I knew I'd be opening up a can of worms with that one. The funny thing about microphones are that there are so many different ones. Kind of like colors, people have favorites and no one is really right. If we were talking about some cheap mic that you'd pick up at a Raido Shack or Wall Mart, it would be black and white. However, you're not. The comparison is between several different mics that many people like and enjoy the sound of. One of the many nice things about the Nak 700's is that they are very forgiving mics. Some high end mics are not and therefore not as conducive to a non-perfect stealth situation, whereas the 700's are good in almost any setting. As far as the scaled down size, nothing in that quality scope beats it...in my opinion. As my father used to say, "that's what makes up a horse race". Or, simply put, "different strokes for different folks". Or even better yet, "opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one". I happen to like the Shoeps and the B&K's/DPA's very much, but I don't have the money for either of them and I already own the NAK 700's, which I'm very happy with and have made some outstanding recordings with.