Upgrading my studio condenser mics

First off i'd like to thank the users of this forum that helped me with purchasing my first condensers back in 09, MCA SP1 was highly recommended and since then I've bought a total of four and couldn't have asked for a better mic to start off with. That being said, it's been quiet some time & with all the sales for black Friday going around I would really like to try some new models out.

Condensers have been the only type of mic I have recorded with, I messed around with a few of my friends ribbons when recording drums once but other than that I have found the SP1 to work with recording almost everything. 

That being said I was looking at a MXL 990/991 package. Both mics seem to be quality recording mics, not too expensive either. Then I ran into the Audix i5 which seems to be gleaming with positive review but I'm not very experienced with using that type of mic. I'm also worried that it would prove to be sub-par for vocals compared to a condenser. Lastly I'm considering the Shure SM57 for obvious reasons. 

If anyone has experience with these microphones I would love some input, I have always consulted with this forum before any of my studio related purchases and have yet to find anything I have bought to be unsatisfactory. So thank you in advance for the help :]

I swapped mics left and right over the course of a couple of years. For MY purposes as a "weekend warrior" type of set-up, I can only afford a small collection of mics. What I found is that you definately want to stay away from "character" mics...that is mics that impart a coloration of the sound. ALL mics will impart some, but some are more flat...more or less what you would call workhorse mics that do everything fairly well without much fuss.
 
Many mics can get fussy with certain preamps too. I am of the opinion that whatever mics you pick should hold their resale fairly well...this resale value should be considered because if the market holds a high value to it that you can expect it's coveted for a reason!
 
Anyway, enough with my old man lecture...
 
For the home studio, you really can't go wrong with a dynamic such as an SM57/58. For condensers KSM32, KSM44, AT4033, AT4050. All will serve you well and deliver pro results.
Personally, I can't get into the MXL's too much...kind of a disposable dealio...although I did have good results with the MCA SP-1...BUT, to be honest doesn't sound too much different to me than an SM58.

I picked up a Guage tube mike ( cheap U47 knockoff) that sounds really good and it's inexpensive

Unlike the Neumann & the Peluso

+1 for the AT4033 - I picked up one of these back in about 1999 and it's still my goto mic even now, especially for female vocalists.

+1 for the SM57 for micing up any sort of guitar cab (and a number of vocalists like using them as well)

Herb: Go to the Gauge website.......I believe the engineer that oversees this company is Rob Chicarelli....I got mine with a $100 off coupon they had as a special and I think these mikes go on sale quite a bit. I think I paid $299 for the mike at the time. Also the U87 knockoff has gotten good reviews.  The Gauge 47 has been getting some use in commercial facilities in Nashville, particularly on background vox

An SM57 (or two) is a very useful mic to have - they're very flexible.

Add in a large diaphragm condensor/stereo pair (on a budget, the NT1A is good, so are the lower priced end of the AT range) and you can cover most things.

Finally, if you record cymbals, drum top kit, acoustic guitar, strings or woodwind I'd suggest a small diaphragm condensor is worth getting as well. The AKG C1000S is a decent cheap mic (it was much more expensive when originally launched - three times the price) or have a look at the Se range.

Having capsule patterns other than cardoid is very useful - omni in particular can create much more natural sounding recordings of solo instruments by capturing more of the room sound and omni also tends to have a flatter frequecy response as well (less proximity bass boost/treble rise).

If you record drum kits/acoustic bass or a bass cab a dedicated low frequency kick-type mic can be very useful as well.