- Initial Impressions of the Rode NT2000: The crew discusses their experience with the Rode NT2000, diving into the build quality, sound characteristics, and versatility of this multi-pattern mic.
- Comparisons to Other Mics: How does the NT2000 stack up against mics like the U87 and the Austrian Audio OC818? George and Andrew give their take on whether the NT2000 is a real contender in the voiceover world.
- Strengths of the NT2000: The team highlights the mic’s variable polar patterns, high-pass filter, and low noise floor, making it a solid choice for versatile studio setups.
- Durability Over Time: With over a decade of use in one Melbourne studio, the team talks about the mic's longevity and how well it holds up compared to other long-term staples in the voiceover industry.
- The NT2000’s Unique Design Features: The discussion covers the adjustable pots on the NT2000 and why, despite their flexibility, they might not be for everyone.
- Should You Buy the Rode NT2000 for Voiceover? Andrew sums up his experience with the NT2000 and answers whether it’s worth the investment or if you should look into alternatives like the Austrian Audio OC818.
- Barry Burns asked: “I have the Rode NT2000 but can’t find much in the way of evaluations for it. Any thoughts on how it stacks up for voiceover work?”
- Our answer: We break down the pros and cons of the NT2000 in the context of professional voiceover and help Barry (and you) decide if it’s a keeper.
- A big shout-out to our sponsors, TriBooth and Austrian Audio, for making this episode possible.
Both these companies are providers of QUALITY Audio Gear (we wouldn't partner with them unless they were), so please, if you're in the market for some new kit, do us a solid and check out their products, and be sure to tell em "Robbo, George, Robert, and AP sent you"... As a part of their generous support of our show, Tri Booth is offering $200 off a brand-new booth when you use the code TRIPAP200. So get onto their website now and secure your new booth... https://tribooth.com/ And if you're in the market for a new Mic or killer pair of headphones, check out Austrian Audio. They've got a great range of top-shelf gear.. https://austrian.audio/ We have launched a Patreon page in the hopes of being able to pay someone to help us get the show to more people and in turn help them with the same info we're sharing with you. If you aren't familiar with Patreon, it’s an easy way for those interested in our show to get exclusive content and updates before anyone else, along with a whole bunch of other "perks" just by contributing as little as $1 per month. Find out more here.. https://www.patreon.com/proaudiosuite George has created a page strictly for Pro Audio Suite listeners, so check it out for the latest discounts and offers for TPAS listeners. https://georgethe.tech/tpas If you haven't filled out our survey on what you'd like to hear on the show, you can do it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZWT5BTD Join our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/proaudiopodcast And the FB Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/357898255543203 For everything else (including joining our mailing list for exclusive previews and other goodies), check out our website https://www.theproaudiosuite.com/ “When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional.” Hunter S Thompson
00:00:00
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Y'all ready to be history?
00:00:01
Get started.
00:00:01
Welcome.
00:00:02
Hi.
00:00:02
Hi.
00:00:03
Hi.
00:00:03
Hello, everyone.
00:00:05
To the Pro Audio Suite.
00:00:06
These guys are professional, they're motivated.
00:00:08
Thanks to Tribush, the best vocal booth for
00:00:11
home or on the road voice recording, and
00:00:13
Austrian Audio, making passion heard.
00:00:16
Introducing Robert Marshall from Source Elements and Someone
00:00:20
Audio Post, Chicago.
00:00:21
Darren Robert Robertson from Voodoo Radio Imaging, Sydney.
00:00:24
Tech to the VO stars, George the Tech
00:00:27
Whittam from LA, and me, Andrew Peters, voiceover
00:00:30
talent and home studio guy.
00:00:32
Line up, man.
00:00:33
Here we go.
00:00:34
Sound on me.
00:00:35
And welcome to another Pro Audio Suite, thanks
00:00:38
to Tribush.
00:00:39
Don't forget the code, T-R-I-P
00:00:42
-A-P 200.
00:00:43
That will get you 200 US dollars off
00:00:45
your Tribush.
00:00:46
And Austrian Audio, making passion heard.
00:00:49
Lovely microphones.
00:00:50
And speaking of which, we had a question.
00:00:52
Hey, guys.
00:00:53
I love listening to and learning from your
00:00:55
perspectives.
00:00:56
Nice.
00:00:57
Any thoughts on the road NT2000 for voiceover?
00:01:01
I have one, but can't find much in
00:01:03
the way of evaluations of it.
