Condenser microphones frequently have a pad switch that typically allows you to lower the sensitivity of the microphone capsule at the head end of the microphones electronics. If you are doing anything with extremely high sound pressure levels, you may hear some distortion? If you do activate the switch. This is a different switch than the pad switch on your console. The one on the microphone prevents overload of the microphones electronics. The one on the console prevents any overloads from getting into the first stage preamplifier section of the microphone preamplifier. They can both be utilized independently or in tandem which may be necessary in some situations.

The bass cut off filter or " high pass" is generally used to compensate for cardioid/figure 8 proximity effect. Proximity effect only occurs on directional microphones and a noticeable increase in the bass response that varies from the distance of the microphone is the result. Sometimes it sounds cool and can be utilized other times it makes things sound like mud. It is a good practice for when you are doing vocals to utilize the switch with the exception of omnidirectional patterns which are not plagued by proximity effect. Most announcers love the effect in their headphones and will sometimes develop truly bad announcing technique because of monitoring through headphones.

The directional adjustments of your microphone are applicable for different applications. Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you want to pick up a sound focused on one subject, sometimes two subjects sometimes all around a zone? The directional capabilities of a multi-patterned microphone are great for those of us who loved the versatility and know how to utilize it.

I believe the K2 is their tube microphone which has a smoother quality sound than transistors possess. They are frequently not quite as versatile and are a little bit more delicate and sensitive to high impact sound sources. They are more of a specialty microphone than a general-purpose microphone and also generally require a large power supply with a more finite length cable from microphone to power supply therefore sometimes rendering it impractical outside of the studio.

You can never have too many different kinds of microphones!
Ms. Remy Ann David

I use the low cut switch when recording foley stuff like footsteps.