A stereo pair of Akg c451 (with the ck1 capsule)

I doubt that you can get a pair of AKG 451's for under $399, unless they come out of someone's trunk in a dark alley.

Look into the Rode NT-5's. They fit your budget and I think they sound quite nice for overheads. They have a silky kinda sound.
Hard to beat for the $$$

The SM-81's are sort of bitey and a little harsh, which can work well for more aggressive drummers playing harder stuff.

Chris

Lot of talk about this topic in archives. Use the search function, read and learn.

I don't have tons of experience in this but I much prefer to use SD condensors for overheads. I'm using Oktava MK-012's now and hope to be moving up to Josephson C42's real soon. To me the SD's capture more of the high freq's with more detail. Are you planning on micing the whole kit or just overhead and perhaps a kick? Anyone else care to share? I'd love to hear others opinons.

Its all about the pattern and the frequency curve.This is what you should consider.

I heard that with an omni pattern the drums get a very big sound. But cardiod is probably the standard. What polar pattern do you recommend?

Kurt likes the Studio Project C4's.

If he likes em, that's good enough for me! (Plus I'm very happy with my C1)

Tom

I haven't had any problems with a pair of AKG c1000s, but I'm a newbie.

C1000's aren't bad, but I think I would use them more as a hi-hat mic than an overhead. That's just my opinion tho, and I may be way out in left field.