good cheap all round mic

[Rainer Straschill <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

Ah, buggers, just checked the Beyer M201's price tag, which is a
factor of 3 to what you intend to spend...well, at least I can tell
you that they tend to be fairly cheap on ebay if you get them due to
them not being well known, so I recon you'd get a used one for less
than half of 300.

Apart from that, the SM57, which was mentioned, is always a good idea,
as is the SM58, which has the advantage that you get very cheap and
good copies of.
(The difference between the SM57 and SM58 being a different grille,
which leads to a vasatly differently pronounced proximity effect and a
slightly different frequency response. For that reason, the SM58 is
more apted to lead vocal pickup, while the SM57 mostly shines (and is
used even in expensive studio and sample capture sessions) for guitar
amps and snare drums).

I still hope you find a cheap M201, though...;)

              Rainer