I extended my range of studio-based equipment this week by purchasing a newvoiceover mic – the Rode NT1-A. I haven’t used much Rode equipment in the past,mainly because its boom mic offerings are generally associated with the lower end of the market, good for documentary or straight-to-camera work but not reallycomparing to Sennheiser’s broadcast range. The NT1-A, however, has becomea popular choice in studios and for good reason. This is Rode’s follow up to thevery successful NT1 close-range studio condenser mic and boasts only 5dBA ofself-produced noise, putting it amongst the quietest studio mics in existence. It isvasitle enough to produce equally excellent results whether used for vocals, acousticinstruments or as a voiceover capsule, and it produces excellent results across thedynamic range, 20Hz – 20kHz.
I am being asked to record more and more voiceover tracks on the road thesedays so I took the opportunity to test the NT1-A on one of these jobs last week.Of course, it is just as important to get the environment right as it is to use a goodquality mic, and that means sound absorption material, decent suspension unitsand a good reflection screen. I used the SE Electronics Reflexions Filter with somesound mats and made sure the NT1-A was tucked well into the screen, and the actorno more than 4 inches from the mic capsule. Needless to say the mic lived up to itsbilling; quiet, with crisp and precise top-frequencies but with a warm lower-end. Thescreen did a great job of dampening low-end bounce leaving a high direct-sound-to-reflected-sound ratio in the recording.