Hitting the Analog Master Buss to Shave Transients

That's quite a unique aspect that's pretty unusual from my experience.  There is probably some other mics around that share that "reach", but tonally the closest thing I've heard to a KM84 is the Michael Joly modded Oktava 012 SDC's.  They don't quite have the "reach" though.

For the life of me I don't understand why Neumann doesn't just reissue the KM-84. It came out at the same time as the U-87. People have been trying and failing to equal it forever.

You have to wonder if the pro audio market is so small that these big companies are being run by ceo's that have no knowledge of the industry. Neumann's absolute disregard in listening to its customers is almost laughable.

The problem isn't the cost. It isn't the parts. It's the desire to do it. They make the 184. Essentially the same body, the same capsule. Just minus the transformer. How much can that cost? Not much. But Sennheiser/Neumann just doesn't want to make an 84. So I don't hold ANY hope that a 47FET success will lead to a KM84 reissue. It's not going to happen without new management / direction.

Having worked with and had a relationship with Sennhieser USAs top brass let me give you this percepective.
These guys are not about living in the past, they see the whole vintage recreation / clone thing as a niche market, they are not set up for small batch manufacturing.
The engineers there are driven by marketing and they see growth and dollars in MI and the more classical part of recording.
I hope the 47 FET reboot that even Klause seams to be impressed.
The KM84 is everybody's greatest desire but at what price point?
You gotta hit that right and remember as great as it is, it's not a Silver Bullet. Also like all these classics, a ton of the potential buyers have neve heard a KM84 and are going to find its not what they wanted it to be.
Unlike FLEA or Telefunken USA the guys at Sennhieser, know this and put the $ into what the real potential market is before they start a project.

I had two original 47FET's in my house, just to try. I picked the one I thought sounded better, then my wife Janet began tracking a vocal, it took about a minute before she said, "give me my mic", meaning my UM-17 Blueline. The 47FET was such a dud, really. A $3,000 kick drum mic ain't worth nuthin' to me.

When we've mentioned the K84 and the 47 FET, I've often wondered why Neumann doesn't simply offer the original U47 in as close a version as they can make. They'd could easily $6,500 for it, if they really went for it.

As for transient shaving, I think Drbill's point of close miking being a huge culprit in edgy tone was dead on. I've noticed that my Dizengoff D4 helps with smoothness a little, probably from the natural tube compression. I've been running a final mix today, and it's really interesting, how changing the compressor in the 2 bus changes everything. Whenever I get it smooth enough, it's too dull, when I get the impact I want, it's too edgy. I think I need two Sta-level's in my mixdown to get what I really want.

Regarding close mic'ing vs. not close mic'ing in pop music, the standard I've always felt was Ken Scott's work with Missing Persons. All their stuff all sounds like it was recorded in a big room. All the key parts, guitars, vocals, especially the drums. There's just so much room and ambience in all those recordings. Even more so than a lot of other similar productions at that time. Nothing is up against your face in those recordings.

I still put on Missing Persons and not only can I admire the musicianship and the writing, but I'm also constantly amazed at how much room (meaning space, not "room" sound) there is between the sound and the speakers, but also between each musician and Dale's singing.  It's like when I listen in my car, it always sounds like each band member is 5 feet from each other and the entire band is like 2 feet from my car speakers, near the middle of my engine!  And it rocks. 

Great stuff...