Well, there is definately a point of diminishing returns. However, your mic is the source that everything else will use, including those waves plugins. So you do want a good mic.

A couple points- a good mic for one thing is not necessarily a good mic on another. Our honored member Harvey Gerst once wrote a nice long piece on this, interacting with questions from the audience; I'll try to find it and post the link.

That said, the next device in line, your preamp, will likely make more difference. It has a lot to do with the sound and signal you get. This is said often, but needs to be said more often. A nice mic thru a crappy preamp will not out-perform a lesser mic thru a good preamp.

I don't have any $5000 mics, so my opinion may not be that impressive.

Looks like this may be a good starting point for Harvey's Primers-
http://yourfriendpaul.com/MicPrime/MicrophonePrimer.html

Thanks to Harvey for sharing that so generously.

Last edited by rharv; 04/21/10 03:34 PM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
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