funny stuff.... If I recall, a lot of those were sold.

Back a few years, at a songwriter convention in a west coast city, there were vendors set up in the halls and rooms. One of those vendors was a company called Gauge Mics.... they had the big name, high dollar mics set up side by side with the way less expensive mics from Gauge. With headphones on and an A/B switch for each setup, you could compare the two side by side.

For most of those.... it was nearly impossible to hear a difference and what difference there was, was for the most part, negligible, and mostly a matter of taste and color assuming you could hear it, when it came to sound quality. In other words, the much less expensive Gauge mics held up nicely to the name brands that were, on average, 10x as costly. https://www.gauge-usa.com/ Unfortunately for me, at the time, I had just spent $400 on a Rode NT-2A so I wasn't looking for a good condenser mic.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.