While a mic'd standup bass will usually sound superior to one amplified via transducer, the microphone introduces a whole host of problems that a working musician like Juan Díes of Sones de Mexico doesn't need to deal with. That's why Juan and the other bowed-instrument players in Sones use the David Gage The Realist pickups.

Here, Juan compares the sound and output of The Realist to that of an Audix F90 mini-condenser microphone to show us that being a realist doesn't mean having to compromise on tone.