Rode NT-1a

Been making music 40 yrs (bluegrass, old-timey, folk). I started recording about 1.5 yrs ago. I record using a Sytek (or Grace m101) preamp into a Fostex MR16HD recorder. I listen via KRK RP6 speakers and Sennheiser HD280 or Ultrasone HFI450 headphones. I record mainly guitar and solo vocals (occasionally with backup vocals), and sometimes ensembles of 20-30 singers.

The Rode NT-1a is a very sensitive cardiod condenser mic with very low self-noise. Its noise floor is same as my AT4047 (-118db). I record mainly vocals with it, but also some guitar. It makes a nice single mic solution for a vocalist who also plays guitar - put the mic about 6" from the singers mouth (inverted) and the guitar is picked up in proper balance with the vocal. On my voice, I like the NT-1a as well as my AT4047 and SM7b - in fact these are my "top 3" vocal mics, all equally useful on the right voices. The NT-1a has a tight low end, full mid-range, and clear, crisp high end. Some say it has a harsh high end or is nasally sounding, but neither has been my experience. I have chosen it over the AT4047 and SM7b on several voices, but picking the best mic for a given voice from among these 3 mics is always a very close call. This says a lot for the NT-1a, which only cost me $229 compared to $300 for the SM7b and $400 for the AT4047.

The AT4047 sounds slightly scooped in comparison to the NT-1a, with about the same low end at the NT-1a but more highs over a wider frequency range than the NT-1a (not always a good thing) - the AT4047 is very smooth sounding on these highs. The NT-1a high end is very natural sounding to me, The NT-1a can sound boxy on guitar in a small, untreated room, due to its sensitivity I think. In a small room you need to hang a sleeping bag behind it to filter out early room reflections. But in a large, high-ceiling room, the NT-1a is downright spectacular.

The NT-1a has a nice 2db rise at 150Hz that gives it a special sounding low end on vocals. The SM7b has a little more powerful low end than either the AT4047 or the NT-1a, but it is not what I would call a tight bottom - it is just strong and there. The SM7b is more flat on the high end (in its flat setting) than the NT-1a. The AT4947 is more smooth and colored on the high end than the NT-1a. I go back and forth between these 3 mics on vocals for a wide range of singers. Vocals at 6" from the NT-1a sound excellent to me, but it is a hot mic so you need a pop filter, especially if you occasionally get any closer than 6". I have less need for a pop filter at 3-6" on the AT4047 or the SM7b, but I always use one for tracking anyway.

I also have an AT3035 that is nice and flat with smooth high end but it has no low end compared to the NT-1a. My Studio Projects B3 has a shrill, harsh high end and no mid-range compared to the NT-1a, epsecially on guitar. Both the AT3035 (-111.5db) and SPB3 (-114db) have noise floors that are considerably more noisy than the NT-1a (-118db), forcing me to take more care to get the gain staging just right, compared to the NT-1a, which never seems to have a noise problem.

I have been performing on the drums and vocals on stage and in the studio for over 20 years. I have been doing "home studio" recordings for over 10 years. I am currently using a mackie onyx 1640 with firewire to record onto a laptop using Sequioa software. I record live shows of my band and "in-studio" projects with this gear. I mix using a set of Beyerdynamics DT 770 Pro headphones. This bits of gear are not the top of the line, and not the best you could get for a home studio, but together they make a very capable and very portable recording/mixing/mastering package that works very well for me. Each project i take on turns out better than the last one, and this new Rode mic has greatly expanded what i am capable of achieving for a finished product.

This mic is a large condenser studio mic with a cardiod polar pattern. I use this mic for recording vocals mostly, but also as a drum overhead, and electric/acoustic guitar recording. Placement varies depending on application, mostly close proximity. I considered several other mics, but chose this one based on favorable internet reviews and on the well known reputation of the company. Two things about this mic make it extremely valuable, especially for "home" studios. First, it really records exactly the sounds that are produced. This really helps when it comes time to mix. You don't have to do extensive eq'ing to make things "sound right". The second thing is the silence. Rode claims this is "the world's quietest studio mic"... i agree. Even with the gain turned up so high the mic could "hear" my fingers rubbing together from over 4 feet away, there was no decernable "self noise" i could hear. Unbelievable... There are two "downsides" to this mic. First, it is so good at picking up every sound, you will need a really quite room to record in. Second, this is a "no frills" mic. No db pad, no bass rolloff switch, no fancy stuff. Honestly though, you won't miss them at all, and this mic doesn't need them so why pay for them. One other thing, you must use a plosive filter. The Rode metal one is excellent, and looks great as well, but any quality one will do. I would reccomend this mic to anyone, 99% of the people who would buy it would thank me for the reccomendation.

