Slate ML-1 or Sony C800g vocal mic shootout. Can you hear the difference between the plugin emulation and the original classic vocal mic? Reid Stefan Realest puppet in the game does a blind shootout to hear the difference between a $10,000 vocal mic and a $800 mic/plugin emulation. The Slate ML-1 is a transparent vocal mic that is designed to be used with the Virtual Tubes module inside the Slate Virtual Mix Rack. Considering how close the Slate ML-1 sound to the Sony C800g, I would recommend the ML1 as the best vocal mic under $1000.