RØDE doubles up on innovation with 5th-gen mic

With over 6 million units sold since its release in 1991, RØDE’s NT1 large-diaphragm condenser mic was the company’s debut microphone. With the introduction of the NT1 5th Generation, the manufacturer has added some state-of-the-art technology, including RØDE’s patent-pending Dual Connect output which offers both XLR and USB connectivity, as well as a world-first “unclippable” 32-bit float digital output.

Dual Connect offers both XLR and USB connectivity in the same housing to enable users to connect to an audio interface, mixer, console or other audio equipment via XLR for a traditional analogue workflow or directly to a computer via USB for plug-and-play recording.

Meanwhile, RØDE believes that the NT1 5th Generation is the world’s first microphone to feature a 32-bit float digital output. The company claims this captures the full dynamic range of the microphone while allowing users recording in a DAW to adjust their audio to the optimal level after recording. This means users can record anything from a whisper to a scream without worrying about setting their gain correctly beforehand and with no chance of their signal clipping.

“Since the beginning of audio recording, engineers have relied on the gain knob to capture clean audio – it’s always been the most important process in the recording workflow,” says RØDE CEO, Damien Wilson. “The NT1 5th Generation changes that completely. When recording in 32-bit float, users can literally plug their microphone into their computer and start recording instantly, without any risk of their audio being ruined by clipping or distortion.”

Precision manufactured to sub-micron tolerances, the microphone uses RØDE’s HF6 capsule to provide a tight cardioid polar pattern, smooth frequency response and high sensitivity. Meanwhile, its circuitry delivers 4dBA of self-noise, which the company claims makes it the world’s quietest studio condenser microphone.

The NT1 5th Generation’s digital output also features RØDE’s low-noise, high-gain Revolution Preamp and analogue-to-digital conversion up to 192kHz. Its onboard DSP allows users to apply audio processing to recordings, including a compressor, noise gate and two-step high-pass filter, as well as RØDE’s Aural Exciter and Big Bottom effects.

Users can connect up to eight NT1 5th Generation microphones to a single computer for multitrack recording.