The AKG C 414 is such a popular microphone that Malachi Ritscher, a Chicagoan who set himself on fire in protest of the War in Iraq, wrote in his auto-obituary that he loved the C 414 so much that his custom license plates read "AKG C 414." The C 414 now has a little brother as AKG introduced the C 214 at 124th AES in Amsterdam.

AKG Product Manager Thomas Stubics had this to say about the inspiration behind the C 214:

"The AKG C 414 has been successful for more than 30 years due to continuous improvement of technical specifications, useful features, and ease-of-use. The evolution of the C 414 has been informed by feedback from recording studios, broadcast stations, and live sound engineers. Our new C 214 was designed as a budget-friendly alternative to the leading-edge C 414 family. Because the C 214 uses the same one-inch diaphragm as the C 414, the essence of that heralded C 414 sound has been captured in this newest model."

A double mesh, all-metal, dent-resistant grille guards the C 214's capsule, guaranteeing high RF immunity without sacrificing the microphone's performance. It's also built tough with a scratch-resistant finish and a gold-plated XLR output. The C 214 includes some accessories like a spider-type shock mount, a windscreen, and a metal carrying case.