00:01:05
Barry Burns.
00:01:06
Bazza.
00:01:07
The big Baz.
00:01:08
Bazza.
00:01:09
Big Baz.
00:01:09
Well, when you just Google it in the
00:01:10
US, you're going to find the usual big,
00:01:13
giant box.
00:01:14
The big retailers, you know, across the top
00:01:16
of Google, right?
00:01:17
Yeah, B&H.
00:01:17
That means Sweetwater Guitar Center, Adorama.
00:01:22
And the reviews, you know, if you're just
00:01:24
looking at pure star ratings, they're, you know,
00:01:28
knocking it out of the park.
00:01:29
Everybody that's reviewed the mic, with very little
00:01:32
exception, says they love it.
00:01:34
So that's a good start.
00:01:36
I know I've heard that mic.
00:01:38
I just can't remember when.
00:01:40
You know, when a mic sounds lousy or
00:01:41
it sounds noisy, fuzzy, extra sibilant, it stands
00:01:46
out in my memory.
00:01:47
Then it's the talent.
00:01:48
Yeah.
00:01:51
Fuzzy talent.
00:01:51
I hate dealing with fuzzy talent.
00:01:54
And so then it stands in my memory.
00:01:56
It's kind of like, you know, when you
00:01:58
get a bad impression of something, or like
00:01:59
if you get food poisoning, you'll never eat
00:02:01
that food again.
00:02:02
That's kind of what it is with mics.
00:02:03
If it sounds really lousy on somebody, I'll
00:02:05
usually remember that that mic sounded lousy.
00:02:08
So I guess my wasted time here is
00:02:10
all to say that if I remembered it
00:02:13
being bad, I would probably remember it.
00:02:16
And I think that, by all accounts, it's
00:02:18
not a bad mic.
00:02:19
And it's probably really, really outside guesses that
00:02:22
this is kind of like their answer to
00:02:24
a U87.
00:02:25
Maybe.
00:02:26
Kind of.
00:02:28
Yeah, I guess.
00:02:29
They have another mic that looks a hell
00:02:30
of a lot more like a U87.
00:02:32
Like their first mic, actually.
00:02:34
What was that?
00:02:35
The NT2A?
00:02:36
No, it was the NT1.
00:02:38
It was the original NT1.
00:02:39
The original mic looked so, it looked lawsuit
00:02:42
close to a U87.
00:02:43
Do you know the original NT1 had a
00:02:45
plastic body?
00:02:46
No.
00:02:47
Really?
00:02:48
Yeah.
00:02:48
That's weird.
00:02:49
That one's not made in America.
00:02:49
That was really weird.
00:02:51
Well, it's fascinating that there's a Rode NT2A,
00:02:55
and there's a Rode NT2000.
00:02:59
They're still selling them, so they make both.
00:03:01
And the NT2A maybe is a little more
00:03:05
U87-like in that it's just got three
00:03:07
polar pattern positions.
00:03:09
Click, click, click.
00:03:10
And then it's got two high-pass filter
00:03:12
settings, which is nice, and two pad settings.
00:03:15
So it's kind of like a better U87
00:03:17
in terms of features, you know?
00:03:19
The NT2 is the one that looks a
00:03:21
hell of a lot like a U87.
00:03:24
I mean, the NT2A looks just like, oh,
00:03:27
the two, not the two.
00:03:28
The NT2 looks, I mean, it is obviously
00:03:33
trying to be a U87.
00:03:34
Maybe that's why it doesn't look like one
00:03:36
anymore.
00:03:37
It might have had a little trouble with
00:03:39
Sennheiser or Neumann.
00:03:40
I think it might have.
00:03:41
I mean, because it's the exact same setup.
00:03:43
It's a three pattern with a 10 dB
00:03:45
pad and a high-pass filter, although they
00:03:47
did put the high-pass filter and the
00:03:49
10 dB pad on one switch, which I
00:03:52
hate, because who thought that you're not going
00:03:55
to need both?
00:03:55
But whatever.
00:03:58
But yeah, it looks a lawsuit close to
00:04:00
a U87.
00:04:01
I was talking to Peluso Microphones, which is
00:04:03
a really small company in Virginia.
00:04:06
Literally a ma and pa operation.
00:04:08
It's really cool.
00:04:09
The wife does soldering and assembly.
