first off the 319 has a relieved (rounded) grill and is much softer on the refracted grill noise because of it. The 319 also has a hi frquency "disk" over the capsule to "improve" the sound response. There has been much bickering over whether this should be modded out, but that should be left to those who are more skilled than the beginner as a $200 paperweight tends to make one mad. I do think the original poster on the thread should look for a pre-amp will all the trimmings and versitilaty. You really can't go wrong laying out the money for a good pre-amp especially when you can dial in the resistance, gate/limit line signal, and warm and cool the sound. Your computer card (I have the EX platinum 2) will be useful to a point, but if you are looking for clean-- go to your local store and listen with your voice coming through it. The stores are made for that. Just tell them you want to lay some quick tracks and compare the MK319 (my choice for studio) utilizing different pre-amp with different features. Besides longevity proof, your own ear is the only thing you can really trust when buying equipment (that and good long warrantees). As for the 57, 58 controversy; you can get any mic to pic up better when you phantom it, but then you're not really utilizing it for it's designed purpose. The 57 is great for micing amps and for delivering raw vocals (hence why the Punks love it), but the 58 is the industry standard for a reason. It has a great pic up for direct vocals and damps everything else down a tad to prevent onstage monitor feedback (for those of us mortals who cannot afford Private listening devices). The question is, are you going to be using this mic only for your room studio or are you going to be traveling with it and utilizing it on stage (USE THE SHURE'S if on stage is the case). If it is a dedicated webcast or studio mic then by all means go with the Oktava MK319.
