Rode NT1-A Reviews

I've used this mic to record acoustic guitar and vocals. The results sound like a perfect image of the sound that went into the mic, which is just what I want. Perfectly balanced from the lowest to highest frequencies. What comes out of the monitors sounds exactly like me. Very lifelike. The cardioid pattern is very effective--a wide image on one side of the mic (easily captures both acoustic guitar and singing at the same time) and great rejection from the sides and back, so I can eliminate all the noise from my PC fans by just pointing the mic away from it--works much better for this than other mics I've used. The included shock mount is great too. I read a ton of reviews and thought this mic might provide results comparable to MUCH more expensive mics. It seems I was right. Amazing value.

For the price, it's very hard to find a better mic. It sounds good on vocals, electric guitar, and acoustic.

If are searching for a nice large diaphragm condenser in the ~$200 price range, look no further.

This mic is absolutely amazing value for money, especially with a S/N of 5dB! Has a nice clean sound, a very slight "smile" frequency response, which is what gives it this presence boost.

As I say, it is very good for the money, but if you want something that sounds like a 414 or U87 then get one of them.

It's only problem is that it is fixed-pattern and so not hugely adaptable but it's great for recording acoustic, vocals or as jazz drum overheads (stereo pair)

Well I've heard the Eagles talk about it, I've heard Jon Bon Jovi Talk about it,& Neil Diamond, case closed,

Great mic! I use this NT1-A for recording voice overs for videos I produce. I recently used it to record an audio book version of a book I wrote.

I run the NT1-A into a Apogee Duet into a Apple laptop ... I get warm soundtracks that I can easily import into Final Cut Pro or Logic.

I love how this microphone sounds ... warm and natural. I haven't found a better microphone at this pricepoint, either.

Highly recommended.

For the money, the Rode NT1A is a very good mic. I own a number of (mostly lower cost) mics, including a CAD 3000 and a Cascade Fathead. The Rode is the most versatile. I have found it excellent for recording acoustic guitar and vocal. I've also used it as a room mic and as a drum overhead.

The mic is extremely quiet, very sensitive, and doesn't overly color any sound I am recording. The accuracy is even uncanny. I haven't measured it at specific frequency ranges, but there seems to be a little bit of a "sizzle" which really brings the recording forward. I've only heard this from high end mics while recording a demo last year at a local studio.

For the money, I haven't been able to find a better mic.

I have owned the original NT-1 for several years now...If memory serves about 6. I have had the opportunity to use it in just about every situation you would run into short of taking it outdoors and capturing sound effects. From voice to strings to percussion I have tried it. I have even used it for a little surveillance work within my own home. All that being said, the one attribute about this mic that always gets it pulled out of its case versus a different condenser is the lone fact that when compared to other condensers in my collection, the Rode NT-1 has a much broader pic up pattern. I choose this mic when I have a voice over application that lends itself to a lot of head movement. It also shines as an overhead for a drumkit. It does lend itself nicely to customization in the eq dept pre and post. It seems about 20% hotter than most of my LD condensers. A mic that always fills that need when nothing else captures that big picture.

I owned and used this mic for over 2 years now, I have worked in my studio with U87's AKGs etc. and I have to say honestly, this one has won my heart, it simply sounds great, it has a real open sound, it sounds like a $3000 mic, I have recorded a complete album with it, including: Acc gtr, latin perc, elec gtr, and all the vocals, and it amazes me the NT1-A has sounded beautiful on each and every track, delivering a well focused very detailed sound with just a few adjusts on the preamp. I just process the mic trough my focusrite preamp and from there straight to apogee interface. some other producers will say Nahh... it is not a U87... or whatever, well I say to them sure it is not an U87 but NT1-A can kick it's but any day, If you're in a budget and want to get a pro sound go for the NT1-A, I want to express my gratitude to my Sales engineer at Sweetwater for brining this great mic to my attention, and also to RODE for build such a phenomenal mic.

I must say, I really do like this mic. I do Acappella gospel and I use this mic on every vocal track. It has a full warm sound. I will definitely recommend this mic to others. Way to go rode.

I really love this mic!! It's probably the best studio condenser mic I've ever purchased. Sounds great with both acoustic guitar and vocal tracks!! I highly recommend it!!

This mic is no U 87. Having said that a U 87 is no NT1-A and a horse is no zebra (at least I dont think zebras are horses). I live right outside of Nashville (Country Music City) so I can go rent a U-87 or lots of other expensive mics anytime I want (I'm not bragging or anything).

Having said that, I have compared the NT1-A to a U 87 and I have to say that they sound different but to me not one better than the other. I, for some reason like the way the NT1-A sounds on vocals better(seriously). In all, in the future I will save up and get a U-87 of my own but I will never part from my NT1-A.

P.S. This mic doesnt sound like a 230 dollar mic. Great for Hip Hop, Rap. Oh yeah.

