depending on whether you need the extreme highs (crash cymbals, hihats etc...) you might be better off getting an SM57 and spending the difference on a preamp. Condensers are going to pick up every little bit of noise around you, whereas with a dynamic, it's only really going to record what's in front of it, and the frequency range you are likely to be recording isn't as big as you probably think it is. SM57's will tolerate nearly 100db SPL too, so that's most bases covered, although the NT1a does tolerate up to 137db (ie standing next to a jet.) I've never known anybody have a problem with with SM though, and what with digital processing at your fingertips, there really isn't a noticeable quality difference any more.