I have the Shibata and decided to go for a Micro line with headshell due to the high frequencies captured with microlinear technology. Crystal clear sound and excellent clarity. The bass is also very strong. It follows anything in the grooves and captures it, so make sure to have clean records. The next upgrade, of course, is the VM series from AT. We're clearly going for the VM740ML. The VMN95 & VM series are quite decent and relatively cheap for their price and the quality they offer. Buy without hesitation.

It was placed on a Thorens TD166 MKV and replaced the green VMN95E I had. The difference is night and day. Clarity and detail that you can hear the space of the recording (echoes and depth), tighter bass, crystalline highs. Improved imaging and soundstage. The sound is a little colder than the green one, but even on Thorens (considered analytical) and Klipsch speakers with horns, it is much sweeter than digital. Also, the inner groove distortion disappeared, which troubled me a lot with the elliptical needle, especially on classical music vinyl, where IGD is unbearable. Overall, I would say that the elliptical green is a very good needle for its money, but if your system can bring out detail and depth in sound, then the red microline is a sure purchase for under 200 euros!

P.S: The company says that the ML's lifespan is 1000 hours, while the ellipticals are only 300, so if you do the math, buying the ML at this price is even more worthwhile.