Opinions on AKG D series microphones

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> I found a AKG 5pc drum mic kit for $269. 4 D440s and one D550 bass drum
> mic. I know these aren't top of line, but who can argue with 5 mics for
> less than $300? I don't know AKG's line that well, I've used D409's
> for micing horns and had good luck. What would anyone equate the
> D440/D550 to in the shure line? sub-SM stuff? Better than PG stuff I'd
> hope.
>
> Also, I found an excellent deal for AKG D880 mics on ebay. $43 each
> shipped. I've seen these compared to SM58's in this news group and
> others, but have read about durability problems. Any opinions on these
> quality wise? I'm pretty careful with my stuff, and I don't plan on
> using these for lead singer duty. How will they hold up for a 1-2
> weekend/month band.

As someone generally biased against AKG (the Cx000 series is a farce), I
find the D880 is a great mic for definition and feedback rejection. But if
the singer is used to an SM58 for mic control, you'll find their distant
passages vanish. It's got a very tight response pattern, great for mic
eaters. I pretty much refuse to have a drummer sing into any other mic.
"Sure you can use your SM58, I'll just take down the overhead..."

I'd suggest trying out the D880 against an Audix OM-5 or Sennheiser e855 to
see what works best with the singer's voice and mic technique, but if you're
talking about bar crooners, the D880 at $43 a pop is a steal. Another thing
the D880 handles well is a fatigued voice. God bless it for that! That's
the e835's achilles heel.