The new RØDE studio monitor headphones have been a long time coming but they were well worth the ... [+] wait.

When you’re recording or editing a podcast, you must get the sound right. The same goes for recording the sound for a video on location. And to get the sound right you need a good microphone and a pair of headphones that can keep out unwanted sounds while delivering as accurate a tonal response as possible. What you don’t want is a pair of headphones with a colored sound that cause you to dial back on the bass or boost the treble too much.

Australian microphone and audio brand RØDE has announced its first-ever pair of professional over-ear monitor headphones designed for podcasting, location recording or even simply listening to music. The brand new NTH-100 headphones bring together superb sonic performance with incredible levels of comfort and the build quality is difficult to criticize.

The new RØDE NTH-100 headphones have been meticulously designed and crafted to deliver exceptional sonic performance for monitoring, mixing and mastering audio. With a weight of 350g, the closed-back design is sturdy enough to stop external sounds from seeping in and from internal sounds leaking out, making them ideal for podcasting, live streaming, recording and editing.

The NTH-100 headphones from RØDE are superbly comfortable thanks to Alacantara-covered headband and ... [+] earpads.

Thanks to some carefully matched 40mm dynamic drivers, the NTH-100 deliver a sound that’s as close to a flat response as possible. These are one of the least-colored pairs of headphones I’ve ever listened to. However, unlike a lot of neutral headphones, the NTH-100 have a brilliantly wide frequency response that ranges from 5Hz to 35kHz and they deliver the kind of clarity that I would normally expect to hear from a high-end pair of open-back headphones.

The design of the dynamic drivers is based around a custom voice coil that uses a four-layer, ultra-high-tension aluminum alloy as its core. This is coupled to an ultra-stiff and triple-layer Mylar diaphragm. Together, with a rare-earth neodymium magnet, these three components ensure optimum acoustic and electrical performance and deliver extremely low levels of distortion and an accurate response across their frequency range.

The earcups of the NTH-100 are contoured for a comfortable fit and an enhanced acoustic performance. When mixing, editing or recording, it’s often necessary to wear a pair of headphones for quite a long time because recording sessions can drag on, as can editing marathons. This often ends up with the wearer experiencing hot, sweaty and itchy ears which don’t add to the creative process. With the NTH-100, the earcups are superbly comfortable thanks to the use of high-density memory foam that not only provides excellent passive noise isolation but also offers excellent comfort even over long wearing sessions.

These new headphones from RØDE are a closed-back design and ideal for podcasting, recording, live ... [+] streaming or capturing audio on location.

The NTH-100 headphones have earpads and a headband upholstered with luxurious Alcantara material. This plush fabric is often used in luxury sports cars because it’s superbly soft to the touch and highly breathable. Beneath the Alcantara, there’s a layer of RØDE’s CoolTech gel, which is excellent at absorbing and dissipating heat. The effect is to make you feel as if you’re putting on a pair of air-conditioned headphones.

It’s surprising how the cooling effect makes wearing fatigue almost disappear immediately. This is a useful feature for anyone who finds themselves in a long overdub session or when stitching together the final edit of a podcast. Add in the effect of the low distortion of the dynamic drivers and you have a pair of headphones that significantly reduce fatigue.

Of course, it’s no good if the earpads and headband feel superbly comfortable but the headphones don’t fit well. With the RØDE NTH-100, the ergonomic design of the earcups helps the headphones to sit properly on the wearer’s head. The cups are contoured to the shape of the ears and can move bi-directionally to create a custom fit for almost any head size or shape, even for people wearing glasses.

The NTH-100 headphone from RØDE are ideal for use with the company's new Video GO II microphone.

We’ve probably all worn a pair of headphones that keep working loose because the yoke’s ratchet mechanism is sloppy. To counteract this, the headband of the NTH-100 is fully adjustable and uses RØDE’s new FitLok system. Once the earcups are in just the right position, the user can lock the setting so that the headphones keep the same fit every time the wearer puts them on. Not only does this waste less time but means you won’t mind taking the headphones off to pop out for a coffee or some fresh air, because you don’t have to go through the palaver of setting up the headphones again when you get back to work.

As well as the excellent comfort levels and low distortion, the NTH-100s have a few other tricks up their sleeve. The cable can plug into the left or right earcup, whichever is most convenient. The cable has a special locking mechanism for total security in case of accidental tugging. The earcup orientation is easily identified thanks to luminous L and R letters, color-coding and braille.

Each pair of NTH-100 headphones comes with a 2.4m (7′10″) straight black cable, which is sufficiently long for working at a mixing desk or when recording on location with a boom. Shorter 1.2m (3′11″) cables are also available in pink, green, orange and blue so they can be easily identified when recording a podcast. Just match up the colors of the speakers’ headphones on the mixing desk faders and it’s easy to see whose mic needs turning simply by glancing at the color of their headphone cable.

The standout feature fo the new RØDE NTH-100 headphones is the comfortable fit and adjustments that ... [+] make these one of the most comfortable studio headphones on the market.

The headphones are supplied with a storage pouch and a ¼-inch adaptor for use with professional studio equipment. They also come with a set of colored ID rings for easy cable identification and these are matched to the channel colors used on the RØDECaster Pro and RØDE Connect mixing desk and software.

Every pair of NTH-100 headphones is made at RØDE’s manufacturing facilities in Sydney, Australia. The headband is made of high-sprung steel and is covered with a durable and scratch-resistant coating. The Alcantara-covered headband and earpads feel seriously soft and luxurious to the touch and can be wiped clean.

Headphones used in demanding situations like a recording studio can suffer wear and tear. To counter this, all the consumables are user-replaceable and can be swapped in seconds. RØDE chose to use this modular design so that the headphones would provide a long service life, even if they are used daily for many years.

The NTH-100 are probably the ideal podcasting headphones.

Verdict: It’s taken a while for RØDE to come up with a pair of studio monitor headphones and the designers have knocked it out of the park with the NTH-100. The clean lines and sleek looks are matched by an excellent build quality that is well up to the rough and tumble of a recording studio or location. The accuracy and low distortion of the NTH-100 are impressive and continue throughout the impressive frequency range. They won’t strain the wearer’s ears, even after several hours of use. The comfort levels are second to none. The combination of Alcantara and the CoolTech gel makes the NTH-100 cool and comfy to wear. The bidirectional earcups seal the ears off to unwanted noise and make the headphones feel almost tailormade. The headband adjustment with the FitLock mechanism means these headphones are as close to a custom fit as it’s possible to get “off the shelf”. It may have taken RØDE a long time to come up with its own design of monitor headphones, but it was well worth the wait.

Pricing & Availability: The new RØDE NTH-100 closed-back monitor headphones are available now and cost $149.

More info: www.rode.com

The comfort levels of the RØDE NTH-100 headphones are second to none.