The mic manufacturers switch focus to bring out some of the best cans Simon Arblaster has come across in a while
CONTACT WHO: Rode
WEB: rode.com
KEY FEATURES TRANSDUCER SIZE: 40mm
OPERATING PRINCIPLE: Dynamic
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 5Hz – 35Khz
IMPeDANCE: 32Ω
SENSITIVITY: 110dB/V
MAX INPUT POWER: 1700mW, 1% THD @ 1kHz
EAR COUPLING: Circumaural
AMBIENT NOISE ATTENUATION: 20dBA
CONNECTION TYPE: Dual TRRS Cable Attachments
Røde have been in the market for making more than just microphones for a good while now. With mixers aimed at podcasting and small audio interfaces for content creators, it is little wonder they should now develop their first pair of headphones, the over-ear NTH-100s. However, for a company with a reputation for price-beating, high-quality products, coming relatively late to such a swamped market, the stakes are obviously high. Røde needn’t worry though–as soon as you take the NTH-100s out of the box, it is soon all too clear that the Aussie firm have taken their time in creating these circumaural headphones.
The first thing you’ll notice is the shape of those ear cups. Why no one has thought of this before we don’t know, but it certainly makes sense to have the cups shaped similarly to that of the human ear, right? Shod with soft Alcantara and memory foam in all the right places, first impressions straight out of the box were good.
The NTH-100s are powered by 40mm dynamic drivers that are capable of delivering a frequency response of 5Hz–35kHz at 32 ohms, with a sensitivity of 110dB/V. They come packaged with one 2.4m straight TRRS cable, the obligatory 3.5mm to ¼-inch adapter, a soft pouch for storage and different coloured end caps for the cable.
Another thing we noticed during unboxing was a couple of trademarks highlighted in the sales blurb. The first, CoolTech(™), seemed a bit like marketing speak for “your head won’t cook with things on” and didn’t grab the eye too much, but the second, FitLok(™), piqued our interest.
I’ve had a long-standing battle with the fit of most over-ear headphones, but most notably it has been a struggle against the adjustment band for all headphone types. Sometimes they slide with too much tension and sometimes too little. Others click into place with spacings either too close together or annoyingly apart. It’s always a struggle to get them to sit right. And don’t get
