It's a difficult question to answer, because there have been several iterations of the NT1 over the years. The earliest NT1 (SN <25,000) is speculated to be possibly the best version because the mics were all assembled in Australia under strict quality control (though the capsules were always made in China, I believe). After that, Rode started outsourcing more manufacturing to China and the quality was variable. The NT1A, which has lower self-noise (good) than the NT1, is also reputedly more harsh sounding (bad) in the high frequencies (again, quality is variable). Now, Rode claims that they have moved all their operations back to Australia so, potentially, quality may be better now. I own an NT1 and find it to be a decent condenser for pop vocals that need a little "sheen" due to its frequency curve.