With that in mind, I hear alot of loose low-end when I listen to live recordings made with the Grace - Schoeps combo. Although the combo has enough warmth for my tastes, it's just that the bottom end usually sounds loose to me...bass guitar notes tend to lack definition that I personally require on my recordings.
Interesting.. I've never felt that way with my use of the v3 and Schoeps or MGs. As I've said, I feel that the v3 actually rolls off the bass a bit. The v3 and the DAV BG1 are the cleanest, most detailed pre-amps I own for acoustic recording. So, what is a better portable pre-amp for purely acoustic material?
Back to cap selection.. So much depends on what you record, and what you like.
I think PA systems are often muddy, and some people choose bright mics that correct for that. I think playback systems are also a factor - muddy playback with sloppy bass will favor brighter mics.
I've told the story before - I initially went with mk21's and mk41's. Then I added mk4's. And then I sold my mk41's. I find there are many situations where the mk4's sound so much better than mk41's, but which aren't ideal for mk21's. If the room sound is compromised enough to require mk41's, then I need to move closer, and usually can. I like my mg210's more than the mk41's, but I seldom run those. I like my mg200's more than the mk4's, though the mg200's don't have quite as much low frequency response.
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=63748.0While there are situations where the mk41 and mk4 can sound very similar, I strongly reject the idea that the mk41 is comparable to the mk4 in recording quality, and is somehow a substitute. I find the more directional the pattern, the less natural the result sounds.
The mk4v's are very nice - the high freq bump can help capture detail. Zman has dozens and dozens of mk4v recordings in circulation.
mk41's are very useful if you record very quiet sources at very high gain (50+dB), but can't get close. They help reduce the incidental noise that becomes a problem at high gain.
When the conditions are optimal for the mk21, I find they produce stunning results that cannot be equaled with any card or hyper.