http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2011/01/gallery-ribbon-mics-part-1/
Discuss the microphones used to record Pet Sounds, and you've earned one of the top merit badges of the music dork.
Ribbon microphones defined high-fidelity recorded sound for half-a-century before falling out of general use more than 30 years ago. Now, vintage devices can fetch four figures on eBay, and a new crop of manufacturers is designing new models for the growing market. A few intrepid hackers have been making dirt-cheap versions from scratch, and a handful of these home-brew mics have even managed to impress the pros.