NT2-A Versatile Large-diaphragm Condenser Microphone with Switchable Polar Pattern, Pad and High-pass Filter for Vocal and Instrument Recording

Having decided to put a mini recording studio together for my own personal fun. I wanted to use the best components I could afford. To cut a long story short I was a professional cabaret artist for 12 years and also had a full time proper job 😂 My employer offered a huge promotion and relocation and I decided to hang up my microphone 🎤🎸🎶 and give my four children a better place to grow up. So I went cold turkey and stopped performing 😭 Now I have decided to put a few tracks down and have a bit of renaissance, well in my head anyway. Having read countless reviews and being familiar with my own vocal type I settled on a roade NT1A then I saw the updated NT1 in the black satin finish, even better performance figures and not as retro looking as the silver finish NT1A. Firstly it's boxed beautifully microphone cable and shockmount all in separate cartons within the main box. It all feels like quality solid beautifully crafted reassuringly heavy. I would advise fitting the shockmount to a solid microphone stand and then carefully lining up the microphone and carefully screwing up the retaining nut from underneath, don't fit the shockmount to the microphone then spin the whole assembly on to the stand. I am using a Yamaha mg10 xuf mixer with phantom power and USB in and out to my laptop, and Beyerdynamic studio headphones setting the input gain brought a huge smile to my face, I know the Yamaha pre-smps are legendary quiet but the complete silence is a joy. Then the rich neutral sound from the NT1 was actually quite emotional. It is crystal clear and so satisfying to use dialling in a little reverb from the mixer and i was in audio heaven. Make no mistake there are cheaper options, and significantly more expensive ones than the NTI but for build quality and performance this is a revelation. 100% recommended the only thing I will say and this is not a criticism of the product at all, this equipment is so silent, so clear, presents so beautifully your own singing technique has to be spot on it will expose every nuance of your vocal, good and bad.

Everyone tells you how quiet it is; and it certainly is. Everyone says it is great for vocals; and it is. Much better than the sub £100 competitors many of which I have moved on in the past. When I was looking for a new mic I read all the reviews and set my price limit quite low (no Neumanns). The nice thing about this mic is that although I may choose other mics for a different sound (SM57, SM58, SM81 SE Z3300A are all in my cupboard and lots of cheapies discarded and sold) it will make a useable result on everything I have tried so far (vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, small percussion). Not only that, and most important to me is that the sounds combine in a mix without too much effort and even sounds that are mixed low are still audible. It does this very well. I like the shock-mount / pop screen - it works well and seems reasonably robust. The physical weight is sort of middly - feels robust without always needing an upgraded stand. The sound doesn't get too boomy or scatchy, - boosting either bass or treble or both, results in warm true bass and / or clean silky tops. My voice comes out very natural and eqs well to match the mix. Acoustic guitar - I find the mic can be placed close to the strings or body without picking up string slides or too much boom. Off-axis sounds stay quite natural. 10 year warranty when registered - how many other manufacturers would risk that? Less good - very little really Picks up room and outside noise more than dynamic mics but that is only to be expected. The shock-mount mounting ring isnt captive so I'll be careful not to loose it. It would have been better to have a plastic box for storage. Doesnt make me sing in tune!! Summary - Great mic certainly for the money which I'm sure will stay at the ready nearly all the time. A good first do-it-all mic and if I had only £200 to spend it would be a toss up between this and an SM57 and SM58 combo.

