RØDE NTH-100 Professional Over-Ear Headphones for Content Creation, Music Production, Mixing and Audio Editing, Podcasting, Location Recording (Black)

Fantastic, detailed, sound quality, more neutral than the Sony 7506/1
Notwithstanding the fact the ear cup brackets/hinges to the headband are known to be quite frail (see below revision – the problem has been solved permanently by Rode now), this set of headphones is superb. Rode have obviously worked extremely hard to engineer these to deliver a neutral and very detailed sound. You’ll want to listen to all your favourite tracks to discover what you’ve been missing if you’ve been listening to them with anything else. The treble response is pristine, but can also sound a bit much if the source material hasn’t been equalised correctly or there’s upper-register distortion. Listening to “stripped” by Depeche Mode is hard with these headphones, as Dave Gahan’s voice sounds rather harsh at times. But on 99.9% of the music I do listen to, whilst these headphones really do bring out the high-end detail, they were incredibly listenable and the extra detail is really appreciated. Nor can you say these sound too treble-orientated. You simply can’t deny the bass response. Listen to the opening drum beats of Lorde’s Royals at high volume, and you get an ear-drum (and ear) vibrating bass with huge weight behind it, yet still tightly controlled. You come away from trying these with a huge appreciation for what Rode has achieved. Their first attempt at reversing the relationship between air molecule and electron movement is a resounding success and they’re going the right way about gaining a world-wide reputation for headphones as they currently have for microphones. One note. The lead supplied with the phones does have one end specifically designed to plug into the headphones themselves, even though both ends are 3.5mm jacks. This is because one end has a more plastic body with a twist-lock mechanism moulded into it, to stop it coming out of the headphones. If you fit the wrong end of the lead to headphones, or don’t get the twist lock to engage, you’ll get a horrible sound through these as the connector isn’t making all the connections it should. Oh, and be careful with how you handle these headphones taking them on and off your head and storing them, if you want the hinges to last.I’d like to add that 8 months down the line, I’m as pleased with my NTH-100s as I was when I first got them. No hinge trauma! I’ve had a chance to compare these to the Sony 7506/1 professional studio headphones, which is another popular choice amongst buyers. I previously mentioned the Rode headphones may be a little too bright and could make some source material sound a little harsh at high listening levels. I can tell you that at those scratchy 2kHz – 4kHz frequencies, the Sony 7506 sound harder than the Rode NTH-100, but then potentially don’t have quite as much very high frequency detail as the Rode headphones. There also seems to be a touch more low/weighty bass response compared to the Rode units. My judgement now is that the Rode headphones definitely strike a more listenable balance, even up to high listening levels. The 7506 could potentially be said to sound a little “peaky” at extreme lows and in the 2-4kHz range, and lacking in extreme HF. If I had to choose, I’d still pick the Rode as fantastic neutral sounding headphones and definitely a product that offers a sound quality which belies their price. Buy the Rode NTH-100 as they are most listenable “reference” headphones you’ll ever need.REVISION -2 years on from purchase. My original hinges finally failed and I sent the headphones back to Rode for repair. Their customer support was very attentive, making sure I’d managed to get the repair booked in. It was as easy as sending the item back using an insured service after first making sure I’d registered my product on their website with proof of purchase and waiting for their explicit authorisation to return the item. 2 weeks on and I received replacement headphones. Sounding absolutely fantastic as usual. Better than ever in fact. I noticed the design of the FitLok hinges has changed significantly in response to the original issue, and I guess this is a permanent change for all newly manufactured headphones, so this is a none-issue now for anyone considering purchasing.

Exceptionally good wired headphones
These RODE NTH-100 headphones are very good quality. So far they have lasted about one year eight months and look like they should just about last another two years of moderate use. They are exceptionally comfortable to use for long periods of time (although long use of computer screens and headphones without a break is not recommended).Also sound clarity is excellent. The only reason I haven’t given these wired headphones five stars is that they are a bitexpensive. I wish they were £60 or less, rather than £75.

Słuchawki grają bardzo czysto i precyzyjnie. Na plus konstrukcja, odpinany kabel Jack 3,5 mam, dopasowanie do uszu.

Ein sehr hochwertiger Kopfhörer, der äußerst komfortabel zu tragen ist und vom Klang einfach spitze klingt.Ich hatte parallel den Sennheiser HD 599 bestellt und eher angenommen, dass dieser womöglich besser klingt. Aber weit gefehlt: Der RØDE NTH-100 ist es, der um Welten besser klingt und klanglich in einer ganz anderen Liga spielt.Ich empfehle für realistische und professionelle Testergebnisse zu aktuellen HiFi-Produkten die Webseite http://www.whathifi.com. Unter anderem findet man dort gerade auch die besten Kopfhörer per Kategorie (offene vs. geschlossene oder Wireless vs. kabelgebundene, Studio-Kopfhörer vs. audiophile).Ich höre viel elektronische Musik (z. B. Interpreten wie “Bonobo” oder “An Analog Guy in a Digital World” etc.), aber auch Titel wie Alan Parsons Projects “Lucifer”. Wenn man diese Musiktitel auf dem HD 599 abspielt und dieselben Titel im Vergleich auf dem NTH-100 anhört, dann ist der Sound des RØDE NTH-100 einfach um so viel besser, wie ich es mir nicht im Ansatz hätte vorstellen können.Am extremsten war der Qualitätsunterschied aber bei dem Titel “Watermark” von Enya zu hören. So brillant hatte ich “Watermark” noch nie gehört! Hier merkt man schnell, dass der RØDE NTH-100 wirklich sehr viel besser klingt. Da kann der Sennheiser HD 599 bei Weitem nicht mithalten, sondern klingt daagegen einfach nur sehr mittelmäßig.

Otimo Fone, otimo custo beneficio