lots of mics sound good BUT have a different colouration of sound.
this colouration is another subjective taste.
some like more bass, some less, some detailed high frequencies etc.
personally I prefer the Audio Technica sound over the church cards sound. I just like the colouration of the AT´s more. more detailed in my subjective opinion.
the HLSC MKE40´s sound completely different compared to the AT´s or church cards.
less bass and a very specific sound.
I am sure each of these 3 mics are a good investigation .
I've tried the same mics... and more.
As I said in an earlier thread, there are several things that mics can do: color the sound (ie., different frequency response), lack detail (sounds washed out), add distortion (eg., extra simbalance that was not there in original show). There are probably other things too, like coloration of soundfield coming from different incidence angles, etc. My (informal) observation is that detail is ranked as follows: MKE40>AT853>Church, but coloration ranks Church>AT853>MKE40. Distortion probably ranks MKE40> (Church ~= AT853). So it is a toss up. But, for the money (!!!) and reliability (no distortion), and simplicity (standard, 2wire battery box), Church's mics are excellent. I was skeptical at first (used to love AT853), but now I pick Church's mics if I want a miniature directional mic.
Personally, I'm beginning to prefer omni recordings, usually from up front to get a good soundstage. But sometimes I run cards, esp. if the room is noisy (like a stage at one end and a *loud* bar at the other...
It is very informative to run a set of accurate omnidirectional mics beside your "go to" rig. Even a pair of Panasonic WM6x will work well. Take them home and compare the recordings. You'll hear more "room sound" in the omnis, but it will probably sound clearer and less distored too.
Richard