Before I get into this review I have to say I’m not an audio expert, so I’m not in a position to offer technical insights, or comparisons with several other comparable mics. I’m just someone who found he needed to master a basic level of skill at sound recording for voice because of my work (Hypnotherapist creating Hypnosis CDs). And I’ve been doing that for quite a few years now. Starting from a mic plugged straight into a cassette deck with no editing available, to what I have now which is this Rode NT-1, an ART Tube MP mic pre-amp, and a Macbook Pro with Garageband to do the recording. Editing and adding a music background is done with Adobe Audition. The problems that I’ve had in the past – mostly using a cheap dynamic microphone I bought from Tandy many, many years ago – are: low-level noise in the recording that’s been introduced by equipment, and sound quality. When I popped the headphones on to listen to my first recording with the Rode NT-1 I was blown away. It was so quiet and my voice sounded so much richer than in the past. Audition’s Spectral Frequency Display shows that there is a very low level of noise, but I can’t hear it at comfortable listening volume. Mind you I am getting on a bit so I can’t guarantee that younger ears might not be able to detect it. But it is a huge improvement on what I’m used to getting with other, much cheaper, dynamic mics. Also some of that noise may come from the pre-amp or the laptop. Still I think the claim from Rode’s website “Ultra-low noise, self noise of only 4.5dB (A)” is worth taking seriously. One of my concerns about paying, what to me, was a sizeable sum for a mic based only on what I gleaned from, often quite technical, reviews was that there was very little feedback on using the Rode NT-1 just for spoken word. Another of my concerns was that I don’t have a studio. I record in a room that has not, in any way, been adapted to make it better for recording. So there is sound outside, from birds, trucks, and planes. Dynamic mics, which I was used to using, don’t have too much problem with this, but everything I was reading told me that condenser mics were incredibly sensitive and would pretty much pick up a pin dropping. During my first recording I had a truck that I could hear clearly – this was very faint on the recording, an aeroplane which seemed to me quite loud, that I couldn’t hear on the recording and I marked where it was so I could check. There were a couple of magpies chattering outside during the half hour I was recording and I can’t hear them on it either. So its cardioid polar pattern seems quite effective since the extraneous sound was coming through the window which was at the back of the mic. It certainly picked up ‘mouth sounds’ clicks, breaths… without any problem at the front. I bought the package that includes the pop-screen (which is a stiff metal mesh), shock mount, and cloth mic cover. The pop filter is excellent and works much better than the ‘pair of tights’ type that I’d been using. The shock mount holds the pop screen so I didn’t even have to worry about how far away from the mic it should be, or how to mount it. Bear in mind that in order to use the Rode NT-1 you need a mic pre-amp with phantom power, and you also need an XLR mic cable. In conclusion I can say that I am very pleased with this mic and the vocal quality outshines anything I’ve used in the past. I highly recommend it.

I have quite a few dynamic and condenser microphones at various price points (some well above this price point), but I wanted the NT2A strictly for it's optional Figure8 pickup pattern as a side microphone in a mid-side stereo recording array. Absolute tonal quality was therefore not vital to me. Having previously owned Rode's slightly cheaper fixed cardioid NT1A microphone, I was expecting the NT2A to exhibit a similar sonic characteristic... i.e. sibilant, overly bright and difficult to use in an untreated room, but with the added convenience of 3 selectable pickup patterns. Well I can tell you the NT1A and NT2A are different animals, and irrespective of the added features the NT2A is a much better microphone. Used in cardioid mode as a vocal mike, it is much more natural sounding than the NT1A and does not exhibit any of the sane excess sibilance or 'hyped' top end. I put it up against my more expensive Shure KSM32 (a £500+ single pattern microphone) and it did not disgrace itself. In fact it sounded better in some circumstances. With it's selectable pickup patterns, great sound quality, and bundled cable and shock mount for £209 all in (at the time I purchased it), The Rode NT2A studio pack is really great value. If I'd discovered this model earlier, I probably would've saved a small fortune by not buying much more expensive models from other manufacturers. Any downsides? Not really. However a word of advice to novice recording artists... if you need to maximise subject isolation in an untreated room, you might be better off with a good dynamic model (e.g. Shure's excellent SM7B) as they tend to pick up less of the room.... just be aware that if you go that route you'll need a pre-amp with at least 60db of clean gain. The NT2A does well off more modest pre amps.

So... I have started getting obssessed with voice recording. It started with wanting to do a good job for a little film I was making and has grown from there. I finally decided to get a good(ish) multi-pattern condensor microphone. The decision came down to the Rode NT2A bundle, the SE Electronics SE2200a II MP and the Audio Technica AT2050. All are around the same price point and all do the same thing (triple pattern, bundled with shock mount and pop filter, etc). Now nowhere does anyone review these mics head to head... and therefore I did rather get my knickers in a twist as to which was the right one. Sometimes I had to make do with reviews that compared different models (Rode NT1A with SE2200a, and so on) and some commentators would say Rode was harsher on deep voices (like my own) and the SE was warmer. In the end I went for the Rode... why? Well delivery times came into it, the AT and SE mics were not available next day... the accessories that they came with the Rode seemed better quality and safety in a proven product, the 10 year warranty. For every reviewer praising it with a "but..." there were others there that simply praised it. Also I realised that I had never seen or heard anyone on Youtube who sounded terrible with the Rode, even as they were declaring it was not as flattering or warm as the others. So it came. The box I received was a little beaten, the mic had marks on it (that rubbed off), the Mic bottom was not screwed on properly and I was concerned that I had received a reconditioned unit (I have not, at least it seems new and was sealed). But once I had unboxed the thing and cleaned it, it is impressive, heavy, well built. I have recorded a little on it and first impressions are good, easy to use, you get good results. Still 4*, so why? Well... someone said in the other reviews that they paid £209 2 years ago. Now a lot has happened economically in 2 years... prices have gone up. But if I had paid £209 it would be 5*.... but I paid £239 and although a lot is bundled with the Mic, you quickly realise that you will need more. Would if have killed Rode to include a ZP1 padded leather storage case (£12 from Amazon) instead of the fabric "dust" bag? Or a windshield (£15)? Both these items are provided on cheaper Rode products (the M3 Condensor Mic and NT3 and the NTG2. Still more the Mic is a beast, in terms of weight, so I have also gone for the Rode DP1 desk stand (£18)... furthermore the mic stand I have (Amazon Basics) topples with this rig on so add a sand bag, maybe some kind of padded storage/carry case. The last two I would not expect Rode to provide, but are added for a note to any potential buyer. Now my £240 starters kit is up to £285... with more to come. Looked at it that way the NT2, compared to competitors, looks expensive - although it would be worth noting that the competitors Mic might not have provided some of these items (windshield, sturdier case and desk stand) it is worth noting that they are cheaper and therefore when the extras are added on they do not approach the £300 mark. Still the decision has been made and in terms of build quality and performance so far (which is limited) I am impressed. Just wish Rode would consider bundling more for a modest price increase or simply dropping the price a little to make the other bits a pieces more affordable. TL:DR - Everything about the mic (build, performance) is cool, however you will need to buy extra bits and pieces, if you are starting out, which will add a significant amount to the RRP.

