The Complete Studio Kit from Rode offers,
as the same suggests, a complete package for audio recording.
The kit includes the company’s AI-1 audio interface as well as their NT1 condenser microphone,
it also includes accessories such as the SMR shock mount, pop-shield, dust cover and Rode-branded
XLR cable to get you up and running. I purchased this kit as a replacement to my
Blue Spark Digital, which suddenly stopped working. I decided upon the Rode kit as it
was XLR, not USB, and had a generous 10-year warranty for the microphone.
The NT1 features a simplistic design, with a sleek matte black finish that looks discrete
and tidy.
The microphone is around 19cm tall and 5cm in diameter, so it takes up a relatively
small footprint. There is not too much to the design, with
some Rode branding on the front and back, a gold disc on the front side indicates which
side of the microphone to talk in to so that sound is picked up well. The ends of the microphone
are home to the key parts of the microphone, at one end is the microphone capsule and the
other the XLR jack to connect the microphone to your audio interface as well as a screw
thread to attach the microphone to a mount. Overall, I really like the design of the microphone.
The build quality feels excellent and it is a full metal construction which ensures that
it will be long lasting and durable if transported around.
The NT1 is a condenser microphone, which makes it fantastic for recording vocals or, in my
case, voiceovers and features a cardioid polar pattern, which means it picks up audio from
in-front of the microphone. The microphone has a 20Hz-20kHz frequency range and 4dB of
self-noise, which is great for a microphone in this price range.
It is powered by 24-
or 48-volt phantom power, which the AI-1 audio interface takes care of.
I am extremely impressed and pleased with the quality of the audio that the NT1 manages
to capture, especially considering that my room has had little to no acoustic treatment
until a month or so ago. The audio is clear and captures my voice well, with excellent
clarity throughout the frequency spectrum, the microphone manages to capture deep and
high frequencies equally as well, with warm bass and clear top-end frequencies.
The quality that Rode has packed in for the price is certainly worth it, I personally
have no complaints with the capture quality that the microphone offers for voice work.
As I previously mentioned, the kit also bundles a collection of useful accessories to ensure
that you can use the microphone to the best of its ability.
The kit includes a shock mount,
pop filter and dust cover for the NT1. The shock mount and pop filter is Rode’s
SMR product, which suspends the microphone to reduce and vibrations from the surface
your microphone is resting on from reaching the microphone capsule, ensuring that there
is no bass rumble detected by the microphone due to changes within the recording environment.
The metal pop filter features two layers and works well at reducing the impact of plosives
being picked up by the microphone.
Unfortunately, the pop filter is specifically made for this
shock mount, so it is not possible to use it with a different setup, if desired.
When not using the microphone, the NT1 has a dust cover to protect it. The cover can
also double up as a carrying case if you’ve got to move the microphone around but it is
very thin so if you’re going to be moving around with the microphone a lot, I would
recommend getting something with some padding. Despite all these accessories, there is no
microphone stand included – you’ll need to provide that yourself. I’ve mounted my
NT1 on a Rode PSA1 boom arm which I can bring to my mouth when I wish to use the microphone,
which I’ve found to work well for a number of years.
The AI-1 is Rode’s offering for an audio interface to connect the microphone to your
computer. It has an extremely compact design, coming in at around 4cm tall, 12cm wide and
9cm deep, making it portable as easy to take on the go – but this smaller form factor
does sacrifice some features in comparison to the competition.
The audio interface, like
the NT1 microphone, has a metal outer-casing which ensures that it is durable and long-lasting.
On the front is an XLR/¼ jack combo input, so you can connect a microphone or a guitar,
for example, but unfortunately this is the only input found on the audio interface. If
you want to record guitar and vocals at the same time, the Focusrite Scarlett Solo may
be a better choice, but for my use-case the single input works fine.
There is also a ¼ jack headphone output for headphones on the front as well as balanced
speaker outputs on the back of the device. I use this audio interface with my Mackie
CR3 speakers, and it does a good job and general audio output. When you plug in a pair of headphones,
the output will automatically be switched over.
The audio interface supports phantom power, which can be turned on by pressing the gain
dial, as well as support for direct real-time monitoring of the microphone by pressing the
output gain dial.
A great aspect of this audio interface is
that it is bus powered by USB, so it does not require an additional power source. A
USB Type-C port can be found on the back to power the device and no specialised drivers
need to be installed to get going. For my use, the Complete Studio Kit has provided
everything I need when it comes to recording a high-quality voiceover, I cannot really
fault the experience I have had – it has been exceptional. If you are looking for a
setup to record vocals or instruments, I would highly recommend the kit and I really like
how there is a 10-year warranty on the microphone. That’s been it for this video, if you liked
it and found it helpful please consider subscribing.
I will leave a link in the description if
you want to pick up the Complete Studio Kit. Thanks for watching and I will see you in
the next one..
