Which microphone?

[xenophidia]

Hi, here is a noob question!

I've looked at the new Røde NT1 and the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 interface. It looks like a nice combo. But I also found the Røde NT-USB quite interesting! I know that most people think a mic and preamp/interface is the best (and only) option - but after watching a lot of videos on YouTube and listening to sound files on SoundCloud, I must admit I can’t hear much difference; both seem to have very decent quality. I do not have a studio and buying the NT-USB would save me a lot of money. I need a studio mic for vocals that I can use over my MPC productions, (that are fairly rugged anyway). I don’t need insane audio quality, just decent. Please give me your opinions in which mic to choose.

What do you think? Does anyone of you own a Røde NT-USB? How do you like it for vocal recordings?
What would choose and why?

Røde NT-USB: http://rodemic.com/microphones/nt-usb
Røde NT1: http://rodemic.com/microphones/nt1

Thanks for the reply!
Greetings from Denmark!

 

[Greg Savage]

The microphone does sound pretty good, but let me give you a little word of advice.

1. These recordings that you're listening to on the road site their recorded in pretty good rooms. USB mics are notorious for picking up room noise so if you don't have a decent recording area you're going to be working with a nightmare. Now, I've never used this particular USB mic, but I've used dozens from the competitors

2. this mic records at 16 bit. I'm not too excited about that. It's best to record at a higher bit/resolution and then dither down down to the standard, not start with the standard.

I understand you want to save money, but you will spend more money in the end if you don't start off with something of quality. Again, I'm not saying that this is not a quality microphone as I've never used it personally, but you want to make sure that you get something that you can grow with, otherwise you'll be spending more.

If it takes you two months to save another hundred dollars to get something better quality do that

 

[xenophidia]

Thanks for your prompt reply Greg

"...if you don't have a decent recording area you're going to be working with a nightmare..."

I don’t have a decent recording area, I have a house with f***ked up acoustics in every room. But I have heard that the Røde NT-USB has surprisingly low background noise. It should be a superb USB mic compared to the Blue Yeti etc, (just a random example).

"...I understand you want to save money, but you will spend more money in the end if you don't start off with something of quality..."

Yes you are right about that! I just got the impression that the NT-USB had a very nice sound to it.. But you are probably right, it would be best to buy a phantom powered mic.

"...If it takes you two months to save another hundred dollars to get something better quality do that."

Money is not the issue, sort of... (money is always an issue). I have 1800$ that I am about to spend. But I need a lot of other stuff, so it would be stupid to toss away money if I could save some buying the NT-USB…

But I will probably get the NT1 and the Scarlet!

 

[thedreampolice]

phantom power does not make a mic better, just different.

and no dear god dont get a USB mic, get the interface. It will leave you in a more flexible position, to buy a better mic down the road if you want and to hook up other things to your computer to record from.

 

[xenophidia]

I bought the Røde NT1 (the new 2014 model) and a Roland Quad-Capture UA55 Interface.

Thanks for your replies!