The audio files available on this page accompany my review of the sE Electronics/Rupert Neve Designs RNT Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone in SOS July 2019 issue. I explained how I was impressed with how the RNT fared on a number of singers and I've shared some very short examples — with no mix processing — so you can hear for yourself. I've also included a few general instrument examples.
01_Female Vox
A short example of a female vocal. This vocal was captured with the mic in its cardioid polar position. There was no compression or EQ and was recorded through our Audient ASP8024's onboard preamps.
02_Male Voice
If I remember correctly this was with the polar pattern turned one click from Cardioid towards figure-of-8. This seemed to smooth the top end out very subtly. It sounds quite stark in isolation — but worked great in the mix. The preamp was a Neve 1073lB.
03_Acoustic_Cardioid
An example of how the mic fared on an acoustic guitar. The mic was positioned about one foot back from the guitar pointing towards the direction of the fifth fret. It was easy to control the bottom end of the sound by changing the direction of the microphone in relation to the instruments sound hole. The preamp was a Neve 1073lB.
04_Acoustic_Fig-8
The same microphone position but with the figure-of-8 polar pattern. I think you can hear the high-frequency lift starting a bit earlier in this setting with a little more presence around 2-4kHz.
05_Acoustic_Omni
The same microphone position - but in the omnidirectional polar pattern setting. It perhaps sounds a touch more open, but it's pretty subtle stuff. I did find myself liking this setting in a few different recording sessions, however, especially when I wanted to capture more of the room.
06_Drum Room
The RNT mic used as a Mono drum 'room' mic. Set to Omnidirectional, it was positioned about 8-10 feet back from the front of the drum kit. The is was the raw sound recorded. I had to roll off the top end to get it to work in the mix, but it was a handy addition to the overall drum sound.
07_Electric GTR 1
I made a few quick examples of the RNT in front of a loud electric guitar set-up. The guitar rig was a Fender Telecaster running through a Fender Supersonic amp and into an Orange 4x4 Speaker cabinet. The mic was positioned around four inches back, just off the centre of one speaker.
08_Electric GTR 2
The same set-up as before but with the gain turned up a fair bit. I had to engage the 12dB pad on the floor box for this example, as it was now deafening! The RNT seemed to cope easily with what was thrown at it, however.