Shotgun mics have a pinched sound quality - the whole point of using U87s is the way they sound. They can switch to SM7s or RE20s and achieve much better S/N w

Shotgun mics have a pinched sound quality - the whole point of using U87s is the way they sound. They can switch to SM7s or RE20s and achieve much better S/N with respect to air handling systems, but they want the "U87 sound" (they can keep it, too, IMO - it's painfully neutral) and that just entails a much higher "room noise to signal" ratio.