RODE NT5 HATE

[Studdy]

Well I Bit The Bullet The NT5's Are In. Here Are My First Impressions.

The Mics Sound Much Better Than My AT2020's Did. But I Think Everyone Knew That Would Be The Case.

The Mics Are Still Very "Hot". When Tracking Overheads Through An M-Audio DMP3 with the Roll Off Engaged I can Still Clip My Converters When The Preamp is At its Lowest Setting. Is This Not Weird Behaviour?

The Clip Is Almost Too Tight. Very Hard To Get The Mics In and Out.

The Case Sucks Ass.

Overall I Like The Microphones Based On Their Sound. For $550.00 w/ Taxes I Feel I Made The Right Decision.

 

[colonel kurtz]

my nt5's have always clipped inputs on drums, even with preamp gain down all the way...an inline pad will take care of it, though

and i agree the clips are tighter than a 12 year old virgin, but if that's the biggest gripe someone can come up with(aside from ridiculous sensitivity), then rode is doing something right lol

 

[Studdy]

Agreed. I Quite Like Them. I Honestly Dont Find Them Harsh. In Early Tests Anyways. I've Even Been Playing With Hi Shelving and Adding a few db's just to see how they hold up to eq and they are still sounding quite musical. I do not agree with the "chinese" top end comment. I had a Studio Projects C1 that had a "chinese" top end and these are much tamer.

Hope This Helps Someone Down The Road. I think I need to rename the thread. "NT5 Love"

 

[GeertSamuel]

I only read good things about them. The price is really good for the quality you get.
When I got my KM184 I didn't ditch my NT5's, and I still use them on china's, hi-hats, rides...

 

[Strachan of D]

Rode NT55 are a great option for you man check em out

 

[Studdy]

Well upon further testing, I've come to a conclusion. Although the mics sound decent I still feeling like I bought "home studio" mics. I just called and ordered a pair of at4040's i just feel that down the road the pair of 4040's will always be great, im sure they will make fine drum overheads and do great on my acoustic. Switching from the Rodes to Audio Technica is more of a decision based on quality, feel, and a different sound. I know i would have kept looking at those rodes like I made a bad choice.

 

[maxwellroad]

Bought a pair of nt5 after i first bought a 002 rack and could not stop clipping on o/h. Was told it was due to gain range of 002 pre so was promptly talked into buying a digimax fs, which has a lower starting point on the gain and it works ok. Sure not the best mics in the world but totally usable with some eq. Poor placement really kills them though. NT55 is great sounds awesome next to a 57 top snare.

 

[KillFrenzy]

Does anybody have experiences with Studio Projects C4?? They got lots of features and a great price.

 

[Studdy]

No experience, but to me the c4's seemed a little to good to be true. Same as the c1. Which to me is a horrible microphone. If the C4's are anything like the C1 the word "brittle" comes to mind. Im was trying to think of a description for how I feel about the sound of the NT5's and "clinical" is a good word, although i've not used a basic measurement microphone I imagine its "staleness" would be similar to the sound i perceive from the NT5s. Characterless?

 

[KillFrenzy]

Brittle is what I heard about the C1. You think the C4s follow the same hype? I expect a kind of bright but not an ear-piercing SDC. lol
Clinical can be good.. or not?!

What about the SE Electronics SE1?? Any experiences??

 

[Studdy]

Update: I am loving my AT4040's. Just thought I would share.

 

[Uros]

Dunno about NT5, but RODE is a good company. I used recently K2 on vocals, and let me tell you - that mic rocks. That continuously variable polar pattern control (omni, cardioid, figure-8 and everything in between) on dedicated power supply is really killer stuff.