00:04:13
Neat little company, nice people, good products, you
00:04:15
know, made in the U.S. They're doing
00:04:17
a lot of AKG-type mics.
00:04:19
They're all like clones of other mics, basically.
00:04:23
They're not really trying to do something completely
00:04:25
original, although they have some original ideas.
00:04:27
But they told me very clearly, like, yeah,
00:04:29
when we made this new P67, which is
00:04:33
their equivalent of U87, they were like, we
00:04:36
could not replicate the head basket shape because
00:04:39
that is all maybe a patent, right?
00:04:41
They have it trademarked or patented, but the
00:04:44
unique shape of a U67 and an U87
00:04:46
grill, you cannot rip it off unless you're
00:04:49
from China.
00:04:50
Yeah, unless you're like above the law shipping.
00:04:55
Somebody actually saw on Facebook, somebody posted on
00:04:58
Facebook, an ad from a big box hardware
00:05:03
store, like a Home Depot, advertising a U87.
00:05:07
I saw that.
00:05:08
For like 150 bucks, right?
00:05:10
Yeah.
00:05:10
Yeah, really, really, really cheap knockoff.
00:05:13
So, I mean, that's what's coming.
00:05:15
I know we're way off the freaking topic
00:05:17
here, guys.
00:05:18
It's why you tune in, right?
00:05:20
But the whole thing was like, you know,
00:05:22
even these giant online retailers, the machine that
00:05:26
keeps, you know, retail product feeding into their
00:05:29
website is kind of off the rails.
00:05:31
When a, you know, on Home Depot is
00:05:35
selling a Timu quality mic, you know, or
00:05:38
AliExpress quality mic.
00:05:39
And by the way, go look how many
00:05:41
knockoffs of Neumann's and stuff that are on
00:05:43
AliExpress or Ali, like it's mind boggling.
00:05:46
It's like, it's never ends.
00:05:48
So the 2000, I heard that it was
00:05:52
good.
00:05:52
I remember that it was good.
00:05:53
I don't remember anything wrong with it, but
00:05:55
how about those pots?
00:05:57
The fact that it has variable pots for
00:05:59
each of those settings, that's gotta be a
00:06:02
problem.
00:06:03
Well, if they're good pots, they might last,
00:06:05
but it does make it a very unique
00:06:07
mic.
00:06:07
I like the idea of it.
00:06:09
Because it's like, everything is completely variable.
00:06:12
And for a price point that basically competes
00:06:14
with, you know, from the Austrian audio world,
00:06:19
it seems to be in the price range
00:06:20
of like an OC18, which is a fixed
00:06:23
pattern mic.
00:06:24
Right.
00:06:24
This is way more versatile, obviously.
00:06:27
Yeah.
00:06:27
I remember what you were saying a couple
00:06:28
of weeks ago when we were talking about
00:06:30
USB mics, though, George, that sort of, that,
00:06:32
hang on, I've just got to, oh, you
00:06:34
want more gain?
00:06:34
Hang on.
00:06:36
You know, it doesn't work well sometimes, but
00:06:40
look, I mean.
00:06:41
And then, and then after many years it's.
00:06:43
Yes, exactly.
00:06:46
Again, turning the.
00:06:49
Scrapey pot sound.
00:06:51
Well, in defense of that microphone, I do
00:06:53
know one big studio in Melbourne that's had
00:06:56
them for years, 15 years, at least 15
00:07:00
years.
00:07:01
Maybe longer.
00:07:01
Well, they've got a 10 year warranty, so
00:07:02
that would stand to reason.
00:07:04
Yeah, but I mean, the thing is that
00:07:05
they're still.
00:07:06
But you don't know how many they've had.
00:07:08
No, no, no.
00:07:08
They're the same ones.
00:07:09
I can tell because I lick them.
00:07:11
Oh.
00:07:12
They all taste the same.
00:07:15
And they have the paint worn off in
00:07:17
the one spot that you like the most.
00:07:18
Yeah, that's right.
00:07:20
Yeah.
00:07:21
Oh, fuck.
00:07:22
Get the, get the, get the Glenn 20
00:07:24
out.
00:07:24
Peters has been in here again.
00:07:25
Andrew, what else do you do with those
00:07:27
mics?
00:07:30
Well.
00:07:31
Well, I found, I did find a post
00:07:33
from Mix Magazine.
00:07:34
Okay.
00:07:35
From May 2004 about the Rodent 2000.
