Rode NT-1a or M-Audio Solaris

[twits celso]

Hello--

I'm about to buy my first decent mic. The prime contender is probably a Rode NT-1a, which I know Tweak and many others like. I've also seen some criticism that it's overly bright. Partly for that reason, I'm also considering an M-Audio Solaris, which is supposed to have a warmer tone.

I'm curious what anyone thinks of those options, especially the Solaris as there are so many fewer reviews of it. Ideal would be someone who's heard both.

I'm going to be mainly using it to record male vocals in the blues/folk/rock vein, along with acoustic guitar, often played with a slide. This is going into a Presonus Firebox and then Logic.

Any help/observations appreciated.

[palatino]

I say the Rode NT1-a.

The Solaris sounded cheap, and dampened to my ears. I don't own the mic myself, but when it was available as I was recording at a larger studio I didn't like it much. I'll even go as far as saying I wondered why it was even there. Ofcourse ears, and tastes differ.

The Rode is indeed, bright. It's not brittle or overly harsh in my usage, but bright is a fitting description. Some material, especially certain types of vocalists will make those hyped transients kick in, but overall it's a good mic for the price.

I prefer to have to drop a few frequencies, rather than having to raise a few -- the latter to me sounds a bit artificial -- so this would be the deciding factor to me. In that case, this is why I'd choose the Rode. Ofcourse on occasion you may have to raise or drop freqs on either mic, but hopefully it will be to get an effect as opposed to compensation for the "lack of" on the gear itself.

I also like the clean "throaty" sound of the NT1-a, one could so easily get, with proper EQ. Not nasal, but "throaty".

[Tnjpekar]

rode hands down. and like palatino said, its always more preferable to have the most sound going in, and utilize the eq to cut rather than boost.

[twits celso]

Interesting. Thanks for the advice.

Have either of you (or anyone else) heard/have an opinion of the Studio Projects C1? They have recordings of it and the Rode NT1-a (and some others) at http://www.thelisteningsessions.com/session5.htm. The C1 sounds pretty good there and gets many favorable reviews (of course, there are also those who think it's "just another mediocre Chinese mic").

I thought the recording of the NT1a sounded a little dry and clinical there; the NT1000 sounded really good to me, but that's $100 more.

[MASSIVE Mastering]

I might be too late, but I have to go on the other side with the Solaris -

Disclaimer: I have two of the first run - No idea if something happened after that...

I don't think I've touched the 414's since I had the pair of Solaris mics. Amazing sounding mics. If I recorded and tracked more often, I'd get several more. Vocal, instrument, orchestral... I couldn't make them sound bad.

I've got a "sample" recording somewhere... I'll have to dig through and see if I can find it. It's worth hearing if you're looking for fairly inexpensive mics.

[O.D.CRUISERS]

Get yourself a Studio Projects C-1. The best $189.00 you can spend on a usable mic and you won't look back.

View this: http://studio-central.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=16020


-Craig

[Tweak]

A good choice.

http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--STUC1

[ctp_killacam]

Im suprised that no one recomended the behringer b2 pro mic. I bought one from zzsounds and i completely love it. The clarity and the bass roll off and just the warmth. Its only 150 that leaves you about 50 more dollars for pop filter cable and stand walla.

[MASSIVE Mastering]

Whoo hoo! Found it - Along with comments that I posted at another forum...

No kidding - One of the coolest mics out there. I don't think I've dragged out the 414's since I had a pair of those things.

Long story - Here's a sample file...

http://www.massivemastering.com/audiosa ... s_Test.mp3

It's a rehearsal (so please, no comments on the performance - this was minutes after they got the music).

Keep in mind what was stacked against this recording -

* The mics were grid mounted, around 16 feet high, 8 feet apart, tilted in towards the condutor's position (very unnatural stereo image). Right over the string section.

* The kit was around 25-30 feet LOS away from the mics

* The horns and precussion around 50 feet

* Behringer Ultra-Mic 2200 preamp (sorry, that's what was there)

* Somewhere between 2 & 300 feet of mic cable (per channel) to the preamp in the control booth at the upper rear or house

* Sony gen-1 MD recorder from around 1994

In other words, if they sound that good with all that stacked against them, you should hear them with a decent chain...

No EQ, no rolloff (the mic's built-in is fantastic, BTW) no post-processing (except for some bad editing to remove conductor commentary and shorten the file down to almost nothing).

[twits celso]

That recording with the Solaris does sound good--thanks for posting it.

I was having such a hard time deciding on a condenser, that I bought a Shure SM57 a week or so ago, figuring that for $90 I could at least get started while I pondered. It's worked pretty well for rock'n'roll vocals, less so for acoustic slide guitar (the only two things I've had a chance to try it with). Once the budget recovers (I also just bought a Firebox), I'm probably going to get a C1 (if nothing else, it's $100 less than Solaris, though not nearly as pretty), though I'm still not positive.

Thanks to all for suggestions!

[MASSIVE Mastering]

I actually though the Solaris was pretty ugly...

[Papa Noid]

I'm extremely happy with my C-1, highly recommended.