sorry but i gotta disagree somewhat.
Oh, there are
lots of good reasons to not go the quickest route.
Except when you're getting paid by the job not by the hour, which is more what I was talking about.
Speaking of good mics that are much less expensive than their name-brand counterparts,
Advanced Audio mics are often "clones" of vintage/expensive mics, and I've had the pleasure of using most of their models side by side vs the "original" - in many cases the AA was the better mic. I also love that they're another small British Columbia company, and the company founder Dave Thomas is one of the friendliest guys out there (and actually answers emails)!