MD 421 II

I held the same opinion until recently. I've got 2x 421 ii's and 2x 421 u's. I'd only ever used the ii's on toms and was never really stoked, even given the reputation of the mic. I decided to finally try the u's on my last session and they are decidedly better in my opinion. Totally agree that they are big and clumsy, though!

421s for toms. Bad bleed rejection, clumsy and big, nothing special about the sound.

I prefer my MD421 II with a Radial McBoost for MY voice. The SM7B is ubiquitous on YouTube, so visually it's a safe aesthetic for today. But you are making songs and can choose to print with whatever you'd like. If your Scarlett serves your recordings, then use it. You can save the SM7B for the music video.

with you both on that. Was never happy with them on toms. Cool on kick drum though.

Not sure which model 421s I've used....I know the ones that I've mostly used are from the mid 1990s. Maybe that's a 421II? Anyway, what's the difference between a II and a U? And yeah, 421+fet47 is pretty darned good.

I’ve tried a bunch of other things and have mostly settled on a SM57 as a “primary” mic and a MD421 as a “supporting” one, which is kind of funny since the 421 is several times the cost of a 57. But, they pick up almost everything you want, am very little you don’t, on a cab. Perfect mic for the job.