Schoeps are yet another German engineered microphone company, producing some of the finest condenser mics available today. Their modular CMC preamps and MK capsules are used the world over in professional recording studios and film sets alike. This particular configuration is a CMC 6xt U, which has extended frequency response (up to around 40kHz), paired with the MK41 capsule, giving a super cardioid pickup pattern. A great combo for indoor dialogue, although you could easily forgo the xt preamp for the standard one for this purpose. My thinking was that I'd also use this for effects recording and would only buy one.
The tone of sound reproduction is obviously key to the popularity of the mic, and this CMC 6xt U + MK41 combo provides a really wonderful clean and characterful tone. To my ears it's not as neutral of a mic as the Sennheiser MKH series, but it has a natural, almost musical character; hyping, very slightly, the exact tones you want to emphasise from a human voice.
Mine has been a workhorse since the moment I got it, fitting in perfectly between my Sennheiser MKH 40 and MKH 60, giving me that natural directional sound, perfect for indoor booming where reverberation can give artefacts on interference tube based short shotgun mics.
The mic has no built in controls, so things like pads and filters are provided in the form of screw in modules between the preamp and capsule. Alternatively in-line controllers can be used in the form of cables, like the Rycote Tac!t cable if low frequency noise is problematic.