Bought this mic to use as an overhead mic for cymbals as it was relatively inexpensive. Had a play when it arrived, and ended up singing two tracks onto hard disk. I did a direct comparison against my U87, and surprisingly the rode sounded better. It had lower noise, clearer high's and a slightly more flattering sound. It gives just enough bass response to sound flattering, but keeps the sound realistic. I like the fact that its a basic mic, and has no knobs to play with, as reproducing a sound becomes a bit difficult if you keep altering the settings. I used the mic through a dedicated vocal pre amp, and found that with a bit of playing it performed faultlessly for most vocal styles. I then recorded a friends cello, and the results, again were superb. Natural, transparent sounding, and the very low noise meant that it lightly picked up the sound of the bow which added to the realism. Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of parting with my U87, but for certain applications, particularly more modern rock music and strings, the rode favored very well against a mic costing over ten times the amount. If I had tried this mike, and someone told me it was 500 dearer, I'd still have bought it. If you liked the original, you'd love this. It doesn't give the slight mid range boost of the original, but with a teenie bit of hf cut on the EQ, I couldn't tell them apart. The "A" model has far more high end response and clarity than the original. My intention now is to make sure this mic never goes near a drumkit, it would be a waste.

This is a very basic,no frills/extras studio mic:I wanted one to use with my Fostex 16 track whichhas internal 48 volt phantom power, and was sold on the ultralow 5db selfnoise of the nt-1a (it isvery quiet, even with added compression and reverb)the mic maybe likes more preamping, it seems a bitlow gain, but the sound quality is very good, pure.For a dependable,sturdy condenser, itwas a good purchase.

I bought this mic about 3 months ago, I have been using it ever since. When I first got it, I used it on vocals, than a few weeks later, guitar. When I am songwriting on my four track, I almost always use the Rode on guitars. It's easy to get a good sound with. I also use it (along with 2 other mics) to record guitars when I do a demo. I have had a lot of time alone with this mic and here is what I have to say. On a guitar amp, it sounds lush. The louder you crank the amp, the more it sounds amazing.My Mesa Boogie has this very dimensional sound that comes from the speaker, and this mic picks that up directly. The mic is very real sounding. Natural. On vocals, the same goes. Very real sounding. Some people say it's hard to compress but I don't think so. I love compressing it. Anything you put through it is gonna sound clean. There is no self noise and it's very dynamic. All around, this mic has got to be one of my faves.