..... I believe the OP is in Europe, and may require faster delivery time, in which I'm not sure I agree with you.
Yes I’m in the UK and will be looking to get the new mics for shows coming up at the end of Nov/beginning Dec.
As mentioned previously by myself (and others): the CA-14 cards will be the less expensive route and will yield the results you're looking for. I wouldn't buy the 4U's for the extra money as there is no benefit there (except for changeable caps if that's what you need).
Are the CA-14’s cards comparable quality wise to mics like CMC-8 or CMC-4U?
If you buy AT853's aka CMC-4U, be sure to get the "low sensitivity mod", else they will distort at loud shows. (Credit due Chris Church, etc).
Is that just for these mics, what if I went for the CMC-8?
Something else you may wish to consider is that cards are much more sensitive to handling noise. So if you are attaching your mics to clothing then for quiet music - unamplified piano for example - you will get a lot a rustling whenever you move, which you won't get with omnis.
Thanks. I haven’t tried it, but I wonder if I could get away with my CA-14 omnis being under a thin shirt. But clearly that isn’t the case for cards then.