A few weeks ago, I bought yet another mic to add to the locker; an AKG D5 super-cardioid dynamic mic. It must have taken me 1/2 an hour to figure out how to get into the box, without ripping it apart.
From the get-go, I thought this has to be one of the worst mics I've ever bought. With EQ set "flat", it sounded strident, and a lot of proximity effect,,, with plosives galore. That was the immediate reaction.
Now, after twiddling a few EQ knobs,,,, not baaaad. Try a few different angles of attack,,, and it's sounding better. The pick-up pattern is so tight, that if you're off-center of the grille by a few inches,,, volume drops like a stone, so, technique has to be spot-on. I walked away from that session, with a sense of disappointment,,, but not quite ready to give up. The lows seemed extreme, and there was a certain brittleness in the high mid vocal range, that was present at higher volumes.
I came back a few hours later, and knocked a few db's off the channels' LF eq, as well as the highs,,,,, better. I noodled around for a while, then as I turned my head to the right, to pull on my instrument cable, the magic happened. I was now singing across the tip of the grille, at roughly a 60-70 degree angle. The boominess was gone, yet there was a wonderful rich low-end response, with a mid-hi vocal-range "shimmer" that sounded good,,,,,,VERY good.
Bottom line, I REALLY like this mic now. My previous favorite was my Sennheiser e945, and I'm certainly not ready to abandon that mic for the D5, but the D5 has a certain "edge" that the Senn does not. The Senn is VERY mellow,,,, very smooth. The D5's bottom-end CAN sound just as good, if your angle of attack is across the grille, and, it will add a certain edginess and bite. Highly recommended,,,, but be patient and dial it in properly,,,, and adjust your angle of attack accordingly. You don't want to be "eating" the mic, because the side of the grille is very susceptible to noise from exhaling through your nostrils. Kissing the end of the capsule is OK, if you're at an angle, and you keep your voice VERY low. The mic takes over from there, and gives you ALL the output you need, without straining your vocals.
It's a bit quirky the first time out, but stick with it,,, experiment,,,, and you're probably gonna LOVE this mic. (I'm a low tenor btw) The best part is the price; $99. street, and I got mine for something like $85.