Iv'e been playing in excess of te yars now - mostly just for fun. Got the recording bug when I was in the Army - not much to do when you're half way up a mountain/desert/no go area in the midle of nowhere - helped relieve the boredom in between the exciting bits!

Record to a Fostex MR8 MkII via a Tapco Blend 6, then burn to disc.

A really nice condenser mic - super quiet. Got two of these which I use for vocals/acoustic guitar. Suites my needs perfectly. I also have an SM57 which is pretty good as well.

I would strongly recommend this mic to anyone who wants quality on a budget.

I've been making music for 25 years, but off an on. I'm a causual musician and it is hobby and nothing more. I've been recording since the days of the Tascam 4 track home recording mixer using those old cassettes. I currently record to PC.

The Rode NT1A is a cardioid condenser with a fat 1" condenser. It has the usual 20~20kHz dynamic range and requires 48v phantom power.
I have this mic going through the Behringer T1953 preamp and feeding an ESI Juli@ sound card. It's a cheap set up and it was designed that way becuase I'm just a musical hobbyist and don't want to spend thousands of dollars.

I bought this mic because their advertisement sold me with prmises of 5dBA equivalent noise and 88db signal/noise ratio. I realized it is a cheap mic and really didn't expect absolute truth from their advertisements but I still bought one because the reviews here were favorable.

Boy was I pleasantly surprised. This mic is undoubtedly one of the best value for the money. The clarity and the quality of the tone output from this mic is very very good considering the price. The sound could be a little bottom heavy at times, but it's nothing an EQ can't fix. And the noise! Or rather the lack of noise, I should say. Rode really does deliver on their promise.

I'm recording to a PC and noise was always my number one concern. With all the electronics in a PC, one can't help but expect some sort of interference. The Juli@ card is a very good card when it come to clean ADC, but coupled with this Rode mic, it really did outperform all my expectations. I'm hearing no noise at all. Sure if I measured it with equiment there will undoubted be some noise, but the important thing is, I can't hear it. And that's really all that matters to me.

Another thing that I liked about this mic (but may not work for you) is the very narrow cardioid pickup pattern. I record at home, so it's never a "studio quality quiet" environment. This mic does well to leave out a lot of sounds coming from the rear and sides. It's not perfect, but then again, what mic is?

I paid $200 for this mic because I currently live in Korea and imported electronics tend to be more expensive here, but I just gotta say, it's still a bargain for a mic this good. If you're a hobbyist like me and performance per dollar is your main concern, I highly recommend this mic.

I've been making demos for our band for a few years now.
I'm using Presonus Firepod and Cubase for my recordings.

You can listen to them here:
http://www.myspace.com/comaofloss

I've mixed and mastered our demos using my AKG K240M headphones.

Large diaphgram condenser, sounds pretty good as overheads/space
mics for drums and works well with vocals too. (Especially the
more aggressive kind).

I chose the mic based on reviews and price.
Considering the price, it sounds very good.

But here's the bad part:
I've owned three of these so far and two of them has broken on me
about a year from purchase. Both times has been due to some of the
soldering coming loose. (This is just speculation, I haven't actually
opened the mic up yet.) But it definitely is some kind of contact
failure.

This kinda ruins it for me, I really don't think I can trust on
the mic much anymore.

I have been writing and recording my own music for over 2 years now, I have been working towards making professional sounding records for as long as I remember. I use Cakewalk Home Studio 2004 to record all my tracks and use an M-Audio Audio Buddy pre-amp. I use a Marshall amplifier for guitar/bass and a paid MIDI drum sequencer for drums.

This condenser microphone is amazing. I cannot stress enough how usable this microphone is. Beforehand I was using a cheap JHS microphone, but this Rode microphone has opened up many avenues for me to take in my musical direction. I use this microphone for everything I do, mainly vocals, but with acoustic tracks especially this microphone is the bee's knees.

I was looking through Studio Spares and it took about 5 different microphones I liked to find this one that I could buy on a budget that was also made by a quality manufacturer. I then searched the net for reviews and most proved to be positive.

So far I have found no area of which the microphone falls short. I've tested this microphone out for hour upon hour and even managed to record some new acoustic tracks with it. This microphone is a dream, it's even the world's quietest microphone as well. What more could you ask for?

I would DEFINITELY recommend this microphone to others, however it's not very usable for live use, where a dynamic microphone would be more suitable for many reasons, mainly feedback and phantom power wise.

I've recorded on everything from a cassette 4-track 10 years ago to stereo-miked live performances to a Pro Tools-based project studio. I monitor on M-Audio Studiophile BX8's.. not the best monitors in the world but i know them pretty well.

