River City Select

Although you may think singing with a microphone is the same as without. There is genuinely a huge difference. There is even a divergence amongst singing into a condenser mic at the studio and a dynamic microphone live. A Dynamic mic gets exponential softer the further you are from it. Its design does away with feedback in a live environment. A condenser microphone does not, and may pick up just when it comes to any noise if the gain is turn up enough. For intro mic techniques, the basi principles are the same. first, when keeping the mic, do not obstruct the screen or steel dome with your thumb or hand. This primarily reduces the clarity of your voice.

Best Condenser Microphone For Vocals Photo

Best Condenser Microphone For Vocals Picture

Best Condenser Microphone For Vocals Image

Best Condenser Microphone For Vocals Image

Most helpful customer reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
The Mic I’ve Been Looking For
By kinojay33
I’m a musician who is starting to move more into a producer role as well, and I needed a good vocal mic for the studio. Previously I was doing all of my vocals with a Shure SM57, which is a great mic but it is very directional and necessitates a lot of preamping, which tended to make it pretty noisy for picking up softer vocals.

I’d heard a lot of positive hype about the NT1A and claims of it being the “quietest mic in the market”. I was very much surprised by the low-cost and comparisons to microphones in a much higher price range, so I picked one up figuring that if it didn’t live up to the claims, I’d return it and buy a more expensive mic.

I didn’t return it. And I don’t ever see myself selling it either.

Quite simply, this mic is amazing. I plugged it in direct to Roland 24-track digital workstation and cranked the gain all the way to 10. Not even a touch of hiss. This never happened with my SM57, and I always attributed the hiss to weak preamps in the Roland. Guess not. The pickup on the NT1A is incredible, to the extent that I had to remove a small clock on the far wall because I could hear the second hand ticking. This wasn’t audible to the naked human ear until you literally put your ear on the clock. I even had to add a couple throw rugs in the studio under the mic area because I could hear the carpet pad connecting with the cement floor. Amazing.

The mic sounds nice direct, but I typically run it through a good tube preamp and the sound is warm and pristine, with the only noise coming from the preamp. I’ve recorded everything from dreampop to industrial screaming and this mic handles it all.

Only complaint–with the exception of the XLR cable that came with it, I’ve had issues getting other cables to connect to the NT1A. The cables don’t lock into the mic like they do on my other mics, and only a couple of occasions I lost connection briefly during a take. I’m guessing this is probably just a freak design flaw with mine, because I haven’t heard this complaint from anyone else.

Regardless, incredible mic that that is worth every penny, and probably actually worth many tens of thousands of pennies more.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
Awesome Mic For Amazing Value
By R. Byrnes
This microphone exceeded my expectations. It sounds warm, clear, and crisp. For only $229, you can’t possibly beat it. This microphone can compete well with microphones at a much higher price range. Ever since I got this mic, my hip hop vocals have skyrocketed in quality, because now the vocal quality is professional sounding. I don’t even have to add EQ to the vocals I record with this bad boy (unless I was trying to make it sound a very specific way, but normally adding EQ to the vocals from this mic would be like selling yourself short…), all I need to do is add compression and a reverb, and it sounds really good. I tried rapping into this mic without the pop filter, and surprisingly, the plosives didn’t show up as much as I thought they would. It will happen, no doubt, but I was just surprised at how much harder it is to get them to show up. You can scream into this mic, you can speak very softly, you can make your voice sound any way you wish, and it will pick it up pretty much exactly like you actually sound… except with an added smoothness and warmth (though, I would not say as warm as a good tube mic, like the Rode K2 or Rode NTK).

No, it doesn’t allow you to utilize multiple polar patterns, it is strictly cardioid. That’s why this microphone is best for vocals. I would say that would be one downfall of this mic. But geez, it only costs $229… how could you possibly go wrong? If you’re starting up your own home studio, this is a must buy. Don’t go with those cheap USB powered microphones… they’re not good for vocals or anything except talking on skype and podcasting. The Rode NT1-A is an exceptional mic, and the value cannot be beaten.

You can register your microphone at the Rode website to get a 10 year warranty on it… for free. A free 10 year warranty on an awesome microphone, to protect your investment.

The pop filter it comes with is good. It has never allowed any plosives through. Before you even hook it up, you can test it by blowing through one side and putting your hand on the other. You will barely feel the air coming through. The shockmount ain’t bad, it does the job.

Do not drop this mic, as condenser mics are very fragile. Also, they are very prone to moisture and dust. So make sure you have it set up in a relatively dry room. Always remember to put that dust cover over it when it’s not in use.

If you are thinking about getting this mic… stop thinking about it, and get it! You will NOT be disappointed. You will be impressed.

If you’re an amateur like me, and you are building a home studio… people will see this mic and KNOW you are getting serious about your music.

5+ out of 5 for value and quality.

Peace.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Where did this come from?
By Athin09
I have been recording on a Tascam 2488 Neo since winter and was feeling frustrated because I still wasn’t getting studio quality recording from my acoustic guitars when I mic’d them. Well, this microphone changed that. I now, with the mixing of this condenser mic and an Sm57, an incredible sound by allowing the 57 to pick up the low end tones and the NT1-A to sweep up all the higher ones. I couldn’t have asked for better at a more reasonable price!

See all 18 customer reviews…