Hey, I just picked up one of these on eBay. Old one, black with chrome grill.
Totally love it. Set up some of my other dynamics alongside it to begin to get a feel for the thing. Beta 58 sounded thin and shrill comparatively (maybe I should say thinNER and shrilLER
), and my sm7 somehow just didn't seem as meaty, seemed a bit smaller. Even doing this at all is of course a bit nuts, I'm sure if I'd played up the proximity on the sm7 it would have been plenty beefy.
Still and all, the 441 seemed to have a really balanced sound -- which is wacky if you consider their published chart, which shows flatness up to around 3k and then suddenly it's the Sierra Nevadas -- and it seemed to be strangely "focused" sounding. It's a great-sounding mic. A particularly good match-up for my voice, which is a great unexpected treat. Love it when that happens. Acoustic guitar sounded very acceptable; minding one's basic mic placement, it was pretty easy to get good sounds. It's my new favorite mic.
Them's my two cents. Hope you get one and it works out for you.
Cheers.