My mic locker is small but growing:
R0de NT1-a
Okatava mk-012 (2)
Shure SM57 (2)
Sennheiser MD421
Shure Beta 52a
Sennheiser e609
Sennheiser e604 (2)
AKG c419
CAD e100^2
Shure KSM27

It's a cardiod LDC. I got it primarily for vox, it was my first LDC.

I have found that it is outstanding for drum OHs - I have never heard a ride cymbal with such clarity, and the hi-hats, crashes and chinas were beautiful.

but it is not so hot for lead vox. It is really strong and harsh in the upper mids, especially when run through a compressor (pro tools comp, vintage warmer, Massy CT4, T-Racks comp, RNC, 3630, URS 1970, Metric Halo Channel Strip, all of these didn't help) and corrective EQ didn't help much. the warmth and crispness was okay , but the mids were pretty raunchy.

You can't mike a guitar amp because it can't handle loud signals, as there is no pad. It is okay as a room mic for drums, but a bargain-basement dynamic worked better for me. I'd never use it on a bass amp. I don't really record much with traditional strings, brass or woodwinds, so I have no idea how it would sound, but it would not be my first choice out of my mics.

I've been making music for about 10 years now. I started playing the guitar when I was 6, moved to bass at age 12, picked up some drum and piano basics, and got heavily into synthesizers and sequencing at around 19. At that time I was in a band, and when that fell apart I started to get into writing and recording my own stuff track by track. Initially I was using a Tascam 4-track, then stepped up to a PC with Cool Edit Pro 2.1. I have a large selection of mics, preamps, compressors, synths (including a Clavia Nord Lead II), guitars, basses, a V-drum set, and all the other types of gear one will find in a home studio. By the way, don't ever, EVER dog someone who uses Cool Edit. I know it seems cheesy and like, maybe, kind of a soft option, but believe me, I make complex music and it has never failed me. I've gotten to the point where the software is transparent to me, so I can't imagine changing. Adobe thought it was good enough to release as Audition with only minor changes, so I would advise anyone to give it a shot. It has served me very well; I swear by Cool Edit Pro 2.1

The Rode NT1-A is a large diaphram condenser microphone. Myself, I don't care for the way it makes my vocals sound... my voice is kind of nasally and the Rode's presence peak accentuates that nasal quality. But overall, on acoustic guitar, other people's voices, various percussion, drum kit, ambient miking, etc., this mic is phenomenal. For the price, it is without equal. I like the NT2-A for it's switchable polar pattern, and the two together work wonderfully in a M/S configuration, but if you can only have one general purpose large-diaphram condenser, the NT1-A is a fantasic choice. It's price is unreal, and it's self-noise (5dB) is truly unbelievable. Check it out, you'll like it.

25yrs...I started young!!! I was recording on tape, then had an early Tascam, then a hard disc recorder. I've always loved recording - laying down loads of harmonies & the occasional acoustic guitar.

I'm a pro session singer, so the voice is my instrument & using the best mic I can lay my mitts on isn't just important, it's VITAL.

I have a Pro tools set up and regularly record vocal sessions for record labels, producers & writers all over the world, without leaving home :)

After much research & deliberation I purchased the Rode NT1A. The mic is purely used on vocals. My set up is designed to produce a very 'naked' vocal. As the producers of the tracks do all the mixing, all they want is my voice, not EQ or compression or anything else getting in the way. The mic needs to be stable & reproduce with subtle flattery.

I have worked in multi million pound studios and used mics costing thousands of ????????????. For my personal used I have owned Studio Electronics SE2200A, Studio Projects C1 and a third hand Neumann U87.

The best one for the job overall, was the C1, but I always felt it was a little flat & whilst very clear & faultless for the price, I felt it was a little middy for me.

I chose the Rode because I had read more good than bad about it. I was prepared to sell it if I didn't like it, but it was love at first breath...

I wasn't impressed with the flimsy shock mount, of which the elastic snapped straight away & could really do with a hard case, BUT the mic itself is very full sounding, rich bodied and I defy you to find anything under ??1,000 which sounds better.

In terms of placement, it is standard - I use a metal pop filter, but everyone needs a shield. It does pick up every sound & I need to keep the gain down, but it handles beautifully, is very stable (for what I do) and subtley flatters.

There is no other for me.

30+ years of making music and occasionally getting paid for it . - Both as a singer and guitar player.

I've been paid to do voice over work and back up vocals in pro studio settings - and I do a great deal of home-recording.

I'm now using Sonar 4 on my PC for 'home-work'

As someone said earlyer... if you can't get good recordings with this mic, you should be looking at your other toys or your skill level to find the problem. I've used U-87s and I would MUCH rather have one of these... and use the cash saved for other upgrades in my studio.