Help needed choosing microphone...

[eirikur]

I need some advice on this..
I have a fairly challenging acoustic environment, in which I mostly record vocals and various types of acoustic instruments.

The room itself is not ideal, and there is also some noise coming from the outside, since I live in the city. I really can't dampen the room, since it is only an extra room in the apartment I am renting.

I am therefore looking for a directional mic which has low self noise. I have a U87 that I love the sound of, but it's not very directional, per se.. The sennheiser MKH-40 looks very promising, and so does earthworks' SR-78, but the issue with these mics is the price...

So, any other mics I should check out?
Thanks a bunch..