I have a $2500 mic pre,
a Jensen Twin Servo 990 from John Hardy, some consider it the cat's meow.
When it was broken (and John fixed it for free over a decade out of warranty!) I bought a $150 Presonus BlueTube.
My Neumann U87 sounded 90% or so (how do you measure that?) the same through both preamps, so I am of the mind that the mic makes monumentally more difference than the pre. Both those pre's were worth what they cost to me, the Jensen gave you more detail and is quieter, and more musical.
Here's some standard mics:
Neumann U87 - vocals
Neumann KM84 - overheads on drums, backup vocals, instruments (the most musical sounding mic I've ever heard)
Sennheiser 421 - toms, sax
Shure SM57 - snare, percussion, guitar cabinets
EV RE20 -kick (also great for vocals)
Shure SM7 - vocals
AKG 414 - vocals
Shure SM81 - overheads on drums, some vocals
There's lots more, but those are a few studio mics that most every pro studio will have.
Note: what matters is the marriage between the singer and the mic, so if a cheap Radio Shack mic gets you "your sound"... that's ok! Great actually because you'll save money.