The 1290 has a better bass spec. I would go that way.
40hz. is a decently low bass response.
You want the bass #'s (hz) to go as close to 0hz as possible, and the 1290's are better than the others, the1245's, in that sense.
The human ear attenuates bass starting at about 38 hz. The better caliber mics commonly go to 20hz, and some claim to go lower.
Keep in mind that cards lose bass response when you turn them off axis.
The other set 1245's shows 80 hz > 20khz (khz=highs), so I'd be afraid of getting a tinny / treble heavy recording going that route.
Other than the frequency response the specs are the same.
Hope this helps.
Peace
Mike
you cant really say a "better" mic goes down in bass response.....i own 480's and they have a 20-20k freq. response. the mic body also is said to have an extended freq. of 10-30k...typically, people say that they have too much bass....the schoeps and b+k's have a 40-20k response.... i LOVE my 480's but, indoors i typically like a LITTLE less bass, not all the time, but sometimes.....now outdoors, you can HEAR that extended freq. response come alive.....
anyway, back to your question, i've been eyeing up the 3.5" ones myself....they have the LOWS that i sometimes do not need...hope this helps......
my 00.02
bean