1 month old Rode NTG-3 - Gone Wrong! :-(

[Andy Wilkinson]

This week a friend and I started an important video shoot for a corporate client. I first used my NTG-3 on Tuesday and sound was good but I noticed some crackling/sparking like sounds at the end of the interview. Was n't sure what it was. Then on Wednesday I plugged my Phantom powered Sennheiser SKP500 radio transmitter into it but could not get a audio signal out of the mic (no bars on the Senny's meter). Checked all the Senny's settings then gave up on that fearing a problem with the Senny and then tried the Rode NTG-3 directly on my EX3 and my mates EX1 and all we got was either completely dead or electrical static/buzzing type noises. VERY occassionally it works - but if you unplug it and plug it I'm back to square 1. 99 times out of 100 it does not work and that's obviously not something I can work with.

At first I was wondering if my SKP500 had done something to it/was faulty (send phantom power down wrong pin???) but this seems unlikely. I do know we had problems getting it to work with my mates NTG-2. However, the SKP500 seems to work just fine with (one half) of my AT825 stereo mic plugged in. My EX3 also seems just fine with the AT825 mic plugged into both L & R channels. Issue seems to be that lovely Rode, unfortunately.

Looks like Monday I'll be contacting Rode and Jigsaw24 (my UK supplier of it). Anyone got any insights as to what's going on in the meantime????

One thing I am confident about is that Rode will be very responsive to sorting it out.

I'm hoping this is an isolated incident.

[Allan Black]

Hi Andy, bad scene. Some of my XLR cable Neutrik plugs really need pushing home into the NTG-3 before the Neutrik plug locking pin clicks up.

Cheers.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Thanks Allan. Been unplugging and plugging in leads all day! Sometimes I get audio now but most often I'm still getting poor contact/sparking noises etc. with the slightest movement of the mic.

Sent you and Rode a detailed e-mail as suggested on what I've found with the 4 leads I have and the Senny SKP500.

I appreciate the very fast response from yourself and Rode over this. Thanks again guys :-)

[Jon Fairhurst]

Sounds like a cold solder joint. Unless you can easily open the mic and easily find and re-solder it, replace it. And if the re-work would void the warantee, definitely replace it!

[Andy Wilkinson]

Just to say the CEO of Rode has been in contact with me and they are sending me a replacement. My mic is being shipped back to Rode for them to evaluate.

These things, unfortunately, sometimes happen. I remember being told that last month when the gearbox on my almost new VW failed! Nice to see a company like Rode respond in such a professional way to resolve it as promptly as possible (VW were pretty good too, by the way.)

Hopefully, my run of bad luck will now end!

Thanks for the inputs and suggestions everyone.

EDIT: And whilst I was posting this www.jigsaw24.com phoned me to see if there was anything they could do to help since they had read (on here) that I was having a problem with the NTG-3. Another response worth noting, at least for all you UK based people!

EDIT 2: The mic is now en-route to Australia. Royal Mail/Parcelforce Datapost claim it should arrive Thursday.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Took delivery of my replacement NTG-3 this morning. This one has a s/n several 1000 above the last one.

Just to say a big THANK YOU to everyone at Rode and on here that helped over this. I'm back on the road with beautiful sound once again.....now all we need is some sun!

[Jeffery Magat]

Looks like the 10-year warranty works. ;)

[Andy Wilkinson]

Just to close the loop on this completely, Rode have now fully reimbursed me all the costs I incurred in shipping the faulty NTG-3 back to Australia. It took a bit of time (1 month) for all the money to come through (unlike the replacement mic which, much more importantly, I got very rapidly - a few days!).

All in all, VERY pretty impressive response to my (I hope) isolated problem with this new model.

So a 10 year guarantee, service like I've just experienced (should you ever need it, hopefully not), a really great sounding mic and an excellent price point for it's performance.....

I would point out that an e-mail I sent to a very well know European mic manufacturer (about one of their units that I have) never got anything more than an "automated response", followed by ......nothing!

No guesses as to which manufacturer will supply my next mic then!

[Toenis Liivamaegi]

Andy, I just got some bad static buzz out of our sub 000300 serial number NTG3. On the first day of really important shoot, BTS for Cannes 08 awarded best-in-production movie, talk about bad timing.

Can you say if yours sounded alike Index of /rodeNTG3 pan that MP3 from left to right to hear the disturbance in audio when compared to much lower quality SN Oktava 012 as it sounds really clean in comparison.
You can see a spectral analysis there too, notice the buzz on the upper (R) channel all settings in preamp gain and source for both mics were the same.

Let me know if yours sounded alike,
T

[Andy Wilkinson]

Toenis,

Bad timing for sure!

The sound I heard in your post is nothing like what I experienced. Mine was very loud and sounded like a bad connection/sparking noise and occurred with the slightest touch of the plug/cable from the mic.

My original was a low serial number (I think) - will post the s/n here in a minute.

Here it is: Rode NTG-3 Mic S/N 000174

Sorry for your bad experience! Contact Rode.

[Allan Black]

Hi again Toenis, it may not be your G-3, see other forum. In case you miss it, can you post your G-3 exact serial no. here thanks.

Cheers.

[Toenis Liivamaegi]

Originally Posted by Allan Black

Hi again Toenis, it may not be your G-3, see other forum. In case you miss it, can you post your G-3 exact serial no. here thanks.

Cheers.

I posted it on the other too but it is 000279

T