Both the U87ai and 4060 are very good mic's. One is not better than the other as much as they are each just different. You can read as much as you can find on opinions on each of these mics, and yet they both may still not be what you are looking for or need. If you are ready to spend at least $1500 on a good mic, and have little to no experience with a real good mic, then what you really should do is get a hold of each of them, try them, and then decide because in the end no one but you will know what exact mic you want or need.

What you will also likely discover is that ANY one mic is often not even able to do all that you would like it to do for all the styles of music you are looking to use it for. One mic can work and be great hundreds of times and yet there will still be many times when it just won't be right at all and another mic should be used.

thx for the reply Audiogaff..

I was planning on getting a good preamp and compressor and then rent a u87 and AT 4060 and try them out before spending that sum on them.

But i was hoping for some good suggestions on what i should take a close look at before making the purchase.

If you know of a specific microphone that is usually good for r&b or for rap or for modern rock then be my guest and give me some suggestions and then i'll try them out and see which one i will invest in first :)

thx

Any mic could be used for rap or r&B. I find that it is better Mic's match a mic for the specific person rather than the style of music.

I lke and own the 87ai and 4060 and find them to be great mics in my collection. But rather than give you a big list of mics that may or not be best for you, I would suggest that you find recording studios that do the same style of music you like, and see what they are using for mics and preamps as a starting point.

Might even want to add some dynamic or ribbon mics to you list. SM7/RE20/M160/MD421 ect...

The U87ai is about $2,600.00 or so. Judging from your level of involvment I'd say you are ready to get 'serious' :)

However, I would NOT sink all my mic budget into ONE microphone. Instead, I would look into getting a variety of good mics that cover more situations and/or vocal timbres. For $2,600.00 you have choice of getting three excellent mics, for example. Even 4 or 5. You could get a couple of large condenser, a dynamic, and a small diag. condenser, etc...

Even look into getting a CHEAP 'bad' mic for 'special' effects. I did a RAP track in which we used a cheap, RadioShack 20 dollar deal in one section and it gave just the right sound for that purpose. Something that plugins alone cannont do. :)

To sum it up: try to get the most FLEXIBILITY out of your budget.

Sometimes, having just ONE expensive microphone just doesn't cut it, no matter how 'great' the mic might be (incidentally, there are microphones that cost about a 1/3 of the U87ai and are just as 'good').

You'll have to hear the ones you like best and buy accordingly but, do consider using your budgeet to get MORE than one microphone.

Digit great input there, never really thought of it that way.

I will be trying out the 87ai the AT4060 and RE-20 for starters and see if i fall for one of the mics.

then gradually from there compliment with more mics as i go along. I like the idea of getting a real lowbudget mic. Bet it had a real rough fuzzy sound.. Would actually do for cool dub ins. so i'll check that out.

But thanks for the replies guys will take it to heart and go with the flow...

personaly if i had $1k to spend on a mic i would take a long hard look at the mojave 200... built by david royer (of the ribbon fame) very cool mic often overlooked....