RØDE TF5 Premium Precision-paired ½" Small-diaphragm Condenser Microphone with Stereo Bar for Orchestral Music Recording and Music Production

Overall I'm incredibly disappointed with the Rode TF-5 mics. I'm a huge fan of Tony Faulkner and his work but to my ears these are no different to any other Rode mic, too bright and they also severely lack low end! I have two pairs of the NT-5 and with the cardioid caps and they are too bright, the omni cap is much better and doesn't suffer from the same tonal problem. I purchased the TF-5 pair at the same time as the Shure KSM141 matched pair and there really is no comparison. The Shure's are incredibly smooth throughout the whole tonal range with the right balance of low end and importantly they are never bright or harsh. Whatsmore the polar pattern is switchable and they sound stunning in either omni or cardioid. Overall the TF-5 matched pair fall short of the price tag, I really like Rode as a company, they have good products but they need to sort their mics out if they want to hang with the big boys. Also a small niggle, but for over £1000 I'd expect a half decent case, even the NT-5 pairs come with a hard case and I'm also not a fan of the plastic stereo bar. Sadly, it's a no from me.

I have to say, this is greatest disappointment in terms of price - quality. I own Rode NT5 and now, I thought I will step up my game by buying TF5. Noisy - Noisy - Noisy .... In fact Rode TF5 generate more self noise than my old NT5! Yes, I am not misspelling here! I have set NT5 and TF5 next to each other and set same gain on both at the same recorder. NT5 still quiet as always, but TF5 hissing the heck out of it like an angry snake. So I thought to gain match them - TF5 is more sensitive so I have turned down the gain a little to match them both. Well the noise slightly went away, but still more hissy than NT5!!!! This is ridiculous because Rode NT5 is £270 and TF5 is £1150 , Just WOW! I have made a recording and compared both. Really the differences are slightly noticable for me as sound engineer of 15 years. But listener it will never be aware of "better sound" - yeah, it might be slightly warmer, but really nothing worth extra cash.... Additional info is that my Rode TF5 arrived in unsealed box ( just cardboard with a lot of open spaces for humidity enter the box and therefore the mics. Mics were unwrapped too. This might be affecting performance too IMHO. I have no idea, but it feels like I have received a return from someone else and now TFs5 are back on the way to AMAZON :/ Also manufacturers packaging looks like it took plenty bashing before reaching me....

When comparing these mics to a pair of Neumann 184's - recording acoustic guitars - the Rode TF - 5's were clearly preferable. The recordings were not sitting in a mix, just the guitars on their own. Both are good mics, and the Neumann's are detailed especially in the mid, but the Rode's had a more rounded bottom end, were more 3 dimensional sounding, more like the guitar in the room, more flattering and more pleasant to listen too. Have yet to try them in a mix. But for the Amazon price these TF's are better than the very good Neumann SDC's