00:07:40
So it's a story about the development of
00:07:43
the mic, how it was Peter Friedman began
00:07:47
working on the company's latest creation.
00:07:48
He wanted to do something completely different.
00:07:50
And the NT-2000, the result of that
00:07:52
quest, I guess, completed him from the NT
00:07:54
-2.
00:07:57
So 7 dB self noise or EIN.
00:08:01
So low noise.
00:08:02
That's very, very low noise for a multi
00:08:04
-pattern microphone.
00:08:06
Yeah.
00:08:06
Really low noise, which is pretty amazing.
00:08:08
Totally variable controls, as we mentioned.
00:08:12
You know, it has a high, a dead
00:08:14
center, or a center detent on the pot.
00:08:17
So when it's in the center position, you
00:08:19
know where the neutral position is.
00:08:21
Other than that, though, it's not stepped.
00:08:23
It's not like a pot that clicks giving
00:08:25
you any kind of indication where you are
00:08:27
on that thing.
00:08:29
I would imagine once you get the settings
00:08:30
set, you'd almost want to tape the knobs
00:08:32
down.
00:08:32
Or put your little China graph mark.
00:08:34
Yeah.
00:08:35
Or at least mark them.
00:08:36
Yeah, because I would think it would be
00:08:38
very easy to bump those pots with your
00:08:40
hand when moving the mic or adjusting it
00:08:43
for somebody.
00:08:45
And those things would get bumped.
00:08:47
I've not heard one, but according to the
00:08:49
interweb, it seems to be a bright mic
00:08:52
in the spirit of a 414 kind of
00:08:55
thing.
00:08:56
Which would be kind of similar to the
00:08:58
NT-1.
00:08:59
Yeah, I mean, I guess.
00:09:01
I thought the NT-1 was a 416.
00:09:04
Yeah, yeah.
00:09:05
But that's right, when we did that mic
00:09:06
shoot.
00:09:06
Which is awesome.
00:09:07
The 1A especially was a bit more high
00:09:10
shelfy.
00:09:12
Yeah.
00:09:12
The 1A was definitely bright, and the 1
00:09:15
was the one that sounded more quality.
00:09:17
Yeah, they reeled it back a bit.
00:09:19
Yeah.
00:09:20
So the NT-2000 launched in that year,
00:09:22
in 2004, for $899 US.
00:09:26
Wow.
00:09:26
So now we're 20 years later, and it's
00:09:28
selling for less.
00:09:30
Which I don't even understand.
00:09:32
How does that work?
00:09:34
That's negative inflation.
00:09:35
I don't get that.
00:09:36
That's because since then, of course, they built
00:09:39
that massive computerized factory in Sydney.
00:09:43
So they have this economy of scale.
00:09:44
Which means their production costs, yeah.
00:09:46
And they would be pumping out a lot.
00:09:48
Well, I mean, I guess in a way
00:09:49
that says two things about Rode.
00:09:51
One is they want to have a really
00:09:52
good value mic, which is great.
00:09:54
Their prices on Rode mics are really good
00:09:56
for what you get.
00:09:57
Really, I mean, extremely good.
00:09:59
Like, a lot of times I see them
00:10:01
in the States, and I think, how can
00:10:02
it be that inexpensive?
00:10:04
Like, speaking of lowering prices, they released the
00:10:07
NT-1 5th Gen as the, what do
00:10:11
they call it, the studio edition?
00:10:13
Is that the USB one?
00:10:14
Yeah.
00:10:14
No, they have a version without USB.
00:10:17
So what they did is they took the
00:10:18
NT-1 5th Gen and removed the 32
00:10:23
-bit converter preamp circuit completely and just turned
00:10:27
it into a standard XLR and then sold
00:10:29
that for $159 US.
00:10:30
Wow.
00:10:31
Yeah.
00:10:31
Which is crazy.
00:10:33
Because, I mean, that mic was $269, $259
00:10:37
all day long.
00:10:38
Yeah.
00:10:38
And that was the mic that I always
00:10:40
thought was like about as low as you
00:10:42
go without buying a mic that you will
00:10:44
one day toss or give away.
00:10:47
Or, you know, it's like it's probably a
00:10:50
mic that can still have relevance in your
00:10:52
closet.
00:10:53
Yeah.
00:10:54
I think, you know, the NT-1, I've
00:10:55
always said the same thing.
00:10:56
I mean, if you were paying twice the
00:10:59
money for it, you wouldn't complain because you
00:11:02
go, well, yeah, it's pretty good value.
