Fishman"s Rare Earth Blend merges the humbucking Rare Earth pickup with a excellent internally mounted microphone for a "best of both worlds" approach to acoustic guitar amplification. The microphone is a mini hypercardioid electret for high volume and low feedback performance. The system combines the percussive attack and controlled sustain of the magnetic pickup with the resonant, ambient qualities captured by an internal microphone. Neodymium (a rare earth element, hence the name Rare Earth pickup) magnets provide excellent string-to-string balance, while the discrete circuitry keeps the Rare Earth"s signal pure and clean.