Rode NT-1 or something more sensitive?

Northern77

Northern77

New member
Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone could please assist me? You see, I have just started out experimenting with microphones and they're ability to pick up quiet sounds around them, like a whisper from a distance. I want to study they're sensitivity and how far I can push it.

I was doing some research and other individuals stated that the Rode NT-1 was meant to be highly sensitivity and has low self noise. Is this a good choice or is there something better than that available?

Could anyone recommend a microphone which is highly sensitivity but has very little to no self-noise if possible??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Picking something up from distance would be a directional microphone like a 'shotgun' microphone which would be for mobile and studio. Yes you can pick whispers up from a distance by just racking the gain up full on your recorder. When you do that you introduce noise and how much depends on your mic and recorder.

Money as usual plays a major part in this. For a very good shotgun mic with low noise you would be around the $1000 and upwards. Mobile Recorder possibly the same.

The Sennheiser 8070 is apparently a favoured mic for mobile/field and studio work.

For a mic similar to the Rode NT1-A, again the same rules apply. The Neumann TLM 103 is a similar mic. A lot more sensitive and very low noise. Then your interface would need to be of a higher spec to have low noise and excellent pre-amps. I have used both so I can only talk about those two. The Rode is excellent and low noise but the Neumann is better and I think sounds nicer and costs a lot more.
 
When you have a mic collection you’ve built up over the years, you get a feel for the ‘tone’ each one has but also which ones need a turn if the gain knob, or a reach for the pad switch. If I needed to record a whisper at a distance, then it would be a CK-9 on an AKG 451, which is a very impractical mic, I bought on a whim. It worked brilliantly on one project, and never used for a long time. However, the narrow polar pattern and low noise means it does what you need. If you want just a cardioid to pick up a larger area with good results, then 414s, 87s, 103s and oddly a dirt cheap Chinese model designed to replicate the 451 style with screw on capsule are in my collection. i don’t have an NT-1 anymore but it was one that needed the gain turning down.

I’m quite lazy, so I have two cables going to my preamp, semi permanently. One is preset for dynamics, the other for condensers. Out of my collection, the one I need to watch is the TLM103 which often needs the gain turning down. I use the pads on others, but this mic doesn’t have a pad!
 
Lewitt-Audio make a range of microphones some of which have very low self noise. You must however beware of specifications! Very low noise but low sensitivity can mean the pre amp is the limiting factor.

Are you intending to use the mics outdoors? If so you will need to invest in some high quality wind gags. Rycote are the industry standard. "Air" noise never mind actual wind is often the limiting factor outdoors. I have two cheap dynamics permanently installed in my garden and although the Behringer mixer they feed is not THE lowest noise device on planet (but it really is NOT bad!) air movement and ambient noise is above electronic noise.

Note, that mixer has been running 24/7 for nearly FIVE years and never missed a beat!

Dave.
 
Maybe best if we knew what he/she was hoping to record. In a studio it is a studio and fairly quiet and stable. Outside brings 'other' problems which can mean even more kit and money as Dave has explained.

I have a Rode NGT2 shotgun mic which is the cheaper end of half decent shotgun mics. But I had to purchase a Blimp/Wombat kit because of wind. Again 'more' money!

We don't know if you want mono or stereo mics either?
 
It really depends on what you are trying to record and why. Shotgun mics, as mentioned are designed to record specific things at a distance and ignore much of everything that it isn't pointing directly at. If you are trying to record what is going on in a room, or general ambience, a shotgun isn't the right tool.

An omni mic will pick up everything in all directions. A cardioid is the middle ground between an omni and a shotgun.

There are three things that make noise in a recording.
1. Self Noise of the mic
2. Self noise of the preamp/interface
3. Ambient noise in the space you are recording

Most of the time, the ambient noise in the space will be more of a problem than the self noise of the equipment.
 
When I had my first reel to reel, with unbalanced ¼" mic connections, I often put mics outside with long runs and hiss rarely was a problem. Now we seem to want crazy levels of hiss free gain. I really don't know why?
 
You had enough hiss with the tape to mask any hiss from the mic cable unless things were really bad. When you start out with 100+dB of S/N things becomes more apparent. Then you hear it and thing "there's a problem".

FWIW, tape hiss always bothered me, which is one reason I was so flabbergasted by how quiet things were when I first went digital. That's one reason I always have trouble with the idea of using a cassette recorder these days.
 
TalismanRich said:
You had enough hiss with the tape to mask any hiss from the mic cable unless things were really bad. When you start out with 100+dB of S/N things becomes more apparent. Then you hear it and thing "there's a problem".

FWIW, tape hiss always bothered me, which is one reason I was so flabbergasted by how quiet things were when I first went digital. That's one reason I always have trouble with the idea of using a cassette recorder these days.
Click to expand...
Yo Rich. The newb to digital recording often finds a similar problem when recording a guitar amp. That 'lovely' old Band Master/ Marshal/Vox that was so nice at gigs becomes a hummy hissy monster in the quietude of the home studio.

A bit over ten years ago a certain amp maker (cough! Must not spam) made it one of their design parameters to make their amplifiers as quiet as possible.

A well adjusted cassette deck with TDK SA tape and Dolby B can equal or better the very best vinyl playing system and is certainly good enough in the ole jam jar but yes, some 40dB short of even budget interfaces (@24 bits).

Dave.
 
rob aylestone said:
When I had my first reel to reel, with unbalanced ¼" mic connections, I often put mics outside with long runs and hiss rarely was a problem. Now we seem to want crazy levels of hiss free gain. I really don't know why?
Click to expand...
A lot of people listen with headsets today via their phone. On music it may hide any 'his'' but with anything else you would hear it clear.
 
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