My New NTK....Aaahhhhhhhhhhh

[dudleys100]

Well she came today. There sure are a lot of parts to this thing. between the power supply, it's own proprietory cable, and the gigantic shockmount this thing takes a desk to use. I laid down a vocal track and was very impressed. It is very hot and picked up a lot of the room noise compared to my C-1 and Dragonfly. The Dragonfly almost made it sound like I was in an isolation booth (which I liked). It is hard to compare it so far though becuase of my room surroundings. I like it, but on the singer that I recorded the Dragonfly still won out hands down. It had way more presence and depth. It seemed to be more round and detailed also. But at the same time it seemed very creamy too. I still have to fiddle with the NTK some more, and I can see a lot fo useful situations for it, but I really feel like I need to invest in some way to have more isolation for vocals or a better room. I will keep ya'll posted as to how it goes.

I also got my ART dual MP. Not a bad unit, it didn't have the noise I hear so much about. The sound didn't seem as clear and crsip as my Soundtracs mixer, but after laying a couple of tracks with that and the VTB-1, the whole track mseemed to have a little more wieght to it, and power. More experimentation will have to be done.

 

[Middleman]

Congratulations and welcome to the NTK club! There's not too many voices it does not sound good on. Just remember to turn off the +48 phantom switch on your preamp.

 

[Doug Quance]

If I remember correctly, it doesn't matter if your phantom power is on. It should not affect anything in any way... at least that's my recollection of the NTK.

 

[Doug Quance]

BTW, if you don't have a flight case for your NTK, you might try those aluminum cases from Lowe's Home Improvement.

I have one that I took out the "pick and pluck" foam, and inserted the dividers into. It holds the power supply, proprietary cable, microphone, and shockmount very nicely.

Best part of all... it's only $20.

 

[cominginsecond]

Congratulations and welcome to the NTK club! There's not too many voices it does not sound good on. Just remember to turn off the +48 phantom switch on your preamp.

Why? It isn't even suggested that you do that in the latest iteration of the NTK manual.

 

[dudleys100]

I did forget the first time to turn off the 48v and I got some buzzing sound. It went away when I turned it off. Also where can I find this flight case. Is this on the web?

 

[NIelkc]

Yeh I have to agree with the room-noise thing. I get ALOT extra room noise compared to my NT1, or KSM32. How would one rectify this?

 

[Middleman]

Guys, why would you want to send a +48 phantom power signal up to the power supply of a tube mic which is trying to send a signal down the line to the preamp? Not very smart. Noise and depending on how your connectors are wired, possibly disaster.

 

[sponge bob]

I also got my ART dual MP. Not a bad unit, it didn't have the noise I hear so much about. The sound didn't seem as clear and crsip as my Soundtracs mixer... [/B]

Just outa curriousity, which soundtracs mixer do you have?
We did a mic & pre comparrison with a buddy of mines pre's & my mics recently, and we were all shocked at how well the Soundtracs Topaz pre's sounded compared to it's competitors in the under $1g world... (mostly Meeks, ARTs, Mackies, Presonus, SP VTB1, and a few others) It was the hands down winner, being clearer and more defined than the others. Way fun too. Don't under estimate your Soundtracs.

Bob

 

[cominginsecond]

You might want to read this thread for the phantom power controversy: https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71731&highlight=Phantom+Power+and+NTK

The jist of it is that, while there is no benefit (obviously) of using phantom power with a tube mic (that has an external power supply) no one was able to come up with an instance where phantom power damaged the mic or degraded the signal. The two pros who contributed to the thread (littledog and analogelectric) both stated that phantom power should not damage your mic, but that there was no reason to use it, so why bother?

In other words, it's nothing to stress out about, or even mention (the latest version of the NTK manual doesn't.)

If I think to defeat the phantom power when I'm using my NTK, I do it, but there have been several times where I've forgotten, and there was no discerible difference in the audio quality, nor did my NTK explode.

 

[Middleman]

cominginsecond,

That thread did not contain much except opinions and there was one reference in the older manual regarding not using +48db on the NTK. Also there was never any mention of detriment to the mic, it would be the power supply that may not like seeing +48 at its front door.

I checked around and could not find anything regarding this so I shot an email off to Rodes. I will check back in here with their answer as soon as I get a response.

