OK, 3 big questions- Vocal mics, drum mic'ing, and headphones. Headphones is easy, I did that recently. Read this whole thread, and you'll get my opinion, as well as a bunch of other people's:
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=285871
Vocal mics: Perhaps the toughest one. The hard part is- there is no vocal mic, at any price, that makes everyone sound good. I disagree that the standard is a large diaphragm condenser mic. The standard is a dynamic mic, and condensers have become more popular in recent years. Ribbon mics are also commonly used, which is a specialized subcategory of dynamic mic. In the beginning, I think the best you can do is have an entry level condenser and a badass dynamic. The cool thing about dynamics is that some of the best in existence are pretty affordable. The standards are Shure SM7b, Electrovoice RE20, and Sennheiser MD421. The Shure gets my vote for most bang-for-buck.
Condensers are tougher, because there are so many manufacturers, so many models, and the same Chinese mics are re-badged by multiple sellers. And they vary far more in price, including models in the thousands. I like AKG C2000B (actually an Austrian made small diaphragm condenser), Marshall Electronics MXL V67G, and CAD M179. Of the group, the AKG and CAD are versatile studio workhorses, good for recording lots of stuff besides vocals, and I think the V67G is the best $100 vocal condenser out there. They all come from companies that you might be able to find when your mic breaks. For most purposes, I find C2000B to be the best entry-level condenser on the market. Studio Projects B1 gets honorable mention as an all-purpose entry level condenser, but I prefer the C2000B and V67 just for their sound.
Drum mic'ing- Opinions vary. 4 mics is classic, tried and true, and many modern engineers use 12 or more. I'd start with 4: 2 small diaphragm condensers for overheads, one dynamic on the snare, and a specialized low frequency mic on kick.
overheads: for dirt cheap- Naiant X-S For cheap-Marshall MXL604
Still fairly cheap- Studio Projects C-4, Rode NT5, AKG C2000B
Starting to not be cheap- AKG C451, Shure SM81, Josephson C42
Omigod- Schoeps CCM4's, DPA 4011
That runs from $22 apiece to over $2000 each.
dynamic- Shure SM57, AKG D770, Sennheiser e835. The Shure is the standard, the D770 is what I prefer personally, the e835 will work fine if it's what you have, and is a pretty fair vocal mic also.
My first choice (and more expensive)- Sennheiser MD421- it's the mic the SM57 *wishes* it was.
Kick- Most of the really cheap ones suck, except the discontinued Audio-Technica AT25. I'm not sure on this, because I've never used it, and Audio-Technica has made a series of mics with confusing similar designations-ATM Pro 25, AT2500, etc. For my money, there are 3 standards, and a higher price badass.
The standards: AKG D112 (I use it and love it, for many uses, not just kick), Audix D6-( has a more modern crack to it, and you can find used ones cheaper than a D112), and Shure Beta52 (I hate it, but many people love it, and you can make good recordings with it. YMMV.)
High-priced spread.- EV RE20. This is another classic bigass radio mic, like the SM7b. It is not a *kick* mic, it's just a great dynamic mic that works on kick, vocals, cabs, and tons of other stuff. Very nice, but $400 new.
Note- this shows what versatility is all about. Certain mics, like SM7b, RE20, MD421 and C2000B show up under vocals as well as percussion, because they're as close as anything to all-purpose mics.-Richie
