I have the 430, and although I have heard/used better sounding LD condensors, I still like it. If that CDN dollars your quoting, then it's a reasonable deal - i would not pay more than that; they used to be 165 CND last year.
It is bright, but I found several uses for it where it gets good sound and the brightness doesn't detract. Acoustic guitars and my vocals sound great through it. I've used it on kick drum with equally good results. As drum overheads, i dont like them as much, but they can work in a pinch; the tom's sound good through them, but sometimes i find i have to use a bit of EQ to get the cymbal sound the way i want it. I've used it as a 'room' mic to pic up some ambient sounds - and that it does well.
Also, it has a Bass roll of switch - even though the advertising only say's that the 420 comes with one! You have to un-screw the bottom, look on the board, and the switch is there. There are some MP3's in the mixing clinic that use this mic for vocals - check them out - they sound pretty good. All in all, they are reasonably good versatile mics - better at some things than others - if this is your first condensor mic - i wouldn't hesitate. If you are upgrading - then you might want to look elswhere.
T