00:11:04
Right.
00:11:04
I think the price probably scares people because
00:11:07
they look at the price and go, well,
00:11:08
what's wrong with that?
00:11:09
I'll be honest, another thing particularly about the
00:11:11
NT-1 and the 1A, I really don't
00:11:15
like the way they look.
00:11:16
They look, you know, sorry, Rode, but I
00:11:20
just think they look cheap.
00:11:21
They look consumer.
00:11:22
Yeah, yeah.
00:11:23
Yeah, they look really just like, ah, we
00:11:25
just like took a, you know, just banged
00:11:29
a basket out of a wire mesh and
00:11:31
put it on the top with a piece
00:11:32
of foam inside there.
00:11:34
It just, it looks kind of...
00:11:35
The chassis is very lightweight as well.
00:11:37
You know, it's not a very thick brass,
00:11:39
you know, machine chassis.
00:11:42
But it sounds good.
00:11:43
It punches above its price point, you know.
00:11:46
I think the best thing they did with
00:11:47
the NT-1 was to do the black
00:11:49
version of it.
00:11:49
Yeah, and they have the fifth gen in
00:11:51
black and in the nickel or whatever they
00:11:53
call it, the finished nickel.
00:11:54
And they made the one that has that
00:11:55
really nice built-in pop screen to the
00:11:58
mount, right?
00:12:00
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:12:00
Yeah, that was a nice thing too.
00:12:03
That was the 1 or the 1A that
00:12:05
they did that with?
00:12:05
That was the 1.
00:12:06
That was the 1, yeah.
00:12:06
Well, both of them actually, but the 1,
00:12:08
it was also the kit, you know, the
00:12:10
AI-1, the NT-1, which came with
00:12:13
the shock mount and pop guard and everything.
00:12:15
So at the end of this MixOnline review,
00:12:17
there's a very, very final paragraph, kind of
00:12:20
like a footer says, and this is again,
00:12:23
written in 2004, I think.
00:12:24
It says, five years ago, Rode built a
00:12:26
20 square foot factory on the outskirts
00:12:28
of Sydney, but there was a problem with
00:12:30
the company's growth.
00:12:31
It soon needed a larger operation.
00:12:34
So again, as of 2004, last month, Rode
00:12:38
began moving into a totally new 70
00:12:41
square foot plant located in Silverwater.
00:12:45
Yeah, it's just down the road from me.
00:12:47
So this times out exactly as to like
00:12:48
when they launched the new plant and this
00:12:51
mic came along, you know, so that all
00:12:53
makes a lot of sense.
00:12:54
Actually, I've just something to figure out.
00:12:56
You know how they make it so cheap?
00:12:58
Because you know, the other thing that's in
00:12:59
Silverwater is a prison.
00:13:03
That makes a lot of sense.
00:13:04
Plates and microphones.
00:13:06
Yeah, they do number plates and microphones.
00:13:07
Number plates and microphones.
00:13:08
Yeah.
00:13:12
And here's your bread and water for the
00:13:13
day.
00:13:14
Yeah, yeah.
00:13:15
I've seen some occasional Friedman interviews and yeah,
00:13:19
that might track as the kids say.
00:13:22
Yeah.
00:13:23
They're bloody good mics.
00:13:24
I mean, Rode in general are bloody good
00:13:26
mics.
00:13:26
Of course they are.
00:13:27
Good stuff.
00:13:27
Yeah, it's a good company.
00:13:29
I will never ever say someone don't get
00:13:31
a Rode as a starter mic, you know,
00:13:33
because it's just proven itself consistently.
00:13:37
The consistency, that's the thing when you're looking
00:13:39
at these budget level mics.
00:13:40
Yeah, there's a lot coming from China and
00:13:42
there's a lot, there's like a company that
00:13:44
sells the Stellar X2, which has gotten very
00:13:46
popular on Amazon.
00:13:49
And I'm like, listen, you guys, these mics
00:13:51
are mass produced in China and they don't
00:13:53
go through a really good burn in.
00:13:54
They don't get tested properly at the factory.
00:13:57
They don't get matched.
00:13:58
You really don't know what you're getting.
00:13:59
You really, really don't.
00:14:01
So you might save a little bit of
00:14:03
money, but now with Rode building mics, essentially
00:14:06
with robotic factories that can do identical parts
00:14:11
and consistently.
