I bought these for my home studio and have had them for a few months now. I have been using them primarily as drum overheads, but also for the stereo recording of an acoustic piano (a 100 year old Bluthner, but that's another story) and the results are fantastic. I have had recording experience in a professional studio in the past (with Neumann microphones no less) and I can't honestly say that the huge price difference was manifest in the sonic results...
Some details:
I generally recorded the drums at my home studio with an 8 mic setup - kick, snare, 3 toms, 2 overheads and room mic. After changing my previous overheads (admittedly a cheap brand I won't name of pencil condensers) with the Rode M5's - the difference is staggering. I now find that I don't even need most the of the microphones and I only use 4 for the final mix - the Rode M5's for the overheads using a ORTF configuration on a stereo bar (the K&M 23550, which is way more affordable than Rode's separately sold model), a single SM57 for the snare and an AKG D112 for the kick. And I must add that the drums sound great even with only the two overheads... The clarity is staggering, the nuances are all captured, the stereo image is superb, there are no phase issues using the ORTF configuration and the room sound is captured perfectly.
Pros:
- Superb clarity
- Lend themselves perfectly for matched stereo image recording (drum overheads, acoustic piano etc.).
- 10 year warranty from Rode
- Capture room sound and acoustics amazingly well.
- Affordable without sacrificing quality
Cons:
- Don't include a stereo bar which could have been a nice touch but is understandable at this price point. Suggest getting the cheaper K&M model mentioned above and not the overpriced Rode model sold separately.
- Don't include a case - but again, understandable at this price point. I just keep them on the stand anyway and cover them in plastic bags when not being used...