I am now running this mic with the line 6 toneport uxt, and it works great...i recorded my first song on it this morning and the vocal quality is professional. I was using the Blue Snowball, and with that mic there was no bass in your vocals, but with the NT1-A there is perfect bass to trebel ratio....

GREAT MIC HANDS DOWN

I purchased a matched pair of NT1-A's, but haven't used them in a stereo configuration yet. However, I now find myself using individual NT1-A's on almost every track I record - vocals, instruments, you name it.

Just this weekend I had two sessions. I recorded an acoustic artist, and the acoustic guitar tracks were so clean & transparent that my client wanted NO compression or equalization on the mixdown - he liked the unprocessed acoustic guitar tracks that much! To me, that says a lot when the client notices the sound quality of a mic. That same morning, I also tracked a local "first take" female vocalist who sounds just like Sarah McLachlin, and I've yet to track a bad take with this mic. As a side note, I was running the NT1-A thru a Presonus D8 into my Pro Tools 002 system via light-pipe.

If you are looking for a mic that has value beyond its price, you won't go wrong with the Rode NT1-A. Highly recommended.

Beautiful Mic, Smooth solid casing warm lows and crisp highs you cant go wrong with this mic. For the price it beats every mic in production.

Very good in sound and price, you can't go wrong with this one. Way to go Rode!!!!! This is the mic. i have in my own studio

"For the Money" Use your ears! Its not about the money ...this is just a great mic, I keep going back to this Mic.... spend your money on a great Mic Pre...This is a great mic no matter what it costs!

This mic is worth every cent! This mic has such an incredible dynamic range that it'll catch everything from blaring cymbals to a vocal breath ten feet away! I've used it for all my vocal and guitar tracks and have even been surprised with it's piano capability! Great for picking up a room's natural reverb and character!

i get exactly what i put into it. Use it for vocals 99% of the time. Worth 3 times the price. no noise and with a good pre amp/channel strip can take your
sound to the next level. get one!

This mic is great. I use it to record vocals, guitar, and beat-boxing. The resulting tracks are great and I only have to use a minimal amount of EQ to correct anything. Mic placement and preamp are key.

I like this so much I'm considering purchasing a matched pair for classical stereo recording!

What can I say, this mic its just great, for vocals, guitars, you name it...
I give this mic 4.5 because, I just havent deal with others... so
there you, its a Workhorse!!!

Well The Time Has Come To Finally Put My Two Sense's In On The NT1-A.....I Decided To Wait A Couple Months Before Writing A Review On The Mic Becasue I Wanted To Fully See What It Was Capable Of....This Being My First Condenser Mic Purchase I Must Say It Did Not Dissapoint...I Was Unsure Of How It Would Perform And How Long It Would Last Me Before I Felt Like I Needed A Higher Quality Basically Because The Price Tag Is What It Is For A Reason But It Proved Me Wrong With This Mic And Although This Is No Where Near The Best It Is Very Competetive And Very Versatile Allowing You To Do Practically Anything Given You Have A Decent Mixer And Know Proper Recording Techniques...So If You Got A Budget Like Most Of Us Out There Do And You Want A Mic That Will Be Able To Last You A While And Give You Exceptional Quality For Price And Quality In General This Is Deff It Unless Your Tryna Spend More Then Like 600....Well Imma Leave You Off On That Note And Also If You Want A Decent Starting Mixer The Yamaha MW10 Is Very Good And Great Price Aswell...Yall Cats Be Easy And Good Looks On Sweetwater For Giving Us Oppertunities


"Stay Up,One"

When I decided to embark on the jorney of building a recording studio, I didn't know what to expect. With a little help from my sales rep., I was pointed in the direction of the Rode NT1A. I must say it was a good investment. The clarity in my recording is well worth twice of what I paid. It even out-performs my small condenser mic in some areas for recording guitar! This is an excellent choice for anyone who wants great sound on a small budget.

The Best Bargain Condenser Microphone in the streets, Love this large Diaphragm Condenser for many applications and it always pass with 5 stars. Made in Australia, Means Awesome Quality!!! This Cardioid is great for Vocals, Acoustics and Electric Guitars, Bass, Percussion, Drums O/H's, Key's and much more. Warm, versatile and very detail, a Modern Classic! The other thing that I like very much it has a self noise of -5db, extremely quit Mic this is good for non treated rooms. The only thing that the NT1-A miss is a Filter and Pads. For any Project Studio or Pro Studio, Student or Engineer this Rode Nt1-A is a must have in the Mic locker collection. I think this is one the best Mic for under $500.00 on the streets and it competes with the best out there in that prices and performances range.

This is a great quality mic for a very reasonable price. When paired with a good preamp this mic can help produce a quality sound on vocals guitars or whatever your heart desires. Definately worth the 230!!

Everyone wants the best mic they can afford, and most of us don't have big bugs to invest. If you fall into this category you're probably agonizing over which not-too-cheap mic to buy.

