MXL - R77

the times i swapped out the u87 i preferred: c414, rode ntk or nt2 (i dont remember which) but they were both transparent and i was happier with what i got. For stuff that was clearly warmer i borrowed a warm audio ribbon (idk the model), and even preferred the cheap mxl ribbon mic (extreme on the other end of the spectrum, arguably different use case). i was over the u87, especially for the price. id probably even prefer a number of live mics, give me a 58beta or a senn e835 instead... disclaimer, i only tried it on vocals, mostly female, i didnt own it, i just got to use it for 5 sessions i think. but i wouldn't shell out that cash out of my pocket for one. i would rather get a bunch more mics or id lean into a nice ribbon for that price, not sure which.

Uhmmmm the beyerdynamic TG I51 is a great mic it lives on my fender along with my mxl ribbon mic (I put a new transformer in there so it wouldn’t have so much mud sounds crisp imo) those are Fs cheap also 57 can be had at estate sales 20-40$ online 60 all day. But my most favorite cheap mic is this mf’n cad E-100Sx amazing acoustic mic like made for acoustic and I have it on a Marshall cab and origin 50 I also have a wa-87 it’s alright I almost like the 47jr more but I have lots of uses for the 87 I just kinda forget about it it’s so versatile so that’s all debatable