All three versions of the mic essentially sound the same. A bit better shielding and a better mount on the current model. Yeah, it's a hog. I'd suggest something that will give you at least 55db of clean gain (meaning that you need more than that if you only get 55 db cranked and it's noisy). More is better. I use mine with a variety of pres, usually my APIs and A-Designs P-1s.