not satisfied with the rode nt-1a

ahj

ahj

New member
i just bought the rode nt-1a thinking thast it would be an upgrade from my samson c03. I got the rode today and hooked it up as a drum overhead. it sounds absolutely no clearer or any different from the samson. I guess i was expecting too much, but a little more clarity? I record through a yamaha mg-12 in a basement(i know this contributes to some of the bad sound). I used the mic and tried recording acoustic and vocals and it sounded a little better, but not a big enough improvement for me to be $200 in debt. Are there any mics i can get that i'll notice a definiet improvement in overhead/vocals? I'm willing to spend $200 if im imrpoving on clarity.
 
Do you have a clip? Unfortunately, no mic is going to work miracles and your recordings will only be as good as the weakest link in the chain. Apart from having good sounding instruments played well, improvements in your room acoustics are probably the first thing that will increase the clarity of your recordings. Then, mics, pres, converters, in that order. Hard to diagnose without hearing what you're hearing, though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NL5
im thinking part of the problem was the extremely poor quality of his drums, and usually i use my drums which are much better quality, but still i was expecting more clarity then this.
 
ahj said:
I record through a yamaha mg-12 in a basement(i know this contributes to some of the bad sound).
Click to expand...

ahj said:
im thinking part of the problem was the extremely poor quality of his drums, and usually i use my drums which are much better quality, but still i was expecting more clarity then this.
Click to expand...

As Scrubs said, the room and the INSTRUMENT/PLAYER make MOST of the improvement.

Also, going to a $200 mic isn't a radical step up (Although it should sound a bit better).
 
Yes indeedy! That is one high quality recording of some really crappy sounding drums! Actually, the drums wouldn't sound that bad if they weren't so muffled. Those cymbals, though...what are they?? They sound thrashed!

You might want a better preamp for that mic too. A higher quality mike starts to really shine through a good preamp.

Just remember, the instrument has to sound good BEFORE you can have a good recording. Otherwise it's called polishing a turd.
 
thanks for the advice phil, can you suggest a better preamp?
and his cymbols were sooo terrible, he wouldnt use any of my equipment for some reason. the crash had a huge crack down it and sounded awful and he had some really cheap high hats that sounded bad too, but at least its not really my problem as much, i was getting real frustrated.
 
ahj said:
thanks for the advice phil, can you suggest a better preamp?
and his cymbols were sooo terrible, he wouldnt use any of my equipment for some reason. the crash had a huge crack down it and sounded awful and he had some really cheap high hats that sounded bad too, but at least its not really my problem as much, i was getting real frustrated.
Click to expand...

It IS your problem if you're getting frustrated!

I'm not the best person to ask about pre's. I have a Symetrix sx202, which I love. Got a couple of Presonus Tubepre's. 2 modified Bellari's. I've heard great things about the M-Audio DMP3, which I'll be getting soon. Also the Studio Projects VBT-1. This is all assuming you're referring to budget pre's.

Tune those drums. If they aren't yours, make HIM tune 'em! Get the muffling off, as it ruins the articulation. If you need a little, well ok. And if you use broken cymbals and bad hats, you're going to get a bad sound. A good mic points out all the flaws.

It's like being under a microscope.
 
Try using processing. gate, eq and compress until you get close to the sound you want. When you can get it with processing then start upgrading the equipment... its more rewarding.
 
On another note. I just thought there wasn't any real stereo seperation at all If you pan those tracks hard left and right I bet you'd get some more clarity. Are you micing that snare? If you are, don't. Mic the kick instead . A little resonance wouldn't hurt. The kick and snare sound more like rubbermaid garbage tubs. No stab at your work. It sounds like you did the best you could with what you had.
 
hueseph said:
On another note. I just thought there wasn't any real stereo seperation at all If you pan those tracks hard left and right I bet you'd get some more clarity. Are you micing that snare? If you are, don't. Mic the kick instead . A little resonance wouldn't hurt. The kick and snare sound more like rubbermaid garbage tubs. No stab at your work. It sounds like you did the best you could with what you had.
Click to expand...

Wait.....my brain just kicked in. Did you do that recording with only the one mic?
 
i miked the snare with a cad tsm411 and the kick with a cad kbm412. and i can't seem to get a good sound out of either, even with good sounding drums, but i have to deal because i have no money.
 
ahj said:
i miked the snare with a cad tsm411 and the kick with a cad kbm412. and i can't seem to get a good sound out of either, even with good sounding drums, but i have to deal because i have no money.
Click to expand...

The kbm412 can work if you really boost it at 4khz. This mic has ALOT of bottom end, but doesn't do attack very well. Boost the snare mic a little at 2-4khz and 10khz. That'll help get a better sound.
 
PhilGood said:
Those cymbals, though...what are they?? They sound thrashed!
Click to expand...

Lmao! I think the Chinese have some cymbals out sold through MF for that thrashed sound?
 
hueseph said:
On another note. I just thought there wasn't any real stereo seperation at all If you pan those tracks hard left and right I bet you'd get some more clarity. Are you micing that snare? If you are, don't. Mic the kick instead . A little resonance wouldn't hurt. The kick and snare sound more like rubbermaid garbage tubs. No stab at your work. It sounds like you did the best you could with what you had.
Click to expand...

I have to repost this. Have you noticed that the track is mono? CAD's are generally pretty decent mics aren't they? At any rate I think gating your tracks would help a lot. It would at the very least give you more control of the over all sound. Also, experimenting with mic placement might improve things. Regarding the NT-1A. Does it have a Highpass filter? That might help a bit.
 
hueseph said:
I have to repost this. Have you noticed that the track is mono? CAD's are generally pretty decent mics aren't they? At any rate I think gating your tracks would help a lot. It would at the very least give you more control of the over all sound. Also, experimenting with mic placement might improve things. Regarding the NT-1A. Does it have a Highpass filter? That might help a bit.
Click to expand...

yeah we did experiment alot with mic placement, but i think the biggest problem was his drumset. we're re-recording the drums soo using alot better cymbals and alot better drumset.
Also, the track is mono, because I was recording it with my laptop that has only one mic input which was probably a bad idea, so next time I'll use my digital multitrack.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top