do you own both the NT5 and MXL603?

[rhythm]

Hello....I'll soon be purchasing a couple of matching mics to record acoustic instruments - primarily both steel and nylon string guitar, but possibly also small ensembles which may include more guitars or other acoustic stringed instruments. Both price and reading lots of positive comments and reviews have got me currently very interested in the NT5s and the 603s.

I realize that owning a matched set of mics is not a necessity, but I figure that there may be times where it would come in handy, so having a matched set certainly can't hurt.

I'd be very interested in hearing what folks who own both have to say about them. I'm not looking to hear which is the 'better' mic or which one I should buy; I'm sure that they are both good mics and they're just different from each other. I'm asking for those of you who have done side-by-side comparisons of these mics to describe their impressions of the differences of the two mics. The more detail, the better - since I know what kinds of sound and 'feel' that I like in a recording, I can hopefully use some of your descriptions of a comparison between the two to help me make a decision.

Thank you much...I hope to hear from some of you who own both of these!

Greg

DJL, I hope you get the chance to reply to this post....I know you're one of the folks out there who own both of these mics!

 

[willovercome]

i own the NT5's and i've used the MXL 603's. for my taste i prefer teh NT5's. they sound great as drum overheads, as an x/y pair for acoustic guitar. that's about all i use them for, but they sound great. what you hear is basically what you get from them. if you have a crappy drum kit or guitar, the nt5's will let everyone who listens to your recording know. i think the MXL 603 might be a bit more forgiving, and they're at least $100 less than the NT5. as a matter of opinion i'd go with Rode.

 

[geekgurl]

Willover,

What characteristics make the NT5s different from the 603s other than not as forgiving? I have a pair of 603s, toyed with the idea of getting NT5 and ultimately didn't go that route ... but I'm curious what your thoughts are on how the NT5s might be an improvement.

Thanks.

 

[DJL]

The Rode NT5's are darker sounding than the Marshall MXL603S's or should I say..... the MXL603S's are brighter sounding than NT5's. IMO, the NT's sound a little nicer on things like cymbals, brass and etc than the MXL603S's. The NT5's are closer to neutral/flat than the MXL603S's.... the 603's have more of a bumped up high end than the NT5"s which I prefer on things like acoustic guitar, mandolin and etc.

When using them as a X/Y stereo pair..... If I were to have to pick between the NT5's and 603S's for recording something like a big band or ensemble and etc I would take the NT5s... but for something like a acoustic/string group I would take the MXL603S's.

 

[Armistice]

I've got both, and I'm currently trying to work out which I like best - doing some trials in a couple of hours, in fact.

So far I've only XY'd them, and on my guitar (and here's an important point - my guitar may not sound like your guitar), so far I prefer the MXLs - although I have a suspicion that one may be faulty.

The reason I like them so far is that they're a touch brighter than the NT5s, as DJL explains above - this works better on my guitar(s) - the main one being a CW80 Maton, which, being an Australian guitar, is probably no good to you as a reference point.

I'd intended selling whichever set I liked least, but may keep both, they're not exactly a huge investment.

Anyway, I'll get back on this thread when I've done more with them, I know Ausrock's also interested in this exact topic.

 

[ausrock]

The general verdict on the NT5's seems to be that they are marginally less bright than the 603's, so I doubt that I will be changing my mind and actually buying a Rode product.............at least not yet.

I have only used the 603's once as o/heads and yes, they do tend to accentuate the cymbals to some degree...............my solution was to move the mics towards the back approx 6" and that seemed to tame the extra highs and give a good balance over the kit.

On acoustics, to date the 603's have been giving excellent results, (as have the pair of B1's).........all micing has been X-Y, and the guitars have been a Maton 525 (semi-slimline dreadnaught) and a Jim Williams d'ble neck slimline 6/12 string. I have yet to try them on my CW80, but it has a fuller bodied sound and consequently I expect the 603's to be fine.

Once I finish making the new set of acoustic gobos, I might actually get some serious time recording.

 

[Armistice]

Hey there ausrock - thought you might pop your head into this one!

I've done a bit more work with the MXL 603s over the weekend - I've found them to be more suited to my guitars than the NT5s, but I'll still hang onto the 5s, will come in handy for something, I'm sure.

The NT5s tended to overly emphasise certain mid and upper mid frequencies that I didn't really like - in the end I got a decent-ish sound by backing them away from the guitar a fair bit, but then I had issues with gain level.

The MXL603s I initially tried XYing and got better results than the NT5s, that middy tone I was complaining about ad nauseum in other posts was much diminished. I switched from XY to having one at the twelfth fret about 40 cm out and one below the bridge, and for the first time I got a sound that I'd consider usable in unaccompanied guitar work - more tweaking to go, of course, I didn't have that much time to deal with this this weekend, but I'm reasonably confident that the answer lies there somewhere - the MXLs seem to handle the overall "boominess" of these guitars a bit better than NT5s do - as well as the aforementioned greater "brightness" or less "darkness", whichever way you want to describe it.

So far I'm thinking I've got good value for AUD$338 for the pair, as against the $600 I paid for the NT5s when they were first out.

I remember at the time thinking I'd done well as the RRP was almost $900 from memory. That will teach me to be an early adopter!

Anyway, back to the drawing board.

I'll be heading north for a brief holiday in a few weeks time, I'll give you a wave as I'm driving past Newcastle. Cheers

 

[DJL]

IMO, the Marshall MXL603SPR (matched stereo pair) mic's are what I call a "best bang for the buck" budget type SDC mic's and are worth way more than their cost. Also, if you can afford a matched pair of Shure KSM137's you should check them out... IMO, the KSM137's are well balanced and sweet, and I highly recommend them.

 

[rhythm]

Thanks to all for the replies. For my recording needs right now it sounds like the 603s are going to be the choice. From hanging around here for a while and reading posts I was pretty sold on them anyway, but I wanted to get the direct comparison to the NT5 too. Eventually I'll probably own both, but not yet. So nice to know that a very affordable mic has made so many people happy.

As far as reputable ordering sites, I'll open a new thread for that.

Thanks again....I'll watch this thread for a while in case anyone else weighs in on the topic.

greg