Mic's and Mic Preamps

D

dougschmude

New member
I was wondering if some of you could give me some advice / opinions....

I am doing some home recording (primarily Vocals, Acoustic Guitars and Resonator guitars) and am looking into upgrading from SM-57's and SM-58's to a home studio condensor mic. I have been eyeing the ROde NT-1 and Rode NT-2. I was wondering how it would sound running NT-2 through the mic pre's in my Mackie 1402 mixer or if I would do myself a favor in buying the NT-1 and a mic preamp. Maybe the dbx 286?? Unfortunately I can't afford the NT-2 and a Mic preamp right now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Doug http://www.geocities.com/dougschmude
 
I would go with the NT2. Mackie makes pretty good mic-pre's. I don't think the dbx 286 would be any better than that.

[This message has been edited by Fishmed (edited 12-19-1999).]
 
whats the difference sonically between the nt1 and nt2 ? is it worth the extra 300 bucks ? i hear plenty of raves about the nt1 itself , is the nt2 that much better ?

- eddie -
 
Good question Eddie....I have heard that the NT2 is a little more transparent than the NT1. The only physical difference I know is that the NT1 is a cardiod pattern and the NT2 is switchable and also has a bass rolloff switch. Also, the price difference is only about $170...$269 for the NT1 to $439 for the NT2. Thats the best prices I have found on the net.

Thanks for the reply and I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has used both the NT1 and the NT2.

Doug
 
thanks doug.. as far as transparency is concerned , that just means that the mic colors the sound less , right ?

ps.. i know people in the market for the rode mic's .. where did you get those prices , i havent seen them that cheap anywhere... thanks..

- eddie -
 
As far as transparency goes, thats how I understand it. The NT-1 colors the sound a little more than the NT-2. Thus, I was told the NT-1 works well for vocals and NT-2 works well for nice acoustic guitars. I'm probably going to go with the NT-1, everyone seems to say that it is a great first condenser mic and I am having a hard time convincing myself that I am going to notice the difference to warrent the price difference.

The prices I quoted were from www.zzounds.com/a--2676837 NT-1 $269 NT-2 $439 Free Shipping.

I checked www.8thstreet.com and they quoted me $259 for the NT-1 and $429 for the NT-2 also free shipping.
 
8th Street website has them listed at $249 and $419 respectively--with free shipping, so that's the price they have to give you regardless of what some sales dong says.

Hey, you might want to check out another thread in this forum (Rode NT2 deal, by gulleyg) regarding 8th Street and Rode mics. It seems different people are getting different quotes.

[This message has been edited by tdukex (edited 12-23-1999).]
 
I recently got NT-1's from MUSIC123.com for $179 each with free shipping. They were running a sale 10% off all Rode mics. It may still be going on--make sure you ask for it though!

I've found them excellent to deal with on the three things I've bought so far
 
I thought that the prices in the US were more like $199, that's what people seemed to say.

The only other thing to add on with the NT-1 at least is that they can all sound marginaly different-if you don't like one try another-a key to this is the serial no.'s.

If you want to know more check out past threads-do a search up to about a month ago.
 
Yeah, I would say Doug bought a mic, since he posted this in Dec... lol

Anyway, just for reference, if anyone is debating between these two mics, I would DEFINITELY suggest listening to them both.

I was going to buy an NT1 until I A-B'd them. The NT2 sounded warmer and a bit less harsh to me. In the omni setting, I was totally impressed with the NT2. I was in the same boat, considering an NT1 and a preamp, and decided to get the NT2 to keep my signal path stronger from the start. I have never regretted it once.

NT2 is about $389 or so now. I got it for $379.
 
Originally posted by Krystof01:
<<The only other thing to add on with the NT-1 at least is that they can all sound marginaly different-if you don't like one try another-a key to this is the serial no.'s.>>

YIKES!! I purposely bought two NT-1's at once because I plan on stereo micing an oud (a middle-eastern nightmare of a lute). I scoured the zillion posts here before choosing the NT-1 and it seemed like those would be good given my $200 each budget. How different is "different"?


P.S. Just got the mics from UPS. The serial numbers are successive, which I think you're saying should make them similar.



[This message has been edited by Wobble (edited 06-12-2000).]
Click to expand...
 
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that even if you have mikes with serial #'s in a row, it doesn't guarante anything about them sounding similar, especially for Rode mikes. They have to be tested and matched. Now, maybe by chance, they might be close. I wonder what the odds are?
 
MrBoogie is corect.
Consecutive serial numbering is a "decorative" issue and does not guarantee matching or "anything about them sounding similar".

IMHO, if a pair of mics are not matched, having semi close serial numbers just MIGHT increase the ODDS of them sounding reasonably similar.

For example:
My matched-pair of Neumann TLM 103s were not factory-matched, but were matched by Gotham Audio; though they do have consecutive serial numbers.
 
Thanks for the additional input. I think! Sometimes maybe ignorance would be bliss.

I know I'm venturing into newbie land here but....what's the most obvious way to tell they are mismatched?
 
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