As always these discussions get very polarized since we are stubborn about our beliefs and our opinions are expressed as facts. Sometimes we even agree without noticing. I hope that I don't apeear as provoked or angry in my comments because I'm not.
It is pretty clear that some people have weird ideas based in zero understanding of how mics are actually engineered, making them think that there's something sacred about the particular FR curve of a mic as shipped from the factory, which determines what it's good or bad for.
I don't know if you think that I have weird ideas but I've never said that there's something sacred about a particular EQ circuit in a microphone. You can achieve similar results with a lowpass filter in your DAW. My point is that I want to get the best possible sound when I record and choosing the right microphone and putting it in the right place is the way to go. If the microphone preamp has a high pass filter and I need it I will use it. But that's to get rid of rumble, not improve the frequency response of the microphone. I believe that the idea of just correcting the flaws of a microphone with EQ afterwards is quite rare among professional sound engineers. I personally don't have the talent to predict the result of such a recording session. I'm more open to have an EQ in the recording chain for artistic reasons, but it's tricky. I did a session with an experienced producer a couple of years ago where the aim was to mix the whole session "to tape" with EQ compression etc. It didn't turn out very well. The console being a Neve 8068 didn't help....I guess we were not good enough.
If you have a bright microphone that you know sound awesome with some high pass filtering thats great. Knowing how your microphones and other gear behave and react is very important, as I stated in an earlier post.
If you don't have many microphones to choose between EQ is of course what you typically use if it's to boomy, *****, bright etc. Experimenting with microphone placement is still my first advise.
Some people seem to think that a great microphone is a Platonically ideal *perfect* system that you should not mess with.
I mess a lot with my microphones. Even the classic microphones all have their strengths and weaknesses, ex U47 is not an ideal microphone in any way. But they were designed by very skilled engineers and their build quility is second to none. No system is perfect but some stuff tend to work in most situations and others are one trick ponys. I'm sceptical to standardized "vocal chains" with this microphone into that preamp, compressor etc. Then you assume that all voices have the same attack, timbre etc.
I know that I constantly refer to the "great microphones" but they have become a benchmark and a reference, especially on a forum where everybody is discussing and building clones of them all the time. I have very little experience with røde but I use a lot of other "uncool" microphones in different price ranges. An amazing microphone that's fairly cheap is Pearl CC22 / CO22. Clear and flat but not sterile with weight in the low end. Works just as well in a classical recording as a pop session.
I've watched or listened to a bunch of mic shootouts and they've mostly struck me as completely useless, because the only differences I could clearly tell were mostly obvious (even glaring) basic FR differences, and that's the only easily-changed thing about a mic.
I'm convinced that you can hear a lot more! Transient response, distorsion, resonances, body, depth etc. It's always a lot harder to listen to shootouts made by others since you don't have the context of the room sound, how the voice/instrument sounds, where the microphone is placed, the impact of the preamp etc. A lot of shootouts on youtube etc are completely useless, although some are really good.
In reality, from what I see, most people that complain about mics that are so bright that they’ll cut your head off, are not complaining that it’s too bright. It’s the cut your head off part. There’s something in there, no matter how much you cut, it’s always there; you can’t get rid of it. There’s are harshness that’s there where you’ll have to make it dull for it to finally settle-down. At that point, it’s actually unusable to them.
It happens to non-super-bright mics too. Some mics (regardless of brightness-factor) you can boost the top like crazy and it never-ever becomes harsh. Others, right away! And every space between.
This is pretty much what I'm trying to say.
i've never in my life heard a song where i thought "they should have used a different mic there".
I've recorded a lot of songs where I wish I would have used another microphone!