Although it conjures uncomfortable memories of the brain-sucking security device from the 1979 film Phantasm, the SE-BB1 ($579) is actually a mic that sports a spherically mounted, high-intensity, small diaphragm electret condenser capsule. The mics — also called “Bova Balls” after designer/record producer/Sage founder Phillip Victor Bova — are created on a one-off basis and feature all discrete class-A transformer-less electronics, active balanced outputs, brass hardware, and a precision Manfrotto ball-and-socket mechanism for versatile positioning.