Best RODE for vocals

Which is best for vocals?

  • NT-3

    Votes: 7 2.9%

  • NT-1

    Votes: 45 18.8%

  • NT-2

    Votes: 30 12.6%

  • NT-1000

    Votes: 26 10.9%

  • NTK

    Votes: 131 54.8%
  • Total voters
    239
Whoopysnorp said:
"I'll bet it's good"? Did you just recommend a mic you've never used?
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Yes I did. I assume it's a hell of a mic for that price. :D

I own an NT-1000 and think it's a good vocal mic. Nice airy natural sounding highs-maybe a little on the bright side, nice balance of lows and mids, doesn't pick up my room sound as much as my AT4033-possibly a tighter cardoid pattern ? Seems like high quality construction too and I have no complaints. Is it their best vocal mic ? I dunno. It was $260 at bpmmusic.com and worth every penny to me. I wish they would have thrown in a shiny padded aluminum case for a few more dollars.

"Best" depends on the voices you are recording, singing style, your studio environment, preamp, cables, compressor, etc.
 
well, with the soon to be released collaboration of Alan Hyatt and Stephen Paul, the near future will hear people saying "Remember when Neumann used to make microphones?...."
 
Yeh I was leaning into buying the Nt1000 as it was more in my budget range. I can get it here in Australia for $549 AUD. The NTK looks very nice and it can be had for $799 AUD. Do you guys think I should save more money and get the NTK?

Thanks
Tukkis

p.s.- I'm only 15 years old so every penny counts!
 
The Rode Classic or Classic II is the best Rode mic for a good vocalist. It's an incredibly good mic. The resale on these on ebay is awful. But, it's your gain. I think I've seen these go for about $750 US on ebay. It's worth more than that.

OK, now, to those listed...

I'd go with the NTK. It's warmer than other Rode mics. A warmer mic would be a Blue Baby Bottle. I do use the Rode NT1 from time to time, though less and less. It's very capable. You could learn a lot with that mic.


However, if I was 15 y.o., then I'd look at some other mics as well rather than blowing it all on one mic. I don't know what these run in Australia, but I'd look at getting a large condensor such as an AT3035 and get a dynamic such as a Shure Beta 57.


Steve
http://www.piemusic.com
 
Tukkis said:
. Do you guys think I should save more money and get the NTK?
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What mikes do you currently own ? What applications do you want this mic for ? What preamps do you use ?

I debated a while whether I wanted an NT-1000 or NTK. I went with the NT-1000 because I wanted it for acoustic guitars and percussion too and I thought a tube mic might soften transients too much. If I was buying one of these for primarily vocals I might lean towards the NTK, even though I have NO first hand experience with tube mikes. I have heard sound clips of both mikes and frankly I couldn't tell much difference. The NTK, NT1000, and NTV share the same capsule.
 
What mikes do you currently own ? What applications do you want this mic for ? What preamps do you use ?
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I only own 2 Behringer XM8500 and 1 other crappy radio shack mic.

I mainly wanted it for vocals and also from time to time a violin or a piano

For preamps I just use the ones on my mixer

Thanks
Tukkis
 
The NTK is a good investment. and at $AUS799 or therabouts the price has pritty much bottomed out. It first retailed for $AUS1495 ! If you ever wanted to sell it again there'd be plenty of buyers on ebay. Don't buy junk... save your money... you won't be disappointed. In the meantime practice your musical skills ;-)
 
Yeh I'd rather buy a better mic that will last longer and sound better even if I have to spend a bit more

Tukkis
 
Well, there's a "middle-of-the-Rode" (uuugggh...) solution no one's really elaborated on, and maybe that's because it's been bypassed by the NTK: The NT2. I have one and it works wonders on my voice (that CAN'T be easy) and it sounds good on acoustic guitar. I've also used it with success as the single mic on hand drums (djembe, congas, bongos).

Now, the reason I bring this mic up is, you can get them used quite easily, it seems ... I got mine for $300 about a year and half ago. Not bad. I don't know what they're going for used now but they may be worth looking into. It's not the kind of mic that works for every voice, but to my ears it's MUCH better than the NT1. I can't comment on how it'd stack up to the NT1000, NTK, or Classics. I imagine at least the NTK and Classics sound better, but then they cost more.

Of course, with any mic, it helps if you can get a chance to demo it (even in the store) before deciding. It's not the ideal place to demo, but when I heard the NT2 I knew I liked it better than the others I tried: a CAD one (don't remember which), an AT4033, an AT4050, an AT4047, and some others.

I don't think it's that good on upright piano; I tried it there and have better luck with a pair of Marshall MXL 603Ses. Those are cheap and good, BTW.

There are other vocal mic manufacturers, too. Is there a reason you need a Rode mic specifically?
 
Are these mics really on par with neumann's? Because these things are dirt cheap. They;re almost all under 600 bucks, and everyone raves about 'em.
 
NT1

I just picked up a used NT-1 for about $150, and I'm very happy with it. It FAR surpasses the NT-3, which I also have. I have only used the mic for vocals and acoustic guitar so far and both tracks came out very nice. I just started trying out the 2 mics (nt1 and nt1) for overheads on drums but they sound very harsh. Keep in mind that I suck at recording drums. Its way too hard. :(
 
There are other vocal mic manufacturers, too. Is there a reason you need a Rode mic specifically?
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I would like to support australian brands and they are cheap compared to other brands because they make them here.

The NT2 and NT 1000 are the same price here. Which would be better??

Thanks
Tukkis
 
Tukkis said:


I would like to support australian brands and they are cheap compared to other brands because they make them here.

The NT2 and NT 1000 are the same price here. Which would be better??

Thanks
Tukkis
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For vocals, I would say go for NT1000....

do u know how much is C1 in Aust?

In US, at $199, C1 is a better bargain comparing to NT1000....

Personally, I think both will do u well. :)
 
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