Sorry for the late response... been busy here at the lab...
Hugh Tripp has been in charge of scaling up production for Naked Eye and that is the biggest reason that the mic can be offered at a lower price- as you know, larger quantities mean price breaks on parts, and in turn lower prices.
The ribbon is the same, though the way this mic is designed and tuned here at the lab is substantially different than its bigger brothers. Bob and Hugh are satisfied with the results and have accelerated the final field trials and production schedule.