I've always used a pop screen when recording a serious vocal track. I never thought twice about it, until yesterday. I bought a ShureKSM 27 and I know it's not the end all, but for me it is a big leap up from my old Peavy 457b (I like this mic still too). I was just screwing around with positioning and such- whole new world of clarity with a condenser- and then I just folded down the pop screen as a lark and BAAMM, crystal clear like I couldn't imagine! I have a typical store bought wind screen, but I must say, these things really filter out some otherwise beautiful frequencies. I tried to place the wind screen further away from the mic and add some careful eq but nothing re-produced the beautiful sound I got without the screen. I have always been concious about my singing technique while recording to avoid pops and harsh esses and such and it seems to come natural after so many years - sometimes unavoidable I realize though- but I figured for that kind of clarity it's worth a shot. Worked very well with nothing to fix in the mix and wow, the clarity is awesome. So now I think twice about that pop screen, for myself anyway. For other folks I record though (in fact most) the pop screen is a must. Anyone else have this experience?