Sdc mics- nt5 vs Oktava vs SP C4!

[if6was9]

Right

I've got 300 euro to spend on a matched set of small Dc condensers that I'll be using mostly for drum cymbal and acoustic guitar but obviously that I want to be versatile and capable of sounding great on plenty of sources.
My experience of these type of mics so far are the ones that come with the Audix fusion drum mic set- F 15 's- which sound really decent on drum overheads but sound terrible on everything else-they've a terrible low end that I end up filtering out on drums anyway. And then in college they have neumann km 184's which sound amazing on drums and have a really nice natural low end.

The 3 that seem to crop up in conversation here and elsewhere in the budget seem to be the Rode nt-5's, the Studio Projects C4's and Oktava MK 102's.
I'll not be able to try any of them before I buy so I'm wondering is there any of you guys who've ever pitted any of these against another or if you'd choose one over the other? If any of these are close in charcter to the neumanns that would be nice to know as i really like those mics.
The C4's come with pads and omni capsules too which is handy as my firepods don't have pads and the omni would be a nice option, i've heard on here the rodes are very hot and prone to clipping.

Price wise they're all pretty much identical with only the rodes being 20 euro cheaper than the others at 279 euro. I'm really not sure which to plug for, it'd be nice to know if one of these sets stands over the others in sound quality

 

[paladin shredder]

i own the rhode nt5's and WISH i had known about the oktavas beforehand. i've tried the oktava mk012's and the rhode nt5's on overheads and acoustic guitar and the oktavas just sound more natural imo. haven't tried the 102 but i would say go with those instead of rhodes. OR i could sell you my rhodes so i can get some oktavas!

 

[viggen666]

i'm looking for exactly the same in that pricerange...

trying to find a nice score 2nd hand, what's worth looking out for and easy too find ?

 

[greyskull]

not the nt5s... they sound pretty good but clip if you put them anywhere near anything loud

 

[viggen666]

what about Shure SM-81, AKG 451, or 460, Audio Technica AT-4051

any pro's/cons ?

 

[greyskull]

the akg 451s

 

[if6was9]

anything to be said for the studio projects against the oktava's? I've never heard much about them specifically but have heard good things about studio projects stuff in general.

 

[colonel kurtz]

the akg 451s

451's are good mics, but they're almost stupid bright

i prefer 81's most of the time myself, but they both have their uses

 

[Glenn Fricker]

I've got both the Oktava's & the C4's. Both are good. The Oktava's are great on cymbals. ....and I love the C4 with the omni capsule.

 

[Trevoire520]

se3's are pretty great all rounders for overheads/acoustics
atm450's are getting alot of good reviews for overhead duties
nt5's are ok, but as said the lack of a pad is a bit crap, and some folk say they they're a bit dull compared to others
studio projects c4's are also meant to be a pretty good all round mic, and have the omni capsules
oktava's have alot of fans, gotta be a reason for that.
at3031/4041 also should be pretty decent for overhead duties,

but, you did mention km184's:
m audio's pulsar 2 is meant to be pretty similar to km184's if thats what you're looking for, and its only about £200 for a matched pair.

 

[beyond dead]

another one to throw in there is apex 185. they have a built in pad and hp filter

 

[if6was9]

Cool given me alot to think about. I started off wanting the nt 5's cause any rode mic i've used so far, like the k2 and tube classic and there's been 1 or 2 others I really liked, but seems like they mightn't be for me after all.
Oz- how do the studio projects compare to the oktava's with the cardoid capsule? Are the c4's nice on drums? Ever had any reliablility issues with either? If you had to get rid of one set of the mics which would you keep and why? Sorry about the questions just for me right now this is a pretty big purchase!