Rode NT1-A's ROCK

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Muckelroy

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nuff said. Just made a wind ensemble recording w/ a stereo pair of these bad boys. AWESOME SOUND!
 
I've been using high-end mics lately (U87's, Peluso CEK12's, C414's, etc) and I must say I still hold a lot of respect for my trusty NT1 (not A).
In a dense pop mix, it does what only the U87 can also do. Of course, it doesn't sound quite as good, but it has the right tonality to punch through a mix and still be fairly detailed. The Peluso is great on less dense mixes where more air and less bright is called for, but that doesn't work well when competing with lots of guitar.

The thing is though, I think part of my NT1's charm lies in the fact that it is technically defective... a couple years ago I accidentally wiped some of the gold sputtering off the capsule, affecting the response. I haven't bothered to have it fixed because it's a cheap mic, but I think I actually LIKE what that did to the sound... seemed to tone down the sizzle quite a bit and make it more natural.
 
I freqently find that a pair of SP C1's give me unexpectedly good results as a stereo pair. Just find a decent place in the room to capture the right stereo image and go. Haven't had them long enough to judge how well they age, but I'm still impressed with what a little money will buy you these days. At least compared to about 8 years ago.

Not familiar with the RODE's other than the NTK. I used an NT1 once to check out a mixing board I was buying- its all the guy had on hand for me to check all the channels with. Not the ideal test of a mic, but it behaved about the way I would expect.

Anyone know the difference between the 1's and the 1-A's?

Glad you're having fun, Muckelroy!
 
The 1-A's are lower in self-noise, but who knows what the difference in sound is.
The switched capsules a couple times even in the original NT1 design, and the sound changed accordingly.
For all I know the NT1A is a totally different beast.

I will say that my NT1 is way better sounding for pop vocals than an NT1000 I tried once. Where the NT1 has a bit of sizzle, the NT1000 has big FIZZLE. That not-so-magic 8Khz un-wonder. I'll take the 5-6Khz of the NT1 over that anyday.
 
Yeah, this mic has essentially fallen out of favor. I have the original NT1 and think it is a totally decent mic. It is bright, and can be sibilant on some vocals, but definitely makes the vocal shine in a mix. Do you have a soundclip of the ensemble you recorded? I'd like to hear it.
 
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