My wife uses a shure wireless system with an SM58 capsule. Because she doesn't hold the mic close, I decided to order her a wireless SM86 condenser mic. I ordered from Sweetwater to take advantage of the no interest credit card.

When the mic arrived, I was disappointed to find that the SM86 was no more sensitive than the SM58. I called and was told to send it back.

However, the lack of sensitivity of the mic made no sense. We have a wired SM86 which is very sensitive.

So I did a little more reading only to find that there is a switch in the SM86 capsule that takes the mic from -10 db to -0 db. Instantly, the mic worked so I called to say I would keep the mic. My sales guy at Sweetwater called me to find out what I had found out.

The moral of the story is that although I get pretty good over the phone service from the big retailers, it's not the same one on one service I get from a local retailer who knows and works with the products.

I think this is a good reminder to me that paying a little more for that extra service isn't such a bad thing.