You can't go bad with an AT4050.

Regards,

Ty

Geez, Beas, I heard it!
I was "this close" to going with the NT1a, based
upon the great value. Then I listened to your
samples.
I think you and I have always been in pretty good
agreement about our opinions of mics -- though
I still maintain the CS-1 is too thin. : - )
You hooked me up with the D230. I listened
to your D230/NT1a comparison. I heard the
raspiness. You had another comparo, and
again I heard raspy. I don't think I'd be
happy with that mic.

Just a bit of a follow-up on an old post.
I eventually went with the NT1000 but was never
happy with it, and don't have it anymore.
The problem with it was that it had a raspiness (in voice over)
that was unpleasant, and which was similar to the raspiness
I had heard in a posted sample of the NT1a.
Is this what Ty meant about the earlier Rodes being edgy?
Is the raspiness due to the peaks on the high end?
I am now looking more toward an NT2a.

Exactly. And the early Rodes are not the only ones with peaky/raspy high ends.

Most of the Chinese imports still suffer from the problem. Rode has figured it out.

Ty Ford

I heard that raspiness from with the NT1000 from the
first time I used it. Is the NT2a a lot smoother?

Both the NT2000 AND NT2-A are smoother than the NTK and NT1000.

The NTK AND NT1000 have lower selfnoise than most of the Chinese imports and they aren't as edgey but they still have a 5 dB peak at around 11 kHz.

If you have one, try recording through an equalizer set to remove a few dB at 11 kHz and see how you like it.

Also using bright preamps makes things worse. Neutral are better.

Regards,

Ty Ford

No, I got rid of the NT1000 -- couldn't stand
the raspiness.

How does the NT2a compare with the AT4050?
I'm mostly thinking of using it on piano and strings.

One thing that concerned me was that I have read
Ty's 4050 review and he said the two
diaphragms were not well matched (i.e.
different sounding from each other).

I just read where someone said the NT1a and
NT2a have the same diaphragm, just that the
NT2a has adjustible polar pattern. Is this true?
The NT1a I heard seemed to have that
raspiness, and I'm considering the NT2a ...