 

[dudleys100]

Hey Sponge Bob, I got the Topaz 12-4. I don't know if this has the same pre's as say the project 8 Topaz, but they sure sound great. I have tested them against the ART, VTB-1, my old Edirol UA-5, and Audiobuddy. I still prefer them. I just wish I could find 4 nice pre's that are outboard that sounded this good for a cheap price so I could get rid of it. I have limited space and any space saving solutions are a big help. I recently ordered the Istand computer desk. It has built in monitor stands. I can't wait till it gets here so I can take my left monitor off of my bed. It makes things difficult when it comes to sleeping.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Dudley, please note that the NTK needs time to warm up, a considerable amount of it, at least a half an hour, an hour in a cold room. You'll know it's ready when you put your hand on it and it's the temperature of skin, not cold metal. And in an A-B comparison, vocal mics don't usually "win", they "fit" or not. On another singer, in another key, on another song, through a different pre, NTK will be a better choice than dragonfly. They're both great mics, and complement each other well.

 

[dudleys100]

Thanks Richard. I do realize that, I can imagine where it would fit well, and thats why I will hold on to it. I did let it warm up for about an hour. By the time we were recording I noticed that warmth like skin temp you speak of. I think it compliments the Dragonfly in the sense that there is a good chance that when one won't work the other will. I like my C-1 still but with the NTK and BLUE I am not sure how often i would ever need it anymore. I am on a limited budget so I will probably get rid of it. I would like to try out the MXL V67g to see if that has another useable sound. Richard I noticed you have been looking into the Toft Pre's. Have you found out anything about those?

 

[jmorris]

NTK ON OVERHEADS

I love my NTV on drum overheads..its fantastic to my ears! The NYK is the replacement for the NTV so they told me at RODE. The only difference I think is the NTV has Jensen transformer tech. Still I bet the NTK is nice also.

 

[Middleman]

dudleys100,

I am kind of in the same boat as you. After I got the NTK I have decided to sell the C1 because, well, I could not see using it much. I tried out several mics this weekend and ended up getting the V67G $89 based on Harvey Gerst's recommendation. Also picked up the Oktava MC012-01 for acoustic. $99 at GC.

I also tried a Samson C01 $69 and was initially very impressed with it on head to head vocal solo tracks against the C1, V67G and the NTK. After I put in a couple of mixes though, it kind of fell flat. This one goes back to the store.

The MXL 67G on a bare vocal was kind of unimpressive at first. Very bland sounding all alone. When I put it in a song with acoustic, piano and bass it really stood out. Very soft and easy not at all bright. My wife liked the sound and commented that it kind of draws you into the song with its tone and so it is my new ballad mic. I tell you this because my intial impressions were not that great. My overall comment would be it is a very subtle mic and definitely offers a good alternative to the NTK which is more hyped.

One question, where did you get the Soundtrac? I am intrigued by your comments about it's pres and thought I would check one out.

 

[dudleys100]

I found the Topaz on Ebay. Sadly enough you just missed a 12-4 like mine go dirt cheap. I got mine for around $250 which isn't bad for 4 nice pre's and a headphone amp (all I use it for). They also just had a 24-4 go for $400 a week or so ago. If you keep your eyes out you can find great deals on these. I hear the Project 8 Topaz is THE Topaz to get but then your lookin at around $1000 for a used one. I am still tryinhg to find out if this Topaz has the same pre's with just less options. I was going to sell this. I just bought an Aardvark LX6 so I didn't have to worry about getting another little mixer for a headphone out. But now I think I will get rid of my other pre's (I still got to try the Meek though i am excited about that one) and the Aardvark and stick with the 1010 Soundtracs combo. Then I think I will stick with the Dragonfly, NTK and grap a MXL 67G to try out. Then sell the C-1. I am not just a Gear whore though I promise I do recordings weakly and I just want to get a setup that I am comfortable with and then slowly upgrade my weekest links.

Middleman, Thanks for your comments on the MXL. I think that would balance out my mic closet better than the C-1. The thing is for me is that the NTK will cover similar things that the C-1 would be good for, just......better. But I think a nice "ballad" mic would be a good asset for me.

 

[Middleman]

I think that would balance out my mic closet better than the C-1. The thing is for me is that the NTK will cover similar things that the C-1 would be good for, just......better. But I think a nice "ballad" mic would be a good asset for me. [/B]

That was my thinking, and I am also going through a G.A.S. syndrome but will go back to being a musician in a few weeks after I get some more stuff.

 

[Doug Quance]

Just a quick observation:

There are instances where I've used the phantom power on the NTK... for a reason.

I don't have any outboard pres, and my Mackie mixer supplies phantom power to all, or none, of the mic channels. If I want to use other condensor mics... the phantom power must be on.

I'll also second the observation that the mic should be warmed up for best results.

 

[dudleys100]

My mixer is like that, if I have the phantom power on it is for all of them. i will have try it out and see if there are any problems.