Considering I was the only one left with mics in the air, I received a lot of questioning looks. I quickly packed up my Neumann’s, but left the RØDE’s on the stand and added the included Dead Cats. The weather called for simply cloudy skies, but a squall came in, which sent the tapers scrambling to ditch their rigs, including myself. “Funny enough, I ended up encountering really poor recording conditions, including rain and gusty wind when testing the NTG5’s at an amphitheater in addition to my regular rig (Sound Devices MixPre-10, custom 15′ stand, matched Neumann KMR 81 i MT’s -Ed.).

This was confirmed by our live concert tester who welcomed the form factor ( as well as the Dead Cat accessory) during a recent recording. Less weight also means that mics positioned on top of tall stands are less affected by extraneous factors, which can cause adverse sonic artifacts and quality issues. The size and weight reduction are also beneficial for concert recording. The weight and size is serious consideration for many users who either hand hold the mic, or use it at the end of a boom pole for location shooting, and even a small drop in mass will be much appreciated after a long work day. “I thought my Sennheiser MKH 8060 was lightweight, but the NTG5 makes it look heavy,” commented our field recording specialist. At just 76g, it’s very lightweight compared to other shotgun microphones, as well as quite diminutive in length at 203mm.

One of the biggest things you’ll notice about the RØDE is its size and weight. We employed three different reviewers for our long-term test, their comments in quotes below.

Foremost, RØDE delivers a technically advanced product with quality sound reproduction and plenty of accessories at a price point that almost anyone can afford. The NTG5 features some noteworthy advances in the crowded shotgun market, which merits attention and praise. RØDE recently debuted the NTG5 shotgun microphone and we evaluated it for three different applications, field recording, concert recording and video production.

She rode shotgun