a rode is not a rode

  • Thread starter Thread starter dobro
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dobro

dobro

Well-known member
I bought a second Rode NT-1 yesterday and tried it out tonight, comparing it to the first one I bought a year ago. I was surprised to hear a difference - by no means big or significant, but hearable. Now I've got two nice mics I'm happy with, but they don't sound exactly the same.

Does this happen all the time?
 
Quality control issues at the low end of the price points.... not saying whether they're bad or good, just inconsistent... You wouldn't likely see this with Neumanns... although I remember reading that for paired mics, George Massenburg makes sure the serial numbers of any that he gets are sequential - ensuring at least that they're from the same production batch.

Bruce Valeriani
Blue Bear Sound

PS... just checked my source again - it was Bruce Swedien, not GM as I mentioned above...


[Edited by bvaleria on 10-17-2000 at 05:26]
 
PLEASE!!!

EVERYONE read this!!!

Yes, it happens ALL THE TIME and to varying degrees.

A LOT of people in the "home recording" arena have a hard time excepting this.

And bvaleria,

What is funny is that you can have consectutive serial numbers of MXL 2001s and that STILL doesn't increase your chances of them sounding even remotely close to similar.
 
Yes... my point exactly... except at higher price points, the chances of better consistency are well... better!!

:)

Bruce
 
I guess so, but I don't look at it as bad luck, it's just that I don't have identical twins. I have two mics that sound good and very, very similar. One's a little brighter than the other. I'll put that on the guitar probably. I was surprised, that's all. I expect it's like Bruce says: pay more for the mics, get more consistency in the sound. But there's another possibility, too: the slightly brighter mic is a year older, and time and climate might be factors in the sound difference. I keep the mics in a dry box (it's like a little fridge, except that instead of keeping things cold, it keeps them dry - about 40% relative humidity), but when I use them, and sometimes that's for hours on end, they're in air that's like a greenhouse, hot and moist - 30-35 degrees and 80-85% relative humidity. Maybe the older mic's changed.

[Edited by dobro on 10-14-2000 at 21:18]
 
It's probably a result of a combo of everything.
 
I bought 2 NT-1s a year ago. I think the serials were
only a few numbers apart. Still, they sound completely different. I have stopped trying to use them as a stereo pair. The combined sound always has this...well...kind of flanging or phasing effect. Might come in handy one day, who knows!

On the other hand, I also have a pair of KM184s, the other bought about 3 months after the other, serial #s are wide apart. I can't make any difference between the two.

Regards
Ora
 
Dobro - go and have the diaphram of the mic you've been using for a year cleaned and then make the comparison??

John ;)
 
Really?

Is the sound difference that bad? I mean, is it totally out of the question to use two seperately bought NT1s as drum overheads? Can't you EQ them to sound the same? Or is it too obvious?
 
El Barto - No. No. Yes. No. It's a small, small difference I'm talking about.

John - no way. I prefer the sound of the old one. :D
 
Thank you for reassuring me dobro. :) I'm ready to record again.
 
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