Hi all,
I have just bought an Audio Technica AT897 after trawling the worlds video/sound forums.
I bought it on the basis of quality and sound and was looking at the Rode Videomic and the ME300-D before I decided.
If you go to
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=53
There is a huge amount of postings on sound and many of which discuss your question. They also compare the AT897.
Take a look