Not every pair of headphones is made for every purpose, and in the case of Rode’s first pair, the purpose is pretty clear: people who make stuff.
It’s pretty clear that every pair of headphones is different, thanks in part to each headphone maker building a different style for each price point, but there’s also the sound and the purpose.
While listening is the primary purpose of a headphone, if you’re making content — things like music, videos, and podcasting and such — there’s a good chance you’re listening to the flat sound of what you make, which is different to the finished sound later on. That tends to require a different sound, and it’s specifically that which an Australian microphone maker is channeling.
One of Australia’s leading audio companies, Rode, is entering the world of headphones this week, launching a pair designed to make audio sound flat, built to give you sound the way it’s supposed to sound and not hyped up by extra bass or brightness.
It’s a push from the maker of microphones designed to do that with your voice and instruments to get you to hear what the microphones are picking up on, with the NTH-100 headphones designed around an accurate frequency response developed from aluminium, Mylar, and neodymium, a combination of materials that Rode says keeps the clarity clear.
Built to sound “natural”, as the company puts it, it’s a closed pair of headphones with a sound more like an open pair, keeping the audio in but letting it breathe, with an ergonomic design and memory foam to keep your ears padded and comfy complete with Alcantara (the material used on Surface keyboards), while keeping the acoustics sound, as well.
Overall, it’s a combination of things that add up to a pair of headphones Rode says are built for creators, including a “FitLok” headband to keep the ear cup positions in place every time you use them.
Worth noting is that Rode’s NTH-100 are wired headphones only, using a locking connector to keep the headphone cable in place, but tethering them to your workstation. These aren’t headphones that will see you detached from the sound, but rather keep you in place, getting the sound in real time as it happens with no delay, and also — more importantly — no changes to how the audio actually sounds. That’s quite the point here, because the Rode NTH-100 are made for audio to be flat and sound the way it actually does.
“We developed these headphones from the ground up with avid attention to every detail and an obsession with perfection, and we are incredibly proud of the outcome,” said Damien Wilson, CEO of Rode.
“It is with absolute confidence that I say the NTH-100s are the best in their class,” he said. “If you’re a creator looking for your first headphones or a seasoned professional still on the hunt for the perfect cans, your search is over.”
There’s still a good chance that you’ll end up with other headphones in your life with these. These aren’t the truly wireless earphones to go running with, nor are they noise cancelling headphones to go flying with or just generally encasing yourself in a bubble. Rather, the Rode NTH-100 are headphones for creators to create, and if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll find them in specialist stores and music supply stores for $249 across Australia.
