[jnorman]

i am also a fan of the AKG C480 mics, and IME they stood up very well against my DPA 4011s. i also quite like the AT4051s for all kinds of acoustic appplications in the studio and as a main ORTF pair. and very affordable...

while nice mics are fun, they are sometimes outrageously expensive for a very small difference in sound (IMHO). so, even after having owned schoeps and DPAs, i have no problem using much less expensive mics, though i do tend to stay away from bottom feeders.

the real key to getting a decent recording is the space, not the mics. even medium line mics are pretty darn good these days, and if the performance is good and the space is good, it is often quite impossible to tell whether the recording was made with $1000 pair of mics or a $4000 pair of mics.

all that said, pay attention to what ben maas and john willet say - they are both very experienced pros and give great advice.