How does the MXL 603's compare to the Rode NT5's?

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Mongoo

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Hi,

First off, I can not find any 603's at any online music stores. I've heared they are a good inexpensive mic for drum overheads and accustic guitar. Just curious though how 2 603's would compare to a matched pair of rode NT5's? What are each of these good for? They look alot a like, but maybe they are completly different animals.

Do you recommend either of these for drum overheads and accustic guitar? What other use are they good for?

Thanks

Mongoo
 
Try here. These are not claimed to be matched. 8th Street has the matched pair for another $80. Still a decent price.

Sorry, can't help with the R0DE comparison.
 
IIRC, the Rode's are a darker SDC, while the MXL603's are a brighter SDC.
That should give you some direction at least.
 
When you guys talk about darker or brighter, do you mean that one (darker) has more low frequencys and the other (brighter) has more high frequencys?

or is darker, brighter something else?

What do you think the MXL 603's and Rode NT5's are good for or best at?

Thanks again
 
I bought mine for micing acoustic instruments, particularly the boomy ones like a dreadnaught guitar. I then ended up using them for all kinds of stuff, even vocals in the right circumstance, but acoustic guitar remains their primary use. Friday I'll be using them with some other mics to track a live chamber ensemble concert. We'll see how that goes.
 
Treeline said:
Try here. These are not claimed to be matched. 8th Street has the matched pair for another $80. Still a decent price.

Sorry, can't help with the R0DE comparison.
Click to expand...

What's the difference with just buying 2 of the same mic or the stereo matched pr.?
 
As a drummer I bought two of the 603,s for overheads for recording and used them about 10 minutes and put them back in the bag.
They are to harsh for good drum overheads. If you can come up with the extra dollars get some oktava mk012,s much warmer smoother sound.
 
I don't have any experiance with those other mics, but I have a pair of NT5's and I love them. I've used them on drum overheads and they sound great, I've used them on accoustic guitar and they also sound great on that too. I have the MC012s as well although I find I go for the NT5s over them when I need a sdc. The only thing I wish the NT5s had were -10 db pads. It's no big deal, it would just be useful.
 
herm is the second person i've heard bash the 603s in favor for the ocktavas claiming that the 603s are too harsh for overheads.....do yall have the 603s jacked up on the gain or eq or something?
 
I think it's a pretty fair assesment.

The 603 is a highly detailed, articulate, comparatively bright mic.

Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. On drum overheads, it can prove problematic due to the proximity to the hi-hat and crash cymbals. If the cymbals are bright and played loudly, they can be a little annoying. This is true for a lot of the more detailed condensers, and is the main reason why flatter mics are often favored -- i.e. Earthworks, various Ribbon mics, etc.

Occasionally, though, you might actually run in to a set with dull heads and worn cymbals that have lost some of their zing. In such an instance, you might find the 603's to be a life-saver. They're a stunningly good mic for the price; very fast to respond to transients. Great for getting extra "stick hitting skin," or "fingers and pick on string," . . . if that's something you need.
 
lol ok so the 603s are a better with dull cymbals.
 
In a recording situation, darker, quieter cymbals are most often prefered regardless of what mic.
 
I have both and use both on acoustic guitars depending upon the guitar, the state of the strings, the style of the song being played, and what other mics are being deployed. I don't often stereo mic acoustics, preferring other combinations in various places. Most often I don't use either but an AKG451. As pointed out, NT5s are slightly darker than 603s.

Can't help you with overheads, sorry.

Cheers
 
Plenty of online stores carry them. Easiest way to find out where is to go to the marshall electronics site: www.mxlmics.com and go to the dealers link. Honestly though they can be found the least expensive on Ebay. I got a stereo matched pair from an online dealer for $169.99 with free shipping and still see them at that price quite frequently. They were brand new in the factory sealed box with the warranty card, shockmounts and flight case. You cant beat it. As far as what they work on, I think it all depends on what you are going for. They can be a bit on the harsh side when compared to the Oktava MK012 (most Oktava mics...in my opinion... are on the dark side) or the NT5 but are definately much more favorable than many other SDC's at or above the price range. Either way, I dont think you can beat these mics. Great room mics. Great instrument mics. Great drum mics. They even sound great on electric bass. If they sound a little too harsh as overheads, maybe try engaging a pad, or raise them up a little higher over the kit/away from the kit.

hope that helps

best wishes

-Darrill
 
wang191 said:
What's the difference with just buying 2 of the same mic or the stereo matched pr.?
Click to expand...


