Rode M3

Hey fellas ,

I was looking around the internet for reviews regarding the Rode M3 microphone as drum overhead but nothing. Nobody says anything about it. Maybe this "silence" testifies it's poor quality?? Lets see.

So i came up with the idea , to open a thread for this microphone and hopefully attract the attention of Rode M3 owners , who would like to share their experience with the M3.

i know that Vinnie used to endorse RODE mics: http://www.vinniecolaiuta.com/articles/gc02.aspx hopefully still does for his home studio.

another one - http://www.centrmus.com.hk/pro_detail.asp?proUser=8

I don't own one, but it looks like it's designed to compete feature-wise with the AKG C1000s, which is a microphone I do own. It's about thirty percent cheaper though.

Rode make decent mics, in general, so I'd imagine it's OK quality-wise. The ability to battery-power the diaphragm is useful and something I have done on my C1000s once in a while (in a pinch). So it's looking like a reasonable purchase in those respects. As to how it sounds, I have no idea. In general a small-diaphraghm condenser is going to give you a fair balance with a bit of a top-end emphasis that will pick up cymbals well and bass drum less so - but that is true of all of these kinds of mics.

Do you have access to a setup with phantom power? If so, I'd actually go a little higher and get yourself a Rode NT5, a Pair or NT5's or an NT4 (a stereo mic). I can happily testify that those are exceptionally good value for what they are and I have some experience recording drums with them.

I never used a Rode M3 microphone, but as mediocrefunkybeat stated, the M3 does look Very similar to an AKG C1000s that I do own. Specs look very similar also.

Dennis