00:14:12
If I'm looking at two mics and I'm
00:14:14
deciding between something in China and Rode, I'm
00:14:16
going to go with the Rode.
00:14:17
Absolutely.
00:14:18
I mean, Peter Friedman, you've got to take
00:14:20
your hat off to him.
00:14:21
He kicked off with a tiny shop that
00:14:22
his dad had doing electronics in Sydney and
00:14:26
he's built this empire.
00:14:27
Absolutely.
00:14:28
And still growing.
00:14:29
Yep.
00:14:30
Still growing and they own...
00:14:33
Apex.
00:14:34
Right, they bought the Apex brand a while
00:14:36
ago.
00:14:37
They have Mackie now.
00:14:39
I'm curious to see what happens.
00:14:40
Oh, Event.
00:14:42
Event, yeah.
00:14:42
Well, you know the biggest thing they have
00:14:44
on their side is the fact that they're
00:14:46
Aussies, really.
00:14:47
Let's be honest.
00:14:48
I know you think that they couldn't do
00:14:49
it at all, but somehow...
00:14:55
Yes, every microphone is delivered in a pouch.
00:14:57
So Andrew, to round out this episode and
00:15:00
to answer Big Baz's question, as the only
00:15:03
person who's used one of these suckers, would
00:15:05
you recommend it for a voiceover mic?
00:15:07
Would I recommend it?
00:15:08
Let's put it this way.
00:15:09
If you walked into a studio and it
00:15:10
was there, would you be horrified?
00:15:11
Actually, I'm going to pose a harder question
00:15:13
for Andrew that we might have to remove
00:15:15
from the podcast.
00:15:17
You got 600 bucks.
00:15:19
Do you buy this thing or an OC
00:15:20
-18?
00:15:21
I'd buy the OC-18.
00:15:23
Okay, but if you had one of these,
00:15:25
which Barry does, clearly, would you be happy
00:15:28
to use it as your microphone if that's
00:15:32
what you had?
00:15:32
Well, I've used them before, as I said,
00:15:34
in that studio and I didn't have a
00:15:37
problem with it.
00:15:37
It sounded fine.
00:15:38
Yeah, I wouldn't...
00:15:40
They seem to be happy with it and
00:15:41
it seems to work okay.
00:15:43
There we go, Baz.
00:15:44
So if you're Barry, you've got one, use
00:15:46
it.
00:15:46
I think that sounds like a tick of
00:15:47
approval.
00:15:48
You should have fast-forwarded to the end,
00:15:50
Barry.
00:15:50
It's got good specs.
00:15:52
The question is, do you like the way
00:15:53
it sounds?
00:15:54
Because it's not noisy.
00:15:56
And it's definitely versatile.
00:15:58
That seems to be the main design goal.
00:16:03
How about this?
00:16:03
I can't name one other mic besides the
00:16:05
tube mic that's got a completely variable pattern
00:16:07
and I don't know any mic that has
00:16:09
a completely variable high-pass filter.
00:16:11
There's a weird US maker called CAD, and
00:16:15
they do one with a variable pattern knob
00:16:18
on it.
00:16:19
It's a really, really inexpensive mic.
00:16:22
Most CADs are pretty budget-oriented as well.
00:16:25
It's like the sub-$200 price range.
00:16:27
CAD was early on.
00:16:29
They kind of busted the large diaphragm mic
00:16:32
price point slightly before China did.
00:16:35
Their mics were made in China, I think,
00:16:37
at the time.
00:16:38
Was it the E-100?
00:16:40
Is that the one?
00:16:40
The E-100's US.
00:16:42
It's US-made.
00:16:43
And they have a new one called the
00:16:44
S.
00:16:45
Well, the newer one's the S, then the
00:16:46
SX.
00:16:48
But in 1996, when the E-100 came
00:16:50
out, it was like, do you want to
00:16:52
spend $800 on a 414 or more?
00:16:54
There were way less choices back then.
00:16:57
Way less in 1996.
00:16:59
And that was the only large diaphragm I
00:17:01
can think of besides maybe the AKG C3000
00:17:04
that was sort of affordable.
00:17:09
Yeah, that's right.
00:17:10
And even then, those were probably still like,
00:17:12
I bet you that CAD at the time
00:17:13
was probably like $400 at the time, I
00:17:16
bet.
