The first sentence contrasts "good" with "cheap", clearly implying that cheap is bad. The way you use "better", "good" and "mediocre" imply that they are absolutes rather than being relative to the source/application.
I should have stuck closer to the OPs naming, with "average" and "good" mics.
So, read cheap as average and you get the idea.
And with "good" I mean something like "holy cow, this thing sounds good on just about anything".
And yes. I believe that there are mics out there that work absolutely better than most other mics on most sources for a given recordist.
Which mic that is is down to personal preference, though, and depends on workflow and taste.
Find the thing that works
for you and be done with it.
If you think using one mic is always better, why did you suggest using a separate kick mic? Do you practice what you preach, using only one mic for all sources? Is that how you record a whole band, one mic in the room?
One good (look above), well placed overhead will already give you a nice representation of the whole kit, if done right (and if you have a good drummer).
The kick could use a little help in most cases, though, I don't think you will disagree on that?
Remember, the OP asked for
High Fidelity,
not for endless options in mangling and sample replacement, so he is clearly not gonna do metal.
And in my experience it is most often a good idea to forego the nightmare of phasey shit that a pile of average (or below average) mics on a drumset is, weird off axis response and all, from a fidelity POV.
For the music I make one good overhead and a kick mic is sufficent for drums.
So I'd settle for a nice LDC, like a Brauner Phantom Classic, or the like, (which I would rent, if I needed it on just the one gig, and buy, if it will pay for itself in the future) and Beyer M88's for everything else, as they work for me reliably good as kick, amp (b, g, keys), and vocal mic and they are even doing well on acoustic instruments. For vocal overdubs I could as well use the LDC if it outperforms the M88 which might be or might not be the case, depending on the singer.
So, yes. I would definitely sell anything that I do not really need and buy the best single mic I can afford.
A small selection of good gear makes recording much easier than a lot of average gear, in my experience.
Now facepalm on, if you need to.
Over and out.
