EQ you can apply to any sound source and can apply to any mic,
but a good sound without EQ only some microphones are able to provide.
Sure, I understand that. What I don't understand is WHY it's so important to so many people.
Why is it important that the EQ be set right (to your taste) in the mic circuitry by default, rather than straightforwardly fixing it in your mixer or DAW, which accomplishes the same thing.
I for one don't want to even bother with several times as many expensive mics (much less pay for them all) just so I can pick one that's bright for some sources and another that's scooped for other sources, and one that has low bass extension for some other sources and yet others that are flat for sources I actually like as-is... while simultaneously satisfying all my other, more demanding criteria.
Yes, a microphone to me has to sound great without any EQ applied,
it has to sound correct for the source and give me the sound as close as I want it to be without any EQ applied.
I have, as most everyone has, an extensive collection of EQs at my disposal I can then use any EQ to taste during or recording or mixing stage to improve on that or make the sound fit the mix.
But the recorded sound straight from the mic has to be good with no EQ to me.
Why?
I'm always able to find a mic that works great for a specific source of sound with no EQ, while I never listened to any Rode mic that was not harsh or sibilant.
So I don't personally like how Rode voices their mics, and as I've said most of my colleagues find the same.
That sounds like your self-imposed discipline of NOT being willing to lift a finger to simply EQ the mic to your liking is the problem, not the mic.
To me that's like picking a smartphone based on screen brightness as shipped by default from the factory, without bothering to adjust it to see if you can make a too-dim phone brighter or a too-bright phone dimmer. Of all the things to pick a smartphone based on, that should be low on the list because there's a trivial fix for that. Better to pick a phone based on what its OS can do, processor, DRAM size, etc.
I seem to recall kingkorg saying that at least some of the Rode mics are the way they are because of well-thought-out tradeoffs, like setting the diaphragm tension(?) to make it less sensitive to plosives. If that means you need a little EQ, that seems just fine to me, and worth it.
I don't care if the FR is flat or not, I just care that it sound good for that instrument and for the sound we are trying to achieve.
Of course taste and usefulness is subjective,
So is lazy pickiness
As a cheapskate and somebody who is lazy in different ways, I'd rather make a few measurements and twiddle a couple of knobs to get my desired FRs than mess with a whole zoo of additional mics to avoid it.
there's probably many people that like the sound of Rode mics and have made good records with them, but let's not forget that Rode mics got popular because they're were cheap entry level microphones and most people that have them have home studios.
A fact is you don't find many, if any, Rode microphones in big professional high-end studios.
I really don't care, unless I can figure out a GOOD reason why, and an unwillingness to simply roll off objectionable treble is not a good reason in my book, unless there's something important I'm missing. (And there may well be.)
I'm not a fan of arguments from authority. I really don't care whether high-end studios use Rode mics, if they can sound great to me and the people who listen to my music, with some minor EQing. And if they can't, I want to know WHY, in detail, because that will guide how I deal with whatever the issue actually is.
I also do find it entirely plausible that most of the pros have some biases that aren't justified. I'm all too familiar with gear snobbery about other things, and I don't have a lot of use for it.
I am also not a professional myself, with paying clients to impress with my gear, and I don't have any desire to spend thousands and thousands of dollars extra on more and more microphones, just so I can be picky about overall FR curves as shipped from the factory. I could do it, I suppose, but it seems wasteful; I'd rather donate the money to a good cause, or spoil myself in more gratifying ways.
