// PC GAMER — GAMING
Rode NT1 5th Generation microphone review
Master of both digital and analogue realms, this studio quality mic has a massive range, is almost unclippable, and bathes your voice in warm tones.
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Between online video calls, streaming, content creating, and messing with music, I really appreciate a good microphone for my PC setup. Once upon a time I'd be hard pressed to find a high-quality USB mic, but with many gamer brands stepping into the space great PC mics have become more commonplace.
What I haven't seen before is an exceptional quality PC mic that can also switch over to XLR interface for analogue use like Rode's NT1 5th generation release.
Rode may not be super familiar to gamers, but for those into music production and other content creation, the brand is a household name. Known for putting out excellent recording options, Rode has often been revered as delivering audiophile quality, often a bit cheaper than some of the other contending brands like Sony. The NT1 5th Generation microphone is yet another example of this, but in a mic that's so flexible you can use it for basically anything you can dream of.
Unboxing the mic is a neat experience as it's immediately obvious by the heft that this is a premium product, which you'd want for $259 USD. There's a lot more metal than I'm used to, including an aluminium body and full mesh over the actual mic portion.
Type: large-diaphragm cardioid condenserConnectivity: USB Type-C and XLRRecording Sample Rate: 48 / 96 / 192 Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20,000 HzFeatures: Rode software, pop filter and mountPrice: $250 USD | $420 AUD
The box also includes a shock mount, pop filter, and USB C and XLR cables that are thicker than the oceans (seven Cs) so it's usable straight out of the box. There's no stand, but it'll work with the standard threading for anything you already own. I've also had success on a box with a hole cut out for the cable and simply holding the mic.
The first thing I noticed when recording is how low the sound floor is on this microphone. Being a large-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone, it is designed to pick up every little noise, but I also realised that my voice wasn't coming across as much louder than many ambient noises around me. Still I was impressed with the plug and playability across every device I tried it with. This noise gate issue isn't ideal for things like streaming but that's where Rode's free software comes in.
While there are no controls on the microphone itself, when plugged in via USB you get access to extra functionality through the free Rode Central app. This lets you set a gain input to raise the volume so your voice is crystal clear as well as manage the high pass filter to get rid of those background noises and it works a treat. Using it I managed to get my stream sounding like this in only a few tweaks.