Hi Robin--
Are you keeping it from direct contact with water? I haven't seen
major moisture susceptibility with our 40 plus NT-4 units.
I set up my mics under umbrellas when I leave them out all night--
for dew, if not for rain. My 30/40 mkh pair is probably my most
reliable, but I've only been able justify one set because I need
multiple rigs and I like the character of the NT1-A's for what they
are. Out of the 8 Rodes I've used, 2 have not been up to par. One is
the right mic/channel in the river recording I posted (low mid
distortion and, by dawn, its sputtering away in the humidity). The
other unit I sent back after a night's use and the dealer replaced
it. The other six deal pretty well with moisture. The NT2-A mic I've
been testing churned out clean audio through 2.5 hours outside in the
rain this week.
Any time you use mics in X-Y or paired in omni, its harder to get two
mics that will respond very similarly to the full range of
frequencies. My $200 NT1A's differ from unit to unit, but not any
more than my "matched" $1400 mbho's-- which I sent back for a better
match too. Out of my 8, I have what I consider to be one very
well-matched pair-- meaning that I don't not have to address the
channels with separate EQ from the start. This pair is probably as
well matched as my reference speakers! I use all of the NT1A's all
the time.
Its easier to equalize M-S micing because both channels get flavored
by both mics. That's another reason the NT2-A/NT1-A MS pair is
appealing to me.
There's no way to get around the disappointments that come with the
good fortunes in the field. Do I worry about moisture? Sure! But, a
steady, light breeze has obscured many more hours of usable material
than condenser mic failure due to moisture. Rob D
At 6:14 PM -0400 7/15/05, Robin Carter wrote:
>Rob,
>
>Can you or anyone else hazard a guess as to how dependable the Rode NT1-A
>might be in a warm, humid climate? I have a Rode NT4 which does well as lo=
ng
>as the humidity is low. Here in South Carolina this means that I can recor=
d
>with the NT4 only in the winter. I am hoping that the NT1-A does O.K. in
>high humidity. You mention a "wet, drippy night". These conditions would
>quickly disable my NT4.
>
>Robin Carter
>Columbia, SC
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:
>
>Sent: Friday, July 15, 2005 9:50 AM
>To:
>Subject: [Nature Recordists] Digest Number 1799
>
>
>There are 2 messages in this issue.
>
>Topics in this digest:
>
> 1. Rode NT1-A's Night Sequence
> From: Rob Danielson <>
> 2. Re: Rode NT1-A's Night Sequence
> From: Jeremy Minns <>
>
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>________________________________________________________________________
>
>Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 01:27:06 -0500
> From: Rob Danielson <>
>Subject: Rode NT1-A's Night Sequence
>
>Martyn et al--
>Finally, here are the NT1A's performing, X-Y angled at 60 degrees
>through a wet, drippy night along the Kickapoo River in SE Wisconsin,
>May 26, 2005.
>
>http://www.uwm.edu/~type/Temporary/7723EQSparseRvrNiteSeq.mp3
>44mb (mp3)
>
>Its a 30 minute sequence of cross-faded segments starting with the
>10pm town siren in LaFarge through sunrise recorded on the Sound
>Devices 722, full gain. If you want to download it rather than have
>it load in your browser, go to the directory at
>http://www.uwm.edu/~type/Temporary
>and right click on the link: 7723EQSparseRvrNiteSeq.mp3 and select
>the "save to disk" option. Mac folks, use control-click. Rob D.
>
> =3D =3D =3D =3D =3D
>
>At 3:32 PM -0700 6/22/05, Martyn Stewart wrote:
>>Let us just hope that someone gets out in the field to use these rather
>than
>>quoting mic specs, I personally would like to hear results.
> >
>>Martyn
>>
>>Martyn Stewart
>>Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
> >http://www.naturesound.org
>>
>>N47.65543 W121.98428
>>Redmond. Washington. USA
>>Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!
>>
>>425-898-0462
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From:
>> On Behalf Of Rob Danielson
>>Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 11:18 AM
>>To:
>>Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] 722 vs [was] NT1-A and moisture
>>
>>At 1:22 PM -0400 6/22/05, Walter Knapp wrote:
>>>From: Rob Danielson <>
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>>When Rode makes a figure-8, compare that to a MKH-30.
>>>
>>>One other small reason I went with the MKH series is that it's one of
>>>the few series that includes a figure-8. In my M/S I'm using same brand
>>>and series for both mics. Makes me at least feel like I have a somewhat
>>>matched set of mics in my M/S.
>>>
>>>Walt
>>>
>>>
>>
>>The new, NT2-A is variable polar pattern (cardioid, fig 8 and omni)
>>and seems to be based on the same electronics as the NT1-A.
>>Hopefully, they'll be _fairly_ well-matched for M-S. The $600 combo
>>could provide great stereo imagery or it could be very poor-- no way
>>to tell this without field testing. The 30 and 40 work well together
>>above 200Hz but the 40's stronger bass response makes the center
>>heavy unless addressed with EQ. No big deal. With some EQ, I seem to
>>be able to cover about 230 degrees with tonal eveness with my mkh
>>30/40 pair which is impressive. That large capsules tend to be more
>>treble centric than small capsules, as Dan points out, could detract
>>from the tonal uniformity of the Rode MS stereo field. The 2A alone
>>weighs as much as 4- 30/40 combos,.. Rob D.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>________________________________________________________________________
>
>Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 09:09:25 -0300
> From: Jeremy Minns <>
>Subject: Re: Rode NT1-A's Night Sequence
>
>Rob,
>
>The thing I like best about this list is listening to other people's
>recordings so I downloaded your file. When I tried to load it into Cool
>Edit 2000 I got a window 'Interpret Sample Format AS' followed by a window
>'Raw Data (no header)'. In my complete ignorance of these matters I clicke=
d
>OK for the default settings in each case. The file was loaded but consiste=
d
>only of white noise.
>
>What should I have done?
>
>Jeremy
>
>>Martyn et al--
>>Finally, here are the NT1A's performing, X-Y angled at 60 degrees
>>through a wet, drippy night along the Kickapoo River in SE Wisconsin,
>>May 26, 2005.
>>
>>http://www.uwm.edu/~type/Temporary/7723EQSparseRvrNiteSeq.mp3
>>44mb (mp3)
>>
>>Its a 30 minute sequence of cross-faded segments starting with the
>>10pm town siren in LaFarge through sunrise recorded on the Sound
>>Devices 722, full gain. If you want to download it rather than have
>>it load in your browser, go to the directory at
>>http://www.uwm.edu/~type/Temporary
>>and right click on the link: 7723EQSparseRvrNiteSeq.mp3 and select
>>the "save to disk" option. Mac folks, use control-click. Rob D.
>
>
>
>________________________________________________________________________
>________________________________________________________________________
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>"Microphones are not ears,
>Loudspeakers are not birds,
>A listening room is not nature."
>Klas Strandberg
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
--
Rob Danielson
Film Department
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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