Sony C800

there it is the Sony C 800 G If you feel like you want to go for this thing, or if you want to buy a car, you know what? I'm saying. they're all about...

A Sony C800G is not better than a Neumann U87. In my opinion above the 2000 euro dollar mark there's no better.

Sony c800 into a Manley Voxbox does a fantastic job capturing that coveted 9k air we all love on rippy flatulence.

Great vocal microphone. Used on tons of pop/r&b/rap records. One of the holy grail of bright vocal mics along with C800G and Tele 251.

I’ve heard some others in the past and have owned a C800G for a very long time. Costs 50% of what they cost now. The issue with all the Sony clones is that they may get the tone but they do not get the tube compression aspect correct. That’s the magic of the C800G.

I strongly disagree, but I do think a NT-1A sounds really close to a U87. People also say the Sony C100 is a more affordable C800G, but I strongly disagree. I love the C800G, and hate the C100.

You might find that the C800 gives you the best sound, or maybe it’ll be the SM57 model. The other comment is right though, use a very high-quality mono -> stereo reverb, likely a convolution of a real-world space. Even the world’s best violin sounds flat and cheap in an anechoic chamber.

AKG, Sony, Manley, Mojave and Telefunken all have models that I think often need less tinkering to meet today's pop music's standards of super bright and in your face vocals that was mostly ushered in by Atlanta's love of the Sony C800. That's to such an extent that the new U87Ais have a pretty egregious top end boost to make them compete out of the box with those brighter mics.

The C800 is magic for modern bright Pop and Hip-Hop, the U67 and M49 are amazing warm vocal mics, the 251 sounds incredible on female vocals and the SM7b just works perfectly for loud yell/scream vocals. The C12 and obviously the U47 are great too, but I don’t love them as much as the others I mentioned.

Since you have some vintage LDCs on your list your budget seems to allow for some high end mics.

I would personally add a C12 and/or 251, and if you plan to record any Pop, Hip Hop or modern Country a C800 is basically a necessity.