Uncle Russ wrote:

If the product is disappointing, you'd better say so or nobody will believe
you in the future. If it's a piece of junk, then say so in a diplomatic way.

The usual thing to say about anything that isn't really top quality is
"it's really good for the price." I suppose that with all the good
$2,000+ mics out there, you wouldn't say that about a U87, however.

What's the price above which reviewers stop making that statement? And
should those reviews be the only ones we should really care about? The
cheap stuff is getting better all the time, so I would expect that
today's $100 mic would be better than last year's $100 mic, but that it
also wouldn't be as good as any $2,000 mic that I can't afford anyway.

I guess the point of a reveiw of a low-end product is just to find out
that it doesn't completely suck, or learn about any unusual quirks that
might make it particularly unsuitable for a particular user. But to say
"it's good for male vocals and gave a nice sheen to the cymbals and a
full sound on a bass amp" is pretty meaningless.