I am currently using this for voiceover work in my bedroom (the quietest room in the house), after going through over a dozen mics I finally plumped for the Rode NT1, I had read and heard all of the reviews and I needed something that was not going to give me a lot of hiss - this fits the bill. I bought the complete mic kit which includes a high quality solid shock mount, don't let the fact it is plastic and not metal put you off, this is true professional gear, the slot-in pop filter is all metal, double skinned and works a treat. The mic is all metal casing with a strong grill, self noise is amazing, I am not aware of any hiss, just good clean sound with a slightly warm tone to it, perfect for everything that I do. Worth every penny, a great looking setup that sounds great, oh and you get a dust cover for the mic too, awesome piece of equipment.

I've been a radio presenter and voice-over for some twenty odd years now. Only really picking up the voice-over side of things in 2010. I used a Behringer B1 for all my work until now and have never had any complaints. I've not auditioned for work for a long time but thought I'd give ACX a go with the NT1. Bingo, the first project I go for, I get! Co-incidence? Could be but it's sold me on this mic right away. It's a real upgrade from the Behringer which is saying something as that was a great mic. I bought this on a whim with some money my mother gave me for Christmas. Kind of thinking that it will last years and remind me of her in those years to come. I run this into a DBX 286s pre-amp / processor. From there it runs into a Lexicon Alpha which feeds into a Windows 10 I73770 PC. The sound is clear, faultless actually. Well worth the money.

If you are reading this, then you are thinking of purchasing a studio condenser microphone. Buy this one. If you want to waste a bit of time, read-on. This is not the cheapest studio condenser microphone but is never the less very affordable. Despite that, you will not get a better microphone for voice and general studio use at any cost. So you can spend less and just get a worse microphone, which will be worse value, or you can spend more and get... well, worse value and the pleasure of having less cash. It comes with the suspension mount and a pop shield and so is ready to go. A lot of nonsense is talked about how microphones sound but this one has as broad a frequency response as anything similar and across the roughly ten octaves, it is impressively flat. So it has the neutral sound you are looking for in a studio mic meaning you can use your EQ and processing to mess-up the sound if that's what you want to do. Noise-wise, it is the best performance that you can get at any price and that means that it will outperform your acoustically treated room or studio. No, you are not going to hear any distortion. It has built-in suspension as well as the external spider and so is unusually well isolated. If you are still asking how this microphone sounds, then you are reading the wrong review. There is no pad switch though despite that the dynamic range is impressive. You may just have to put a bit more distance between the microphone and the instrument or performer instead. It is a cardioid microphone which means that it is designed to be placed a little distance from the subject - 20 to 30cm for voice with a polar pattern that favours the front and rejects the rear. Placing the microphone closer increases the bass (this is a phenomena that is not exclusive to this microphone but rather all cardioids), and is unnecessary on such a low-noise device. There is also no bass cut switch. You will have to roll the low frequencies off in the mix. This microphone needs phantom power which drives the impedance converter inside the mic's body. That means that you will need an interface box between this mic and your computer or tablet. If you don't understand that, then buy Rode's excellent USB studio condenser microphone. Most people set their system for best listening volume, learn how to adjust for lowest noise floor instead and you will not waste this microphone's massive talent. Negatives? Well, not having the pad and bass cut switches may seem a negative but use the mic well and you won't miss them. It would have been nice to have been supplied with a hard case for storage and transport but that's it, that's the only negative I can see. So now you have burned up some extra time, this is still the microphone to choose. Enjoy it.