Beautiful Sounding 
by David Sadd from Charleston, SC, June 2008
Music Background:  Pro Musician, Worship Leader, Recording Engeineer

Bought this mic after being reasonably pleased with the Beta 87a I had been using. Wow! What a difference. Everything from a whisper to a scream had more warmth without being muddy, clarity without being brittle and, it just felt like I could connect. I have run it into Beringer and Allen & Heath mixers, but my usual rig is to tour with a Presonus Eureka. What an amazing combination.
This mic is affected by the quality of the pre-amp you are plugged into, so don't take the mixer for granted. Very little handling and breath noise. Not quite as nice as my large diaphragm studio mics, but what do you expect.

  Rode S1 - a sweet versatile excellent vocal stage & very good studio mic 
by Paul from Bay Area, CA, USA, May 2007
Music Background:  Vocal, choir, home audio

I first heard about Rode name from a Karaoke buddy who had whispered into my ears about a rising star line of mikes - Rode. That was a few years back.

Then I joined a vocal group. Rather, it's a church choir. At some point I convinced them that Rode mics are great performers, so we bought a Rode S1 along with an NT4 pair. Whenever a soloist, especially a male vocalist sang on it, the sound produced was sweet, feedback and plosives free. I know, because I had owned and been using Shure Beta 87, AKG C535EB condenser mics, among other lesser mics. There's certain distinctive sweetness yet being faithful to the voice of the S1 that I missed when using the other mics.

So, I purchase a Rode NTK for my home use. Its excellent tube stage lets me hear and enjoy all nuances of vocals when played through MacKie 1620 Onyx mixer. The mike, however great it sounds, is to be used strictly in-house only.

Today an S1 arrived from an order placed 2 weeks ago. I instantly hooked it up to the same system, let it cook for a few minutes, and start singing into it. Sure, side by side compared with the NTK, it lacks the ultimate bass and sensitivity of the latter, but I adjusted to the more close-up proximity and voila, a very rich Rode-family sound can be achieved with the 1/2 priced S1.

Having an S1 and NTK side by side is a very interesting and educational experience that doesn't seem to stop giving me smiles and sheer pleasure.

Thank you Rode, for creating truly fabulous pro-audio products at down-to-earth prices.

  Studio Quality 
by www.mattminikus.com from Pisgah, IA USA, May 2007
Music Background:  Christian Musician / Hobbyist

I bought this mic hoping that it was as good as they make it sound and it was. I didn't think so at first because I had a cheap phantom power supply, but once I plugged into a good system... WOW! Handles plosives well and very little handling noise. The price might seem steep but once you start traveling with it you wouldn't want to send it back.

EXCELLENT MICROPHONE 
by Gary from Santa Fe, NM USA, June 2005

I have been using a mid-line dynamic microphone for live performance and was pleased with my sound until I heard my mic side by side with a condenser (it was not the S1), the difference was very noticable. After hearing that I decided to look for a live condenser mic even though I heard about all the problems with feedback. After some research and reading reviews I decided on the S1. To my surprise I have not had any feeback issues. I have used it on small to medium sized stages, have had no problems with bleed from other instruments and monitor placement has not been an issue either.

The sound is excellent! The vocals really project in the mix. Presence is great, tone is great. The vocals are articulate, no muddiness and there seems to be no coloration of the sound. The build quality seems to be equally as good but I have only had the S1 a short time so it has not been through all the rigors of live use. It comes with a 5 year parts and labour guarantee and according to the literature Rode will honor the waranty even if the owner is at fault! How can you beat that?

Summed up, this is an EXCELLENT live microphone! I would buy it again.
Great job Rode!

Rode S1 
by Richard Freeman from Sydney, Australia, February 2005

I have been trialling the Rode S1 amongst other Mics (The short list being AKG D880, Shure SM86, Rode S1) as a replacement for my aging EV PL80 Vocal mics.
Initial Impressions are that it is a well built Mic that provides a good clear Sound.
I have found it to be exceptional on male Vocals Particularly although perhaps a bit edgy with Female Vocals though this can of course be EQ'ed out and possibly with a bit more work with the S1 I will learn to get used to/around this.
The only real concern is that I have found is that I have had (like other condensors) one case where it picked up the shimmer off High hats etc however again other Mics can pick up spill as well and in this instance I did not have time to do further experimentation to determine wether this was a problem with the Mic or the Stage set up.
So far it rates Highly in the Selection I am trying and given that I can pick up an S1 for slightly less than the price of an SM86 It is likely to be the winner on the grounds of performance although the sound and Relative cost of the D880 also make it a tempting alternative.

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