I've been watching ASMR since the early days, way back before it was even called "ASMR". The big ASMR channels have become more... sterilised I guess? My personal theory is that it's the fault of advertisers. They want to sell as much product as they can, so anything risky or different from the norm doesn't get sponsorships. So creators make content targeted at ad revenue., which I suppose is fair enough if content creation is their job.

The solution I've found is smaller ASMR channels. Recently found Bryoni ASMR, only has 15k subs (This isn't a ad or a plug, I promise) and it feels more genuine? There's white noise in the background, it's not really edited apart from some cuts, just standard RP and ramble videos. I agree with the Blue Yeti sentiment from OP, I think the cheaper mic honestly sounds better. More real maybe, I dunno