NTK... Mini Review

[Buck62]

Okay, I finally got a chance to check out the new NTK I bought over a month ago, and here's my take on this mic.....

First of all, let me tell you that I tried it straight-in to my Akai DPS-16, and also through my MindPrint Envoice.
The NTK is very smooth. It makes my voice sound like a silky-voiced, late-night FM radio DeeJay.
While running it straight-in sounded pretty darned good, running it through the Envoice really made this mic shine.
I sang a cover of the Eagles' song "Take It Easy" and it sounded accurate, yet polished and very pleasing to the ear.
Basically, what this mic does is give a sweet, analog warmth to a digitally recorded vocal track.

To give you an idea of how this mic sounds, let me use this analogy....
My AKG C3000 is like a camera that would show all the crows-feet and age lines in the face of an aging supermodel.... it's very accurate and unforgiving. That can be good OR bad, depending on what you are attempting to achieve.
The NTK is like a camera that makes the same face look like an airbrushed picture of perfection.

One of the drawbacks to the NTK is that you have to be careful when adjusting your preamp, it's slightly more prone to noise than the C3000 and other similar mics.
Other than that, it's a nice mic.
It didn't make me drool all over myself like that guy at prorec-dot-com, but it did get some "ooh's" and "ahh's" out of me.

Buck

 

[jitteringjim]

Thanks for your mini-review. I'd like to have one of these mics when my budget allows. So much gear, so little $$$...

 

[macle]

Hey Buck,
You're review is right on. I've had a TLM103 for a while, but there's something about it I never liked. Though it's airy and at first seems to have more clarity than the NTK, the airiness seems artificial to me, and, depending on what you're recording, can be harsh and annoying. I am really liking the NTK, especially considering how much cheaper it is.

Macle

 

[ruebarb]

another approval

Having recently used an NT2 for most things, I am always looking for better ways to cheaply improve the crappy voice I have, and I think the NTK might be one of those wonder mics that bring all of us closer to "professional sounding" recordings.

I definatly like it better for vocals, and I may mess with it for guitar, although perhaps the NT1000 might be better for that...I'm not sure...anyway, warmer sound and less harshness then the NT2, and I really like it.

One of my major fears (external power supply) has been wiped out in part to the fact that I now see the power supply has no fan and is virtually noiseless....very good...so was the mic, for that matter.

So this is going to be my new vocal and room ambience mic, I think...very happy and I'll give it an endorsement for anyone in particular

RB

 

[Buck62]

Upon Further Review......

Okay... I did some more recording with the NTK tonight.
I recorded a friend who did some vocal work, and man, did the NTK sound GREAT!
This guy has a voice that sounds like a cross between David Lee Roth and Scott Stapp of Creed.
The NTK performed like a true champion.... pro-quality sound all the way.
I did more than "ooh" and "ahh", it was more like "WOW" and "WOAH!"
Okay, what I'm saying here is that one song wasn't enough to judge this mic properly. After doing 4 more tunes, I realize what a great-sounding mic the NTK really is.

Personally, I HIGHLY recommend the NTK for professional sounding vocal tracks. It's worth every penny.

Buck

 

[PRiZ]

Apreciate the review!

So what's the cheapest this mic goes for...?

 

[Buck62]

I know a guy at Guitar Satan... he gave it to me for $400 even.

Pretty good deal, eh?