This is only a partial report on the Rode NTK tube mic. I posted in another thread that I got this thing on Monday at the GC Memorial Day sale when I was quoted a truly irresistible price.
First things first: this is a big, heavy, solid mic that needs a big mic stand with a heavy counterweight. The mic is beautifully made on the outside. I wouldn't know quality mic guts if they hit me in the face, so I can't comment on that. It comes in a plastic injection molded case with a power supply, stand mount, and cable (tube mics need special cables to their power supplies in most cases). The power supply is utilitarian, and could use nicer jacks, but this is a small niggle at this price point.
Unfortunately, I didn't have my Focusrite Red 7 preamp (had a minor incident with it), so I couldn't tell much about comparing the mic to the Blue Mouse or Kiwi on vocals, other than it sounds nice. I don't care for the mic preamps on my console, and I'm completely spoiled by the Red 7, so it isn't fair to compare the mic to the Blue mics that I recorded with the Focusrite, using only my console preamps.
But the preamps on my board sound fine with acoustic guitar, or even on a vocal if the singer doesn't get too close and loud.
First, I had my son go into my recording booth, and play his Tacoma DM-18. Then I put the mic up at singing height, and had Jamie do some vocals at about a foot or two away. It sounded quite good! In fact, I like the mic better than several other more expensive mics. Hard to compare it to a Blue Kiwi; they're different, but the Kiwi is a little more 3-D. What both have in common is a very nice top-to-bottom balance.
Then I went into the booth with my Collings, while Jamie recorded me. If you'd told me that I recorded the Collings with a more expensive mic, I'd have believed you. In fact, I liked the NTK far better with the Collings, than an AKG 414 or Neumann TLM 103. And anyone who knows me knows that I love the 414 as an acoustic guitar mic. There was a solid, nicely balanced sound, with a lot of sheen and sparkle, without the added "zing" on the top and bottom you sometimes get with certain Neumanns.
So far, I am very impressed. But the toughest test of a good mic, for me, is vocals.
I'll report on vocals as soon as I get a decent preamp in here; I'm going to borrow a Manley for a few days next week, so we'll see.
First things first: this is a big, heavy, solid mic that needs a big mic stand with a heavy counterweight. The mic is beautifully made on the outside. I wouldn't know quality mic guts if they hit me in the face, so I can't comment on that. It comes in a plastic injection molded case with a power supply, stand mount, and cable (tube mics need special cables to their power supplies in most cases). The power supply is utilitarian, and could use nicer jacks, but this is a small niggle at this price point.
Unfortunately, I didn't have my Focusrite Red 7 preamp (had a minor incident with it), so I couldn't tell much about comparing the mic to the Blue Mouse or Kiwi on vocals, other than it sounds nice. I don't care for the mic preamps on my console, and I'm completely spoiled by the Red 7, so it isn't fair to compare the mic to the Blue mics that I recorded with the Focusrite, using only my console preamps.
But the preamps on my board sound fine with acoustic guitar, or even on a vocal if the singer doesn't get too close and loud.
First, I had my son go into my recording booth, and play his Tacoma DM-18. Then I put the mic up at singing height, and had Jamie do some vocals at about a foot or two away. It sounded quite good! In fact, I like the mic better than several other more expensive mics. Hard to compare it to a Blue Kiwi; they're different, but the Kiwi is a little more 3-D. What both have in common is a very nice top-to-bottom balance.
Then I went into the booth with my Collings, while Jamie recorded me. If you'd told me that I recorded the Collings with a more expensive mic, I'd have believed you. In fact, I liked the NTK far better with the Collings, than an AKG 414 or Neumann TLM 103. And anyone who knows me knows that I love the 414 as an acoustic guitar mic. There was a solid, nicely balanced sound, with a lot of sheen and sparkle, without the added "zing" on the top and bottom you sometimes get with certain Neumanns.
So far, I am very impressed. But the toughest test of a good mic, for me, is vocals.
I'll report on vocals as soon as I get a decent preamp in here; I'm going to borrow a Manley for a few days next week, so we'll see.
