I'm afraid i've been a pig again. I stopped in to try an NT3 and wound up buying an Rode NT1A. I tried the NT3, AT-3035 and the NT1A. The overal quality of the NT1A was excellent, especially for under $200 US.

I checked all of the mic's at 12" through 12 ft on 3 different voices and the results were all pretty good but the 1A jumped out and bit me in the asp.

The Nt3 while not as smooth as the 1A deserves another look. It's reasonably priced and it can run on phantom or 9 volt battery. It is a true condenser with a 3/4" diaphram. It's approx 1.3" dia and 8.25" long, weighing 13 oz . it's rated as a hypercardoid but it looka to be on the cardois side as the rear lobe doesn't look all that dramatic.

It was just a more harsh than the 1a but then it's also smaller , cheaper.

I'm also considering the oktava 012 and AT-3031 , both cardoid (the Oktava has an optional kit with an omni and a hypercardoid capsule) I've also thought about buying the NT5 and using the mics separately as well as in a stereo pair.

I'm planning on comparing the mics together and the outcome of my trial will dtermine which path i take.

I want a more portable mic , so there will be at least one NT3 in my kit. The battery operation will give me some freedom, athough I do have phantom on my mixer and recorder.

I have wondered how well the NT3 would function as a stereo pair. The price would be OK and there would be the freedom from phantom when needed. Any comments or opinions would be appreciated.

So far as the others go, i'm going to demo the 1/2" capsules and see if they do better than the NT3, by themselves or as a stereo pair.

I'm trying to keep my thoughts as uncluttered as possible.

Further to my observations and ideas expressed above, I plan on documenting my experiences so that others might benifit from my successes as well as mistakes. This may not happen overnight but it will happen.

I had planned on recording spoken voice mp2 clips comparing the various mics. I would formulate some sort of script that would include 'Plosives, pops, sibilence and timber. I have a very deep voice so would attempt to get my wife to help. I thought a test at 1', 3' , 6', 10' at 0 deg 45 deg 90 and 120 deg might help.

If one of the clips was made with a mic that we knew, then the test would be more relevent.

I tried a few clips last night but my wife got a little silly . Can't publish those tests :)))

So, which one's best, in your opinion? The Rode NT1A?

The Nt1A was the hands down winner but it's a cardoid large diaphram , side address and requires phantom power. It's limited to indoors and fairly close distance. I needed an interview mic and besides that, I just wanted it.

The NT3 is a hypercardoid, end address, 3/4 diaphram true condenser that can use phantom or 9 volts. It can be used under a little rougher conditions as well.

The AT3035 didn't have much on the high end at all. It sounded muddy to me.

Bryan, would love to hear your tests when you get around to doing them!

Yeah I've heard some reasonably good things about the Oktava 012, not least is the price of the thing. I guess you probably no this but you need to make sure that the Oktava is got from someone who will check their mics as I heard that quality control on the OKtava is shocking. It's basically a lucky dip.

Aaron

You mentioned the NT1A has has a fairly close range. Do you think it would be acceptable for use as a boom mike for indoor shoots? I may be way off track here, too. But I'm not afraid to ask! Thanks.

Nevermind. I found the answer in another thread.

You mentioned the NT1A has has a fairly close range. Do you think it would be acceptable for use as a boom mike for indoor shoots? I may be way off track here, too. But I'm not afraid to ask! Thanks.

I've wondered the same thing about the Oktava, can it be used as a boom mic? How close is close enough with the Oktava and how far is too far?