The good news is that there are some great buys these days for about 200 bucks. This one just happens to be one of the better ones.

Beware that it has no high-pass filter or -10db pad (check out the AKG Perception 200 if you need them). Also make sure you have a pop filter, an absolute necessity with this mic.

The NT1-A is a quiet Mic. I frequently use it for getting sound effects through a decent preamp, and I don't run into as much hiss as I do through a lot of other mics of the same type. It's okay for vocals, especially for a certain type of voice because it's a pretty dark mic -- it lacks the sweet sheen of other large diaphragm condensers, but it's flatness is part of its charm -- a nice, revealing Mic! Nice on ac. guitars too.

This mic is good... recorded a mixtape with it, rappers and people doing r/n/b should get this mic. but with time the quality changes... expeacily when u mess up the settings in ur preamp.

The Rode NT1-A was my first large diaphragm studio mic, and it was a huge improvement over the small diaphragm Shure mics I had carried over from stage. Its wide, true response captures all the character in vocals, including the fullness that handhelds often miss, and with skill (and a good pop screen) you can use the Rode's proximity effect to good advantage. A couple of caveats, though: one is that your pre-amp matters more with this mic than with the less-accurate small diaphragm mics. When I ran it through a cheap Behringer MIC100, I found the sound to be "brittle," and had to turn the gain up quite high to get a strong enough signal -- which brought the room noise fully into the equation, since the mic seems more omni than cardioid to me. Since I have switched to a PreSonus pre-amp, the Rode has sounded wonderful, with none of the brittleness or gain problems of before. It's very sensitive to plosives (including exhaling onto the capsule), so you need a good pop screen and you have to work the mic somewhat carefully when singing in close. Lastly, I'll say the mic is versatile. I used it as a mono room mic for a drum kit that I had close-mic'ed with dedicated drum mics (couldn't afford a stereo pair). I placed the NT1-A about 8 feet away, hoping to just catch some sizzle off the cymbals. I feared the mic would overload even at that distance, but in the end the Rode's track sounded better by itself than the close-mic tracks did. The cymbals really jumped off the track, but the kick, snare, toms and room all sounded great and very natural, too. All in all, other mics may have a signature sound that some people prefer; but in this price range, this mic is a great value.

I bought this mic three months ago, and have been using it ever since. I bought this mic with medium expectations, having read multiple user reviews.
Alot of people say this mic is harsh, but I disagree. The mic simply gives you back what you put in. Like a mirror. Tube Preamps, Analog/tube compression, and EQ can be used to round out any edges, but the original sound of the mic isn't bad at all. With proper mic technique, processing and pramps
only add to the fun.
I think this mic was a great investment, and will soon be buying another one (specially with such a low price for such a goood mic).
This is my first Rode purchase, and will not be my last.

Indeed over the last 15 years having both analog and digital studios in my home, I've owend the U87, TLM-103, AKG 414, C1000's and CAD's. There is little doubt that typically most microphones impart some type of "character" to their sound and in this manner color the input slightly so as to be usable for a particular purpose. This isn't one of those mics. It simply gives you right back what you put it, bad or good.....I consider this a good thing as it gives ME the opportunity to decide during the post processing stage what kind of character I intend for the source. I consider it a "audio surgical" tool. Worth far more than it's asking price, and clean as they come. All you get for more money is more pattern selection and frequency rolloff switching.........

I got this Mic about a year ago. Great Investment. I've recorded mostly vocals and guitars, it captures every thing very clearly. I would recommend it to any one looking for their first studio mic.

This mic is the perfect upgrade from something like an SM57. If you currently don't have a large diaphragm condenser mic for your vocals/amps, consider upgrading to the NT1-A. It will make a huge impact for a small amount of money. Definately pick up a pop filter if you dont have one, its very sensitive as is most mics of this type.

This mic has proven to be an asset in my studio. I use it mainly for vocals and have never been disappointed. My one caution is that this mic doesn't lie. It doesn't warm the voice or alter the sound in any way. I found that it is an exact duplicate of the performance...good or bad, so use it only when the singer is right on. For the money, this is an amazing mic!

This is my first microphone for my studio and I don't think I could have picked up a better one at this value. So far I've recorded some great vocals and acoustic guitar and the sound quality is indeed very professional! Definatly great for new studio owners on a tighter budget that want great quality. I'm more than happy with it being my first microphone.

I originally bought one of these based on the many shining reviews it has garnished, and have to say - I must agree! This is one of the quietest mics I have ever tracked with (self-noise only 5.5db!). Fantastic for the digital meduim - you won't believe the clarity and quiet... Great on vocals, acoustic guitars, and even bass cabs. In fact, it's so versatile, it is one of the first mics I now grab for any source!


Considering it now comes with the shock mount, at $199 the NT1A is a no-brainer; every studio should have at least one. It's destined to become the "SM57" of the new millenium. Put it up against your best and see if you don't agree.