 50's 'In Da Club.'"
"We come from the Sony C800-G and out of that into the Neve 1073 mic pre," explains Vito. "We don't use the EQ, because most of the time it sounds good flat. If there's a need for it we'll engage it, but for 50 Cent on 'In Da Club' we didn't use any EQ. Then we took it out of the Neve mic pre into the Avalon 737-SP compressor. It's a mic pre with EQ, and it actually has a compressor, but we're not using any of the mic pre on the Avalon - we're just going straight into the line input. From the output of the Neve it goes into the line input of the Avalon, which allows you to use the compressor alone. We set the compression ratio around 7:1 and the threshold usually hovers at around 0. I set it at a medium attack and fast release. I'd say we're using around 3 or 4 dB of compression, sometimes up to 7 dB. On 'In Da Club' it was about 4 or 5. Then it comes back into the SSL 4000 G with E modules (at Encore Studio) and we bring it back on the insert.
"There's a patch on the patch bay that says 'insert return,'" he continues, "and that's where we bring the vocal back into the insert return, because it's the shortest patch before you actually hear the vocal. It has the least amount of circuitry of anything in the channel, so you're bypassing the EQ, the dynamics. You could use it all, but if you really want the shortest, cleanest signal, that's the way to go. Then we bus it out to Pro Tools HD and we use the small fader to send it to PT. That's about it."
Discovery
"The way we came to this chain is - a while ago, when I first started out, I was assisting for Dr. Dre," says Vito. "I noticed how their engineer was doing it and it sounded good. The records sounded amazing, so when Dre hired me to engineer, I told him, 'Ya gotta buy some of these,' and he bought some 1073s. I had heard for a long time that they were really good mic pre's to run vocals through. At Encore, where I was assisting, they had one there, and anytime we were doing a session we would always run vocals through it. So when I saw Dre doing it, it was just cool seeing a rap guy using a 1073! That's how we came up with it. As for the compressor, it's just a good tube-sounding compressor. Sometimes we use the DBX 160 - the original - as an alternate compressor; it sounds good and we've used that on a lot of records."
Signal Path: Mixdown
The Yamaha SPX-1000 played a prominent role in mixdown. "We used a REV-5 room setting," says Vito. "There are a couple patches in there that sound really good. They're old reverbs and they're not the best nor most expensive, but they sound good, they're reliable, and that's all that matters! For R&B the Lexicon reverbs sound great. They work good for R&B, but for rap the SPX works good. We've used Lexicon's before too and they work okay. It's depends on the song and the artist and what you're looking for in the song. Like on Eve's stuff we used the SPX-1000, too."
Quavo spotted using the c-800g in the second photo of this series of photos on Travis Scott's instagram.
Credited on the Plays Wooden Child album: "David Tibet only sings Assyrian and Babylonian using the following microphones, which he utterly endorses"
Jen uses this mic a lot in her studio sessions and in her youtube videos,highly detailed accuracy,released around 1991,this bright bright brightly shining microphones captures everything about your voice and puts in the high frequencies clarity zone,so that you have bright but not harsh,natural sounding recordings. pop filter used,for better
“The mics were a combination of Sony C800G and Rode NT2,” he adds. “About 60 percent of the vox were on the Rode.
Album Usage
The Sony C-800G has been featured on the following albums:
Gelido (feat. Mario Biondi)
Alex Britti (2026)
blog era boyz
Wiz Khalifa & Machine Gun Kelly (2026)
Who Believes In Angels?
Elton John & Brandi Carlile (2025)
Even In Arcadia
Sleep Token (2025)
Skin (The Collaboration Remix Edit)
Madonna & Madonna (2025)
lost americana
Machine Gun Kelly (2025)
Tickets To My Downfall (All Access)
Machine Gun Kelly (2025)
Santa Baby
Kim Kardashian (2024)
Gunz N Smoke (feat. 50 Cent & Eminem)
Eminem & Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre (2024)
Suave
Big Time Rush (2023)
35's
Tyler Hubbard (2022)
IM NAYEON
Nayeon (2022)
KEEP GOING (feat. Lil Durk, 21 Savage & Roddy Ricch)
DJ Khaled & Lil Durk & 21 Savage & Roddy Ricch (2022)
So Far So Good
The Chainsmokers (2022)
INTER SHIBUYA - LA MAFIA
Feid (2021)
Tell Me About Tomorrow
jxdn (2021)
Mood (feat. iann dior) [Live]
24kGoldn & iann dior (2021)
The Good Times and The Bad Ones
Why Don’t We (2021)
Followers
AREA21 & Martin Garrix & Maejor (2021)
The Greenhouse Effect Vol.3
Asher Roth (2021)
Fallin’ (Adrenaline)
Why Don’t We (2020)
Good News
Megan Thee Stallion (2020)
D-2
Suga (Agust D) (2020)
Lifetime
Twista (2020)
Revenge Of The Dreamers III
Dreamville & J. Cole (2019)
Play Wooden Child
Nodding God (2019)
Señorita
Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello (2019)
You Stay (feat. Lil Baby & Jeremih)
J Balvin & DJ Khaled & Meek Mill (2019)
Jaws
Sleep Token (2018)
Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho
HUNCHO JACK & Quavo & Travis Scott (2017)
Bitch Better Have My Money (R3hab Remix)
Rihanna (2015)
Blurryface
Twenty One Pilots (2015)
Rewind
Rascal Flatts (2014)
Stoner
Young Thug (2014)
My Everything (Deluxe)
Ariana Grande (2014)
PIL 2
Ja Rule (2012)
Headlines
Drake (2011)
Recovery
Eminem (2010)
Memento Mori
Flyleaf (2009)
Circus (Deluxe Version)
Britney Spears (2008)
On An Island
David Gilmour (2006)
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
50 Cent (2003)
Irresistible
Jessica Simpson (2001)
Brand New Day
Sting & Sting (1999)
This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
Manic Street Preachers (1998)
All Eyez On Me
2Pac & Makaveli (1996)
All This Time
Sting & Sting (1991)
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Sony C-800G, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
Similar
Add recommendation2 alternative and related items for Sony C-800G, curated by the Equipboard community.
$898.00 - $1,299.00
A more affordable recreation.
The WA-8000 is a nod to a very special large diaphragm tube condenser microphone that made its way onto countless platinum recordings starting in the early 90s and continuing today. The sound of this mic has delivered hits for artists ranging from Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men and Brian McKnight to Eminem, Rihanna, Drake and more. The original stood out, boasting a natural and open top end, supremely clear midrange, and the ability to render detail in a vocal performance unlike most other mics on the planet. The WA-8000 rises to the occasion and delivers all that top end, beat by beat, at a price that will leave you hypnotized.
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