I had a different approach to solving your problem. I bought a cheap pair
of mikes; in my case, it was a pair of Behringer C-2 mikes. They came in a
nice foam-lined box for $50/pr, postpaid. I made a recording of a song
recital, and then asked the performers to judge the sound quality. They
thought it sounded superb, better than any other recordings that they had
made previously.

It's always better to let performers judge the quality of a recording.
Knowing, as I did, that the mikes were dirt cheap makes it impossible to
properly evaluate them.

If it turns out that you're not happy with the mike performance, you only
lost $50 on the deal--probably less than the sales tax on some of the
fancier mikes.

Norm Strong