00:17:17
We could do a whole episode on the
00:17:18
CAD mic, because that's a very weird mic
00:17:21
in that it's a medium diaphragm, supercardioid, electret
00:17:27
condenser.
00:17:29
But it does use phantom.
00:17:30
It does use phantom.
00:17:31
The E-100 came with batteries internally, but
00:17:35
they would eventually go bad as usual.
00:17:37
And then you could run them on phantom.
00:17:39
And then the 100S just has no batteries.
00:17:41
Yeah.
00:17:42
I remember having a 300, which was like
00:17:45
a really big mic.
00:17:48
I honestly didn't like it much.
00:17:50
But at that time, I worked at a
00:17:52
studio that had an AT4033, which was another
00:17:57
mic that kind of busted the large diaphragm
00:18:00
price point.
00:18:01
And I do remember liking the 4033 better
00:18:04
than the CAD.
00:18:06
But the CAD looked a hell of a
00:18:07
lot better.
00:18:07
20 years ago when I was buying, well,
00:18:09
let's say 25-ish mics, 25-ish years
00:18:13
ago when I started buying mics in earnest,
00:18:16
you bought AKGs, you bought Audio Technicas.
00:18:19
If you were lucky, you could buy a
00:18:20
Neumann or two.
00:18:22
And then you bought MXLs.
00:18:24
Or Shures.
00:18:25
You could get Shures for some of their
00:18:27
dynamics.
00:18:29
And the 81s were always good performers for
00:18:31
the most part.
00:18:32
And then RØDE came up, and then RØDE
00:18:33
was another interesting, hmm, what's this RØDE thing?
00:18:36
And there weren't that many options.
00:18:38
Now it's a dizzying, dizzying array.
00:18:42
I don't know how these companies compete anymore.
00:18:45
But at the same time, there were not
00:18:46
many options.
00:18:47
But if you think about it now, most
00:18:48
of these mics are all made out of
00:18:50
the same stuff.
00:18:51
They're all coming out of the same factories,
00:18:53
and they're buying their diaphragms from the same
00:18:55
pile.
00:18:57
They just pump these diaphragms out like they're
00:19:00
cookies.
00:19:03
But very few microphones are original.
00:19:05
Most of them are kind of a clone
00:19:06
or a semi-clone.
00:19:08
Yes.
00:19:09
Yeah, I mean, the 87 is probably the
00:19:11
most cloned mic.
00:19:13
And then what, the 57 and the 58
00:19:17
are very cloned.
00:19:19
C12 would be cloned.
00:19:20
C12's cloned a lot, yeah.
00:19:23
Probably not as much as like the 87
00:19:25
and the, you know, like all those Chinese
00:19:28
clones, they really went after the stuff that
00:19:31
sells the most, you know.
00:19:34
The studio clones are like Peluso.
00:19:36
Those guys were cloning the big stuff, like
00:19:38
the C12 and the U47s and the FET47s.
00:19:42
Well, yeah, there's clones like Peluso clones, and
00:19:46
then there's like really, really cheap Chinese clones.
00:19:48
There's rip-offs.
00:19:49
Yeah, there's rip-offs, yeah, that sound nothing
00:19:51
like what they're trying to do.
00:19:53
They just look a bit like it.
00:19:54
But, I mean, you're talking about Telefunken, you
00:19:56
know, now.
00:19:57
They're a clone factory.
00:19:59
It's not the real Telefunken.
00:20:00
It's just like they bought the name.
00:20:01
I mean, they're in Connecticut.
00:20:03
They're in the wrong country.
00:20:04
They don't speak the right language for making
00:20:06
those microphones.
00:20:07
But they seem to be good mics.
00:20:09
I've got a, what the hell is it,
00:20:11
the 47?
00:20:15
Is it called the AK47 or something like
00:20:17
that?
00:20:17
AK47 or something.
00:20:20
Sorry.
00:20:20
It sounds really good, though.
00:20:23
It sounds like my Sound Deluxe, which is
00:20:25
like a really good 67 clone, like a
00:20:27
really accurate 67 clone.
00:20:30
And that Telefunken, it's pretty good.
00:20:33
It's not bad.
00:20:34
And it's definitely like, you know, more marketing
00:20:37
than microphone possibly.
00:20:38
Well, when they first started doing them, because
00:20:40
I went down to, a guy said to
00:20:43
me, you've got to go and check this
00:20:44
microphone out, because he'd heard it and said,
00:20:46
go and find out what it is.
