I've had my Tascam PB32-P for about a year now and it works great as a patch bay. Its as simple as they come in terms of a patch bay, 32 inputs and 32 outputs. For me, it is more than enough points for my small home setup. I love having it because I can simply patch my outboard gear rather than rewiring my whole set up. I didn't try any other models, but I'm really under the impression that all working patch bays can do the job. I looked into a Behringer patch bay but this was more easily accessible so I went with this one, although I'm sure the Behringer would have been great as well. The price is really cheap and I wouldn't bother spending more money on a nicer looking patch bay because this does the job. There aren't many features or anything, its just a standard 1/4'' patch bay. While it would be nice to have a few more inputs and outputs, since they are so cheap it really wouldn't be a problem to pick up a second one if and when I need it. I will continue to hold on to mine for as long as I need a patch bay.

The Shure KSM27 is a condenser microphone that I have used both in the studio and live. It works great for all applications and especially as overheads on a drum set in a live The shape of it makes it easy to capture a wide array of sounds and makes it easy to capture most of the sound you are after.

The MXL 991 is a small diaphragm condenser microphone that I've used in the studio on acoustic guitar, drum overheads, hi hat, other acoustic stringed instruments and on things that is essential to have a good high frequency response. Since it has a small diaphragm, it makes it perfect for these instruments because it won't capture all of the low end rubble that a large diaphragm mic would.

The MXL 991 is about as cheap as decent condenser microphones come these days. I've use it a bunch in my small studio home set up, but never at a live performance. I've used it on vocals, acoustic guitars, and horns, among other things. The shape of the mic makes it extremely easy to sing into and to set up.

MXL's V67g is a large diaphram condensor type microphone, mainly for studio use and due to its low price probably useful to home recording enthusiasts on a budget.
The sturdy metal capsule painted green, with a gold cover makes this microphone LOOK like it cost more than 100 bucks! Very sharp looking.

According to the manual, the 200 Ohm output impedance is transformer balanced and the frequency response is stated as 30Hz-20KHz. It comes with a cool carrying pouch

The Rode NT4 is a set of condenser stereo microphones, set in an XY pattern. It has an on/off switch, useful when you don't want to waste the battery on it (which is probably always).

The Focusrite ISA 428 is a solid-state analog external preamplifier. There are both XLR and 1/4'' inputs and outputs and has inserts for instruments on the front of it. It is a rackable unit.

While one might get lost looking at all of the knobs at first glance, its a pretty easy unit to get used to with a ton of control. It has both a fixed gain knob which you can move to certain fixed levels and a free one to adjust smaller increments for total control. I've never had access to a manual for it.

While it certainly doesn't have the warmth that a tube preamp would have, it does have a very clear sound and sounds great both with mics and directly plugged in. It doesn't color the sound too much, depending of course if you use the filters or some of the other features. If you go straight through with the preamp it will give you quite an accurate sound.

I've used the Shure SM57 both in the studio and live, but primarily in the studio. I've used it mostly on guitars and snare drum, but have also used it on tom toms, kick drum, as well as other applications and for vocals in a live. To me the midrange response is great, but it definitely lacks some low end definition. For these reasons I stick to using them on guitars mostly. These are classic dynamic mics that every studio should have handy.