From: Rob Danielson <>
>
> 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.
Others have noted the lack of standardization in Rode mics, one price
you pay for that cheap price.
Have you seen any polar patterns for Rode mics that go above 4 khz? The
stuff I've downloaded off their site is very disappointing, the bottom
end frequencies are easy to get good polar patterns compared to the
higher frequencies. Is Rode just showing the good stuff? Sennheiser,
Schoeps and such like all give polar patterns up to 16 khz, much more
useful to evaluate a mic for nature recording. Even if those curves at
the upper frequencies are not as pretty. Giving polar patterns only up
to 4 khz is just evaluating the use of the mics with voice frequencies.
You seem to be saying that if the Rode and 30/40 MKH were the same price
you'd be using the MKH? That the Rode is only under consideration due to
it's price. What would be your mix of mics if the prices were reversed?
Or equal?
Most of us are not trying to equip a university class, we need only one
set. If you were choosing one set, what would it be?
> 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
This may depend on where you live and time of day you record. Certainly
the SE has a great deal of humidity to deal with, and mics that cannot
be trusted out in it are a bad deal. When it's calm, humidity is often
high, so the very times when you could record because the wind is down a
mic likely to fail with humidity is even worse. Especially if you have
burned some expensive gas to get to the recording site.
Walt
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