00:20:47
And I wandered in and I just bought
00:20:49
the reissue of the Telefunken U47.
00:20:52
Who is this, Peluso?
00:20:54
No, this is Telefunken.
00:20:56
Oh, yeah.
00:20:57
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:20:57
Because they were, you know, like in, I
00:21:00
think in America, the U47 was branded Telefunken.
00:21:04
Well, the U47 was branded Telefunken in America,
00:21:08
right?
00:21:09
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:09
In the beginning, yeah.
00:21:10
Before it was Neumann.
00:21:11
It was Neumann everywhere else, but Telefunken.
00:21:13
And also the 251 was like an AKG.
00:21:18
There's some weird things in there, like the
00:21:20
251 is sort of like a C12, I
00:21:22
think, or something.
00:21:23
It was C12, the Alarm 251, yeah.
00:21:25
But that was branded as AKG.
00:21:29
And was it Telefunken or was it somebody
00:21:31
else?
00:21:31
No, no, the 251 was Telefunken and then
00:21:33
the AKG was the, but Telefunken, AKG made
00:21:39
the 251, like one company, because Telefunken was
00:21:42
really like a marketing company back then.
00:21:44
So they were going to other companies to
00:21:47
make their, like they'd commission a microphone and
00:21:49
say, hey, we want to make a microphone
00:21:50
for this market.
00:21:52
It was just a way for Neumann to
00:21:54
get their microphones into America.
00:21:57
I've got a feeling that some other companies,
00:21:59
like a Westinghouse or someone like that also
00:22:02
had, they were badging up microphones.
00:22:05
They were selling their product but being rebadged
00:22:08
in different territories, mainly North America.
00:22:12
And of course Telefunken was one, but I'm
00:22:13
sure there was some other, someone's obviously listening
00:22:16
to this and if you do know what
00:22:17
I'm talking about, which is unusual and makes
00:22:20
you unique, leave us a message of what
00:22:25
that company was.
00:22:25
There was an importing company who brought all
00:22:27
the Neumanns in in the early days called,
00:22:30
what's the Batman city for New York?
00:22:33
Gotham.
00:22:34
Gotham.
00:22:35
There was a company that did all the
00:22:37
importing for Neumann, but they were still Neumann
00:22:40
mics, but everything had Gotham stickers and Gotham
00:22:44
labeling all over it.
00:22:46
And this has nothing to do with the
00:22:47
Gothams that make mic cables, and it's another
00:22:50
Gotham, I guess.
00:22:51
I didn't know that one, yeah.
00:22:54
This is how the tangents work.
00:22:56
Yeah.
00:22:57
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:58
Yeah, yeah, but I think I'm confused with
00:23:00
Westinghouse because I've got a feeling Westinghouse was
00:23:03
the company that made the first microphones for
00:23:05
the BBC.
00:23:07
Yes, and Westinghouse actually made the first American.
00:23:10
I believe it was either Westinghouse or RCA,
00:23:12
but I think it was Westinghouse that when
00:23:14
Neumann was making condensers, Westinghouse was messing with
00:23:17
condensers in the early 30s.
00:23:19
Buy a microphone, get a free washing machine.
00:23:21
Is that what was going on?
00:23:22
Yeah, yeah.
00:23:23
Right.
00:23:25
And the Maytag guy would come and fix
00:23:27
your microphone.
00:23:30
Washing machine and microphone repairs on the side
00:23:32
of the truck.
00:23:33
Yeah, that's right.
00:23:34
There you go.
00:23:35
Yeah, there you go.
00:23:36
There's the out.
00:23:37
All right.
00:23:38
There's a weird tangent.
00:23:39
I'm going to go and do my washing.
00:23:41
Go and suck your jocks.
00:23:43
Go and suck my capsules.
00:23:46
Smells like Andrew's breath.
00:23:49
You go and lick a microphone.
00:23:53
Is that the one he licks?
00:23:56
Well, that was fun.
00:23:57
Is it over?
00:23:59
The Pro Audio Suite.
00:24:00
With thanks to Tribus.
00:24:01
And Austrian Audio.
00:24:03
Recorded using Source Connect.
00:24:05
Edited by Andrew Peters.
00:24:07
And mixed by Vudu Radio Imaging.
00:24:09
With tech support from George the Tech Whittam.
00:24:11
Don't forget to subscribe to the show and
00:24:13
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00:24:15
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00:24:17
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00:24:19
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