Take what everyone says with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to opinions
ProTools, *I* don't like it. Tho, I would not say it sucks at all.
But, even if I did, or if I went on like majority of people that think they know anything about production and say that its the best thing ever to bless the face of the earth with its existence, it would still be my opinion.
TBH, I think just saying something sucks, or something is amazing isn't an opinion worth keeping in mind unless they're a reasons behind their position.
A bit off track there
Anyway, the equipment is fine quality-wise. But good or even best equipment wont equal quality. I say this so you wont go thinking just because you spend all this money you'll have the best sound out there soon as you open the box and get to recording. Quality starts in the real world, good equipment and a great recording environment -- There is indeed more to it, but starting off should focus on that.
Lastly, I wouldn't be surprised if there we're fake Shure Mics, or any big brand mics. I haven't seen such a thing -- I think you'd have to be looking for them to find that. I'm assuming they're actually referring to cheaper alternative mics (I guess would be an ok term). I HAVE seen these, in which they're made by a smaller company that has microphones designed specifically as a direct competitor to the much more popular SM57/58 mics. You can go with these and probably still do fine, butttt even with larger companies you'd want to have some kind of listen before you buy -- in-store or any kind of hands on testing, you just cant get any better than that, then there's audio demos and reviews on youtube or other related sites.
The problem is the smaller companies are also lesser known, so you're less likely to find a video or review on them.
Speaking of mics and smaller companies has anyone seen the MXL LSC-1?