Really depends on the singer and style...Shure SM-7 good workhorse for loud yelling rock and many other styles despite it's relatively low price...Elam 251 a classic....rare and mucho dinero...as are...:. Telefunken/Neuman M-49 is what they used on norah jones and has a beautiful airy top end.....U67/U47/M269c all nice vintage mics...Sanken CU-44x has nice top.....i recently used the *new* Telefunken U47"s and C-12's(yes they are making them again) and they were pretty great...in the end most mics recommended for vocals will be close to others of their design IF you use a good preamp and compresssor...that's as important as the mic.....as often as not the $500 dynamic mic just sounds better for the track than the $15,000 vintage condenser...it is a taste thing