MXL603 users - your advice please

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I have pairs of both MXL603s and NT5s - never been happy with either, despite all the glowing press they receive here - to my ears there's this fundamental "metallic" sound that they produce that I don't like. Quite good in a busy mix with lots of other stuff around, but when I'm recording just fingerstyle, flatpicked or strummed acoustics, I haven't yet had a result I'm totally happy with.

Recently had some recordings done at a demo studio with an KM84 through a mixer (for preamp - hardly optimal) and compared it to the sound I was getting. The KM84 sound was mellower, less harsh, almost less detailed in a way.

I didn't love it either, but it was better on the ears than what I was getting at home. That started me pointing the MXL603s in different directions, figuring they were just too harsh pointed straight at the guitar - have got much better results with one pointed 45 degrees to the fretboard instead of 90, aimed towards the sound hole. Much better, but there' still these resonances I'm not happy with.

Wondering two things:

(a) where you stick your MXL603s in relation to the guitar (subquestion - do you find them harsh when pointed at the guitar, given the context of musical style I'm talking about - not rock, just acoustics)?

(b) experiences with LD condensers and acoustics - my only LD is an NT2 and I like that even less that the NT5s and MXL603s - anything cheapish you'd recommend (or even more expensive).

I don't mind spending money to get results, but I'm getting a little weary of buying stuff that doesn't do the job, and ending up with lots of cheaper equipment when perhaps I should have bitten the bullet and gone more expensive in the first place.

For the record I'm using Mindprint Envoice & Presonus MP20 pres - the results are similar with either.

Thanks

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Just realised I was in The Rack, instead of Microphones...

Ignore this, have reposted in correct place.

Thanks