STOAKES’ GEAR TALK – RODE NT1-A CONDENSER MICROPHONE
As many of you know, I have recently recorded The Isolation Sessions, now when I began recording demo’s earlier this year with my old condenser microphone, I noticed it was quite a noisy mic, meaning that whenever I cranked up the gain, there was an audible hiss. Even when I was recording at a lower gain level, I could still hear this hiss, so I started looking for a new condenser microphone.
After reading countless reviews and watching gear comparison videos galore, I came upon the Rode NT1-A. Advertised as the ‘worlds quietest studio microphone’ on the market, this would fit my needs perfectly. I ordered the vocal recording bundle pack, which comes with the SM6 shock mount and pop filter, Rode XLR cable and a dust cover.
On receipt of the microphone, it was really easy to put everything together. One thing I will say is that the Mic and Shock mount when they are assembled together are very heavy and I am forever having to tighten the nut to put the mic back to its original position. The nut on the actual pop filter is a bit flimsy too, so I regularly have to reposition that as well. Aside from these two minor flaws, there are no other physical problems with the bundle. The mic feels sturdy, it has a great build quality and feels that it’s built to last. Remember, this is a condenser, so requires a +48V phantom power. Plug it in to your audio interface and lets go!
The sound quality is brilliant, really crisp. A great microphone, not just for recording vocals but acoustic instruments too. Acoustic guitars sound great and it even works well in front of an amp. With my previous problems of microphone noise, I straight away cranked the gain right the way up. No noise, it does what it says on the tin. This mic is quiet! I was also instantly impressed at how sensitive this mic is, picking up even the quietest noises. The sound range is staggering, picking up the quietest whisper right through to full, all out singing or playing! Technically speaking the mic has a sensitivity of -31.9dB and combined with a max SPL (the loudest sound the microphone can take without distorting) of 137 dBSPL- in a nutshell, this mic has a great sound range.
One slightly disappointing thing about this mic is that I’ve encountered some sibilance issues. I first noticed when playing acoustic guitar, especially with new strings, I could hear the plectrum striking the strings which created little pops and then I also had issues with my ‘s’ and t’s. I tried for comparison with and without the included pop filter, but without was almost unbearable. I have now got the included pop filter, that is a must, as well as a foam wind shield that I had from another microphone. Without the extra foam wind shield, recordings are very plosive heavy! Perhaps a better quality pop filter is needed? Another hack that I have discovered to avoid the sibilance issues is angling the mic slightly to the left or right and not singing or playing directly into it, of course a decent pop filter is the better option.
Would I recommend this microphone? Absolutely, aside from the sibilance issues and they can be easily fixed, it sounds great. Crisp, bright audio that actually doesn’t need all that much editing in post. I recorded all my parts of The Isolation Sessions using the Rode NT1-A, both vocals and acoustic guitars and I am now doing all my interviews using the microphone too. There is a reason why this microphone is an industry standard, a great microphone and it just goes to show, you don’t have to break the bank for excellent quality.
