Rode NT-USB Desktop Mic - Inexpensive, Awesome, Plug-and-play Solution?
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2016-05-06
·
1,348 words · ~6 min read
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now I know I've done a lot of USB microphone videos recently so this is
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actually going to be the last one for a while but I really wanted to cover this
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one since aside from receiving a lot of requests we've actually recently
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switched to Road's modular lavalier system for these videos and we're really
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liking that so far on the subject of liking things let your vote be heard
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with the like button below if you want to see us try something a little
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different where I take on another YouTuber in an iOS versus Android debate
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Showdown but with a Twist neither of us
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will know which side we'll be defending until we
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start freshbooks is the super simple invoicing solution that lets you get
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organized save time and get paid faster
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click on this spot right here to try it for free so this is the NT USB I
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struggle with physical overviews of microphones because they're all pretty
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much the same so I'll get this out of the way quickly so we can move on to
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what it actually sounds like included with your microphone you'll find a Le R
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carrying case an iHeart Road sticker a
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manual the mic itself a rubber footed
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tripod style stand the mic itself
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apparently I put that twice in my script I'm not going to worry too much about
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that on a standard threaded ARM that allows tilt adjustments the longest you
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USB a Tob cable that I think I have ever
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seen like seriously they list this as a selling point on the website 20 foot USB
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cable and finally a really nice inclusion a removable pop filter that's
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integrated right into the microphone design to prevent the microphone from
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being overloaded by sounds it's
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something everyone using a mic on their desk should have and yet most
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manufacturers not only don't include them in the box but want an outrageous
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amount of money for them if you want a really nice looking first party solution
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diving into the mic itself a little deeper at the front we find the grill
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for the condenser module this is a side address mic with a cardioid pickup
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pattern which means it'll perform best up close and personal with the source
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and you should speak at it like this instead of into the end like a stage
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microphone on the bottom is a USB interface full size B in this case and
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on the right is a couple of Di that initially confused me I was expecting
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one to be headphone monitoring volume for the latency free 32 mm headphone
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jack underneath it this turned out to be correct and the one above it to be
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microphone gain but instead it's actually a mixer dial for system volume
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versus microphone monitoring volume so you can decide how much of the music on
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your computer or whatever other sounds you're singing along with you here
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versus the sound of your own voice a very nice touch so then where is the
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gain knob great question Road actually uses an internal gain setting that
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they've determined is optimal and you only adjust input levels with the
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software control on your system perhaps this gives someone out there a bit less
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control but in my use well the fix gain
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only had the positive impact of simplifying the experience and how was
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that experience great question I'm glad you asked I've actually got an audio
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recording for this from my desk so I don't need to say any of this stuff at
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all I started with the NT USB and its optimal podcasting or streaming position
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directly in front of my keyboard where I was typing in the background and about
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20 cm from my mouth and frankly it performs admirably here compared now to
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the Blue Yeti Pro from this distance the NT USB does sound a touch more base
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heavy and announcer but thanks to a bit of extra Sparkle in the highs it doesn't
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suffer in terms of clarity looks like a strong Contender so far throwing the
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Razer siren Pro Elite into the mix now we can see that background hums show up
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more strongly here compared to the other two perhaps thanks to its additional
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emphasis on the mid-range now starting with the NT USB
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it's time for the second recording location next to the Monitor and out of
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the way this would be ideal for Skype calls or just general non-broadcast use
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background hum suppression is not as strong as the the Blue Yeti Pro which
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makes a big difference from this distance it still sounds good just not
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quite as good as for the siren Pro that
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Peak around the frequency of my voice and tendency to pick up more background
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noise hurts it here as usual finally the
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Blue Yeti Pro rocks the competition when it comes to distance recording in a big
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way and that's without leveraging any of its other pickup patterns although it
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should be noted that I stuck with cardioid on both the yeti Pro and the
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siren Pro because I think the others are basically useless anyway so that leads
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us pretty tidily into the conclusion does Road have a winner on their hands
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yeah I I think they do the astute among you may have noticed already but the
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nusb has actually been fighting well above its weight class against mics that
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are $80 more expensive making it a very
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attractive option especially for beginner podcasters or streamers since
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it lacks Advanced features like multiple pickup patterns and XLR input but
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includes a stand and pop filter so you're ready to rock right out of the
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box speaking of rocking out of the box
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uh it's out of the box thinking that if you call a mobile carrier someone might
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actually pick up the phone instead of having an automated menu that you have
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to navigate through in order to actually speak to a human being and that's what
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Ting does so Ting is the mobile carrier
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that makes sense that's their tagline I think I'm supposed to say that you pay
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only for what you use with the average Ting Bill only being about
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$24 per month what's cool is if that
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sounds appealing but you're kind of sitting there going well hold on a second cuz like I've got a bundle now
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and I pay this much and it seems like a pretty good deal you can actually
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compare against Ting by heading over to lin.com Linked In the video description
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to try out their savings calculator and see if you'll actually save money if
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you're stuck in a contract Ting will cover 25% of your cancellation fee up to
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$75 and if you sign up at our link you'll also get $25 in service credit or
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towards a new device so that's Linus doing.com
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so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked I think you know what to do
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probably wondering what to watch next so click that little button in the top
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right corner to check out Luke's video that he did whenever he did it wow I
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guess that would have been hold on a second ah yes I figured out what he did
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now it was a video on the Gigabyte GeForce gtx980ti G1 gaming a very
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highspeed gtx980ti click there to find out more
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about it and go watch it or something
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he