The only way to know what works best recording you is to do a microphone shoot-out. Line them all up and play into each one, or better, record all of them at the same time onto different tracks and then solo each track to compare. I've done that periodically in the studio.

It depends a lot on what is being recorded. I like the sound of an old RCA ribbon mic on my flugelhorn, so I use that in the studio when they have one, and I have a small ribbon for home use. On some other instrument or voice, that same mic may sound terrible and a $100 Shure SM-57 or something else might be the trick.

Plus, the mic is only part of the story. There's the preamp, the mic placement, the mic cable, the quality of the DA converters, the ears of the engineer, the room acoustics, and some luck thrown in. The sound can't be any better than the weakest link. But you can learn to make inexpensive equipment sound pretty good if you make the effort and develop the skills.

With the exception of the Neumann line, most home studio mics top out at closer to $1,200.

BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.