RØDENTH-100 Professional Over-ear Headphones For Content Creation, Music Production, Mixing and Audio Editing, Podcasting, Location Recording (Black)

OK, Had these babys just over a day now and my initial first thoughts are WOW, firstly the build quality on these is stellar love the construction of the yokes and the twisted metal which is something I have never seen before on any headphone design and gives them a touch of individuality.The pads are a unique shape and when I ordered these I did wonder if they would encompass my ears and be comfortable , Iam no Dumbo don't get me wrong but I do have larger than average ears but they dont stick out but the triangle shape openings fit nice and snug around my ears without pressing up against them, because of the shape of the opening my conclusion is they actually look smaller than they actually are.The dual sided cable option is another lovely touch from Rode and one which Iam sure will become more of the norm eventually with other manufacturers. The pads are lovely and soft and as a glasses wearer find them provide a good seal.SOUND......these are very similar to the sound signature of the Sennheiser 6XX stellar headphone, Rode have done a great job on these and being their first foray into the crowded headphone market I must say Iam very impressed and this is coming from someone who has listened to a lot of the major players and their best efforts and these are not my first headphone but could well be one of my last or at least one of my favourites for closed backs.To describe this by summing up I would say the words smooth but detailed in no way harsh or sibilant , forgiving but honest and instruments sound VERY natural and voices also have a resonance and honesty about them also maybe slightly pushed back in the mix but thats minimal.The soundstage is not huge in any shape or form but these being closed back I would not expect that but the imaging and seperation is superb (like the 600 series 6XX) Bass is tight and deep when it is called for in fact my EQ settings are normally giving a little lift to the bass shelf but with the Rode I found I just flattened it out completely and had no EQ setting whatsoever just let them do their thing which with a monitor headphone is what the manufacturer really wants. Just a great sounding closed back headphonne , stellar build quality with unique features and pads.

You’ve possibly not heard of Rode because they are microphone people. They are known in the video world for producing excellent value microphones and most people that make YouTube videos like myself have more than one Rode microphone in their collection. I have many of them and they’re all really solid performers.Rode is an Australian company.The NTH-100 is their first headphone. It’s aimed at producers and videographers. For most video people, monitoring of audio is likely to be done on a Sony 7506 or Beyer DT770. Not because they’re the best headphone, but because they can both be brutal in highlight audio flaws. The 7506 isn’t that great for long listening sessions because of its tonal balance but it is excellent for monitoring.The NTH-100 sounds to me like a middle ground between the dt770 and the 7506. It has good slam but not as fat as the DT770. It has a clean treble, but doesn’t pierce through your head like the 7506 sound.It’s an unusual headphone. Shaped to closely fit your ears so no space in the cups for resonances. (Triangular) The pads are memory foam with cooling gel. Also…. Alcantara. The pads are frankly …. Plush as hell.The cups, once fitted to your head are locked into place, so they never move again. The lead can be connected on left or right side and is extremely flexible. It doesn’t have ‘spring’ in it.It’s quite heavy as far as headphones go, but because of the way it fits, it feels much lighter on your head.I’m not kidding when I say that these are a BARGAIN. Around £130. The sound is really balanced and they sound pretty flat to me. There is perhaps a slight lift in the upper bass but actually, it’s not a lot and I think as far as monitoring headphones go, that’s what makes these headphones useable for music listening as well as monitoring. I did a mix with them, and the mix sounded great on speakers afterwards. That’s a sign that they have a really balanced frequency response. I have to be very careful with the DT770 because of its bass and the 7506 with its treble. This one is way more flat and it shows big time in the mixing.Imaging is extremely good. It’s a closed headphone, but it images like a semi-open headphone. The drivers are closely matched and placement is spot on. I can move people talking in my videos literally by inches with these and clearly hear it. Music listening puts vocalists firmly in centre and sometimes, it seems to put them in their own ‘space’ in the mic. You get a feeling of front to back depth and on some recordings, singers are placed further back in the stage. Really obvious with these.Treble is clear. Not piercing in any way. Fantastic mids but the bass ….. it doesn’t dominate but can really growl at you.You can listen loud if you want. No trouble. 32ohms so driven easily by phones.They make me think of the Sennheiser HD600 but with a better bass response and no ‘veiling’ or ‘harshness’Rode are an excellent company and their design team took a long time designing this headphone. It’s their first and boy, is it a cracker. It looks good. Feels good and sounds good.One thing…. Without being rude, if you have large ears, the cups might be a problem. My ears fit fine. They made this close fit on purpose to avoid cup resonances.

These headphones were great for the 3 weeks that they were actually usable.About the sound quality you would expect from headphones in this price range that aren't massively price hiked for a fashion name, and very comfortable to wear.Unfortunately with light (1-2 hours) daily use a small part of plastic shattered along moulding lines in the regular process of taking the headphones off, in just over 3 weeks since purchase.The entire construction of the headphones is metal EXCEPT for the tension locks that hold the earcups at their set position, a part which you would expect to experience some degree of pressure and tension, which are made from what feels like cheap recycled plastic, I've had studier feeling parts come off my 3d printer!I'm unfortunately not the only user that has experienced this issue as you can see from images on reviews, mine has broken in an absolutely identical fashion. A bit of googling about this specific issue produces more than a few results that were not initially visible when just searching for the product.As far as I can tell this seems to be a manufacturing flaw, you can see clear lines in the moulding of the plastic that the part seems to have exactly split down. It could be that lots are like this, could be a one off batch, who knows. Do yourself a favour and take a look at one of the many competitors in a similar price range with good reviews since you may be dropping 130 quid for something that will last you less than a month.I'll update this review when I hear back from the seller and/or the manufacturer regarding RMA.