Sure an MXL 990 & 991 may be cheaper, but you get what you pay for. With something like the AT 4050 you get multiple patterns, and a mush smoother reproduction that may even border on a little dark of a sound, but still retains some high frequency extension. With an MXL990 you will never bea ble to make anything sound naturla unless you put a sock over it to help counter the huge and harsh high frequency bump. Everything through the 990 just "sizzles", and not in the good way. That deosn't mean you should never own one, but lets not kid ourselves and pretend that an MXL 990 is in any way shape or form a good bargain as a main or primary mic. The may be other MXL mics that would fit this bill much better, but any of the Audio Technica 40 series mics in my opinion would be a much better foundation to start with when investing in your first primary go to microphone. Especially the 4050 and 4047.