Rode NTG-2
 

Anyone using this yet?

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NTG2/

I am thinking of going this route.........the large diaphram recording mics work well............wondering if the quality carries over.



Thanks much,

Scott

I got a chance to listen to the Rode's at B&H in their sound room the other day. They don't sound bad, and are a bit stronger than the AT897 in the same price range.

As you'll find referenced from many posts here, the NT2 is slightly hotter than the 897, and the quality of sound leaves a few things to be desired. For the price, it's a terrific microphone.

I have one and for the price, I haven't found anything to beat it. It's not a solid as some of the other higher priced mics so you have to make sure it's got some good isolation from handling noise. It can be battery powered or phantom powered which comes in handy. It doesn't have a power switch so you have to unscrew the the bottom to take the battery out when you aren't using it, which is a bit of a pain.

DSE, what are the shortcomings of the NT2? And do they extend to the VideoMic? I'm deciding between those two for my school video club's Sony TRV19 and TRV22 handicams. Thanks.

Both the Videomic and the NT2 are thinner sounding than the 897. I don't see that as a huge shortcoming, you can add it in post. The Rode is also a lot noisier in the hand, whereas with the 897 I can fit a bicycle grip on it and it's not noisy at all. 897 is heavier, so for a lighter cam, you might consider the Rode mics as a better option because they too, are lighter.
The 897 isn't *quite* as muddy in the upper mids as the Rode when used in a small, reflective space, but that too, is an issue that is easily dealt with in post.

Hmmm. That's interesting. I found the AT897 to be thinner than both the VM and the NTG2. Both RODEs are bassier and hotter than the AT897 on battery.

I felt the NTG2 had a bigger bottom end also. I personally don't like the videomic, at least compared to others. It felt like a toy. On my DVC30, the NTG2 is almost too long.

I've got them both up right now...The NT2 ss hitting thick at 1500Hz to 2500Hz, and don't carry the information in the 150 and down that the AT is recording. NT2 on channel 1, 897 on channel 2,in a small, non-treated wooden paneled room. What I find is that the NT2 indoors, as mentioned before, is that it's missing the low rumble, but has a fairly typical omni pickup in the low mids, leaving it midrangy so that intelligibility is low. Outdoors, I liked the sound overall.
If I can make time later today, I'll post the files for your hearing enjoyment :-) but the room I'm in has a nasty, nasty RAID fan. That's actually what is most apparent in the recording in terms of constant, allowing me to see the midrange rumble hotter on one than the other.

Well, if you want to compare, my review of the NTG-2 is (click) here and my review of the AT897 is (click) here.

I have samples of these in the audio folder in my online archive, Help yourself.

Ty Ford