Personally, the first thing I do with a mic, is find the sweet spot. Set it up in a vocal booth (or the best you can do) and sing 'ahhhs and oooohs' starting left, right, up, down, etc until you find the point at which the mic really shines.
(Mine is usually about 4" above me and pointed down toward my mouth to get rid of pops and to record a bit of the nasal sound from my nose.
As far as compression goes, you want to try and get as much signal to 'tape' as possible, so I usually use a slight bit of compression while recording....but like all compression...if it sounds like you're using it (it pumps or breathes) its too much.

First on the list of course is a really good microphone. Most people can't afford a Neuman top of the line, but a TLM404 is relatively inexpensive and sounds a hundred times better than the old Shure 58 standby.
You also need to read up on the different mic types (ribbon, cardoid etc...) to find one suitable for the situation you're using it for.

Last but not least is to learn vocal techniques in general.
ie, how to work a mic... (especially in a live situation)
... and pop reduction.

Once you've recorded to 'tape', you need to EQ it so that the soft parts don't get lost and the louds don't redline everything...then you need a really good reverb unit to add room noise.

Last but not least is to be aware of headphone bleed. Try to tone down the kick and snare sounds so that they don't bleed through.