SM81 rediscovered

[kayagum]

to those of us not employed in a state facility, it certainly is worth buying! a better choice than any Rode, that's for sure.

Are you just saying that, or do you have direct A/B experience with this?

I'm not saying that Rodes are the pinnacle, but I don't think they suck as bad as everyone says it does. I use my NT5 pair for many different applications (stereo mic location recording, sound design, foley, etc.) and they're quite serviceable. I have an early NT1 mic that I use a lot, sounds surprisingly good for room or distant mic'ing. Just don't use a crap preamp.

[thethingwiththestuff]

oh no, i have the early NT1 as well. i use it a lot, as i dont have a big personal mic collection. i can make it work, but that bump in the top end is really, really nasty. if i put it on guitar, i find i can easily cut 5dB or more at 10k, and still have enough top end. and it doesn't take eq well, i can never de-ess enough for vocals. the nicest pre i've put it through was the sytek, and it was still terrible compared to 81's, 414's, and even the Bluebird.

i havent used the nt5's. that's cool that they work for you. do the nt5's have a 10dB pad and a 3 position roll of? i like having those on the 81.

[kayagum]

The NT5 has neither. But I haven't had to pad them or roll them off for what I'm using it for.

Yeah, the NT1 has a big high end bump. But that can be an advantage for some applications. I wouldn't put it on a clean Telecaster, though- maybe the Marines in Iraq should use a recording of that to flush out insurgents.

[sonic dogg]

Back in the day of big hair and large drumsets, we had 5 81's in the studio. Used em on the TOM TOMS all day long as well as acoustic guitars (usually with an 87) and a myriad of other things. They refused to ever quit or sound lousy. They were tempermental with placement ,but when you got it, Bob's yer uncle and away we go. They never failed to be the most natural sounding mics in the arsenal.

[nestle]

Back in the day of big hair and large drumsets, we had 5 81's in the studio. Used em on the TOM TOMS all day long as well as acoustic guitars (usually with an 87) and a myriad of other things. They refused to ever quit or sound lousy. They were tempermental with placement ,but when you got it, Bob's yer uncle and away we go. They never failed to be the most natural sounding mics in the arsenal.

you reminded me about the 80's. I worked as an assistant in a high profile studio in NYC. SM81's all over. We mostly used them as OH's and always on Grand Piano. We would put a 414 on the low strings and a SM81 on the high strings. Then cover the top which I think is kind of old school, but the sound was very crisp and full, it sounded fantastic.

[sonic dogg]

Thats the piano I remember! We had the 81's, sometimes a mono, and sometimes a stereo X/Y and an 87 in the lower section AS WELL AS a heavy piece of plexiglass under the piano and a Crown pzm mounted on that.. Crisp...Clean...No Standing wave issues with notes...in short, as good as it gets... Why dont pianos sound like this anymore?? Oh yeah....they're digital.