The Rode NT5-S is an excellent mic for many different applications. I see it as a poor man's SM81, although I use both for recording acoustic guitar. I trust Rode quality overall and this mic lives up to their standards.

I bought this after reading several reviews of best mics to record instruments. One review in particular had sound samples from mics from $99 to $10,000, made me realize that I wanted this mic in addition to the venerable SM57 for use on electric and acoustic guitars.

I own about a dozen microphones. They are mostly budget mics under $1000. They include the SM57 and SM58 as stables. I did a few experiments where I used 4 mics at a time to record the same electric guitar session through a Blackstar Studio 10 KT88 into Logic Pro X. The Rode NT5 small-diaphragm pencil condenser mic won the tone battle doing a nice job on both clean, bright Tele tones and dirty, boosted tones. It captured harmonics and overtones very nicely. The SM57 was also good. So the question one should ask is: "is the Rode NT5-S worth twice the price of the SM57?" My answer would be a qualified YES. The qualification is you want and need both mics. I almost always use at least two mics on the speaker cab or pointed up close to the 12th fret of an acoustic. The SM57 and NT5 make good choices for those two mics.

The biggest surprise for me with the Rode NT5 was not how good it sounded with guitars. I expected that given all the reviews and sample audio recordings. I do my research before buying a product. What surprised me was how good it is on vocals. I have a number of mics with prime use case being for vocals including large-diaphragm condensers. I believe I prefer the sound of the NT5 through a mic pre using a Mullard re-issue 12AX7 over any of my other options. I have used it one podcast and will be tracking some rock vocals this weekend. Like with guitars, I often use more than one mic when tracking so I can blend in addition to a room mic. My current audio interface supports 4 mic/instrument/line-in, plus a second system with 2, plus a stand alone Zoom H4n Pro with up various configurations between built in XY stereo mics and two external mic XLR/TRS/TS inputs.

The Rode NT5 is clearly a very clearly a very versatile mic with clear application for instrument and vocals. In hindsight I wish I had purchased a matched pair but I bought the NT5-S product SKU which is the single mic. I encourage you to do more research than just listening to me, but my recommendation is to add this mic to your toolbox ASAP! It's tiny size is a nice feature adding to the flexible ways you could use it. I generally don't give 5 stars usually using 4.5 to represent a great product. But this one seemed to earn the 5 star rating.

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This works great.

My hat off to Rode for this one!

I have used a stereo pair of Rode NT-5s for about 2 years now. I mainly use them on live choirs (15-40 voices), and one would do just as well if you don't need stereo miking. They're also excellent on drums (primarily as overheads), and Leslies. Their signal clarity is astounding. There is virtually no coloration or proximity effect with these mini-monsters.

I highly recommend these mics, but one word of caution first:

They pick EVERYTHING up! So, don't use them if you will be clicking your studio mouse mid-session!

I use this mic for vocals, as well as guitar and percussion- it is a charming and great-sounding mic, all at a very affordable price. A must have!!

The main use of this mic is generally acoustic guitars and drum overheads, and it's will capture a fairly accurate picture of them - there aren't any very large and sudden dips or humps along the frequency spectrum. There is a fairly wideband hump in the higher frequencies (~8-12khz) and a bit of a dip below 120hz or so, but it really isn't a very bright mic. If you want a really bright sound, as some modern music does, you'll probably end up EQing this mic heavily. I however enjoy cymbals and acoustic guitars that blend with the track rather than dominate it, and I need to EQ little to do so. I've used it for vocals a few times - it did very well on a politely sung folk song, although it captured slightly odd sibilant sounds (may have just been the singer!) On a more aggressive track the vocals fit into the song VERY easily, however the microphone didn't seem up to the challenge of (dubiously) loud vocals.

In summary, you'll get an accurate and usable sound from this mic, one that balances itself with surrounding instrumentation very easily. If you want that very bright modern sound you're going to have to work for it.

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