Rode variations

[dres]

Just a note to warn people about variations in the quality of some microphones.

A few years ago I scrapped enough dollars together to get an NT1 when they first came out. At the time I thought it was wonderful and 2 years later purchased another one so I could do stereo recordings. Funny thing was when I tried the second NT1 I noticed is sounded hotter and had had more top end response. Closer inspection revealed the internal capsule no longer had a black plastic surround but a white one.

I emailed Rode regarding this... not expecting much. To my delight Peter Freedman himself replied and offered to swap my old NT1 for a new one at no cost !! What service. He also explained that they sometimes upgrade a model when new components become available.

Well this might be ho-hum now for the ageing NT1 but recently it happened to me again ! Our church purchased 2 NT3's a year ago... everything was fine. Recently they purchased a third... thinking we would get the same mic. But when we tried it we had all kinds of feedback problems. Closer inspection at home revealed a number of subtle changes and a slightly different sound.

If a company like Rode intentionally makes changes within a model I would bet that a lot of other manufacturers produce significant variation between mics of the same model, intentionally or unintentionally. I think for me it highlights the need to try the exact mic you plan on purchasing before commiting your hard earned cash.

 

[wilkee]

I originally bought 2 rode nt3 and loved them so much added a third and noticed that the output was up by a few db from the original and also it was easier to make the internal Mic pre overload on voice plosives.
However when I emailed both Rode and the UK agent regarding this Diff. I got no response?

I still love the little buggers but was annoyed at the time. Fortunately there does not appear to be any changes to the way they sound.

 

[chessrock]

It was the funniest thing . . .

I owned a compaq presario about 5 years ago. I liked it and I was happy. So anyway, I just bought a new one to go with it. And I noticed all these changes. Like Windows was completely different and said like "Windows XP" when it booted up instead of Windows 95. What gives? Upon closer inspection, I realized it has a whole different processor (Says 1.47 GHZ instead of 700 mhz) What's up with that? Now I'm really pissed.

It's like they went and changed the whole computer on me. Just to warn you guys ahead of time; beware: Sometimes stuff you buy now isn't like the same as it was like 5 years ago.

Yup.

 

[dres]

I get your point chessrock. I'm not opposed to progress. But with mic's it's a little different... when you buy the same model you expect to get the same sound. I just thought it was a bit deceptive to retain exactly the same model number when in fact the sound had changed. They should have called the upgraded NT3 the NT3 mk II or NT3a like other companies have done in the past.

Don't assume anything, test the exact mic your intending to buy, thats all I'm saying.

 

[knownuttin]

True enough. I would suggest that like the AKG C1000, time and the market have passed the NT1 by.
-kent