The idea of a matched pair is that someone has tested them to find mics with the same (or nearly same) response through all the frequencies. Because mics can vary, and more so with inexpensive stuff, there is a good the chance of getting two mics that look the same but do not sound the same. One might be hotter than the other, one might have a little boost that the other doesn't and so forth. If you're using a pair to pick up different areas of signal, as in micing a grand piano, or a drumset, or doing ambient micing, it's a lot harder if the mics give you unpredictable results. A matched pair assures you that the results will be consistent no matter how you use them. It ends up being a big issue when you're trying to get consistency in a mix.
 
Even though they're matched, one of my NT5's puts out a little hotter than the other one. No big deal, they sound the same, and it's an easy fix to adjust the volume when mixing.
 
I own a matched pair of 603s and the drummer in my band just bought a matched pair of NT5s. We've been playing around with the NT5s for the last couple weekends. We've used them as drum overheads and compared the results with tracks we recorded using the 603s as OHs. I would agree with the 603s being brighter than the NT5s. However, when using the 603s as overheads, I would put them up as high as I could and slightly more towards the drum throne so they aren't _right_ above the cymbals. Doing that, I never really had a problem with sizzling cymbals or anything like that. In fact, I really liked the 603s on overheads. However, I like the NT5s better. I think they provide slightly more clarity than the 603s because the snare and toms really seem to cut through the mix compared to the recordings where we used the 603s. To my newbie ears, the NT5s sound slightly "better."

Having said that, I don't know if the small increase in sound quality is worth the extra $100-$200. If you are on a tight budget, you should get the 603s and never look back. If you have a little more money to spend, get the NT5s and you won't be disappointed.

By the way, we tried the NT5s on a Mesa Boogie rig last night (4x12 Mesa cabinet, Simul-class 2:90, and Triaxis preamp). After a lot of experimenting with mic placement, we discovered we liked the NT5 results better than the tones we were getting with SM57s.

Cheers!
 
Mongoo said:
Hi,

First off, I can not find any 603's at any online music stores. I've heared they are a good inexpensive mic for drum overheads and accustic guitar. Just curious though how 2 603's would compare to a matched pair of rode NT5's? What are each of these good for? They look alot a like, but maybe they are completly different animals.

Do you recommend either of these for drum overheads and accustic guitar? What other use are they good for?

Thanks

Mongoo
Click to expand...
Both are nice budget mics and could be used for the same applications. As stated above, the MXL603S is a tad brighter sounding than the NT5. Both mics could be used for piano, acoustic instruments, drum overheads, and etc. If you were wanting mics for overheads, I'd most likely lean more towards the NT5's... if you were comming more from an acoustic guitar point of view, I'd most likely lean more towards the MXL603S (but not always).
 
Scottgman said:
By the way, we tried the NT5s on a Mesa Boogie rig last night (4x12 Mesa cabinet, Simul-class 2:90, and Triaxis preamp). After a lot of experimenting with mic placement, we discovered we liked the NT5 results better than the tones we were getting with SM57s.
Click to expand...
hmm...cool.So how did you have the NT5's placed.I'm using a Carvin MTS 3200 head turned up halfway,EQ & sonic maximizer(BBE 482i) set to taste, with two SM57's pointed at the cones of the two bottom speakers of a 4X12 cabinet about 11 inches out panned hard left-right...a decent heavy tone ,but I'm always looking for better and I think I'm about to pick up a pair of NT5's mostly for drum OH's,but hey...if they sound good on the cab. too...then that's just a + :cool:
 
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