RODE NTH-100 - Good enough for an audiophile?

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00:00 - Intro
00:46 - Build, Design & Comfort
04:03 - Sound: Objective
07:54 - Foam Mod
09:44 - Distortion
10:39 - Sound: Subjective & Comparisons
12:47 - Conclusion

[ResolveReviews]

A note about durability - there are reports of the headbands cracking within a year. Hopefully this is something Rode can address.

[robstivers]

Your impressions of this headphone match mine exactly. Thanks for another great review. And I totally agree with you that Rode is really onto something with the design and build quality of the NTH-100. I had them for a couple days and it didn't take long for me to realize that since I already have and enjoy AKG's K371, I don't really need these as well. It's a pity that the K371 isn't built nearly as well as these or that the NTH-100 doesn't sound nearly as good as the AKGs. If someone takes the best of both worlds and combines them in a new closed-back, they've got an instant hit!

[currenturban]

Dude you won’t believe this but I found one of these at an Amazon liquidation store for $8. The right side was cracked a little, but I fixed it and now I’m rocking. They are great headphones

[daniannaci]

In my opinion you are pretty much spot on with your review, particularly concerning sound quality. They don’t sound bad being the Rode’s having nothing really wrong, nor anything really right (except for comfort). Certainly they can’t hold a candle in any respect to my home speakers, but I need an isolation headphone for location recording that I can stand wearing for more than 15 minutes. So I’m keeping my pair. The Rode NTH-100 is the epitome of pleasant inoffensiveness. They win by default.

[HiFiGOAudio]

Let's make Shakira a new audiophile term. Kinda relieved that this doesn't replace the K371 haha. Excellent review!

[NotAFanMan]

Really nice tip on the felt removal, love the sound with them now quite a bit more. I mostly bought them out of curiosity and love a lot of the interesting stuff they did with the build. It's solidified me on the need for Alcantara padding on everything. Need more headphones aside from Meze and now Rode doing it.

[ResolveReviews]

Just to clarify... I quite like Shakira, but she does kind of sing like she's falling off a cliff.

[donvittoriosierra]

I received my generic inner foams similar to sennheiser hd6xx/600/650 inner foams and it calmed the shout just enough to make it sound refined without being muffled like the stock thick felt. I got this idea right away because the naked driver without any damping reminded me of the extra shout the senns get when removing the front foam. All in all a success. Sound and build combined, This is my favorite closed headphone in this pricerange now.

[robertoruizantonetti]

Thanks for the tip. I removed the felt and I like the way they sound without it.

[HughOBrien]

I have them, the bass boom is what most caught me but I put it down to closed back vs 6xx. They are fantastically built though, and will be trying the foam mod.

Don't forget the price.

[Nikita-klrk]

Maybe the voicing is deliberate.. Mixing using the NTH-100s help me work the mid and the top because of its voicing, so that when I compare to my Grado SR225e's mixes it sounds so much more defined and balanced. Even the Grado's agree : )

[czdot]

I've had this headphone since it came out and it took me till now (Aug 2023) to remove the foam pads. I like it so much better. They might be less bassy, but at least they don't sound veiled. Especially when switching between Hifiman HE-400se.

[drogba]

would be interested to hear sound impressions for just speech/dialogue in addition to music, as much of their use case will no doubt be for film mixing.

[NanoDex]

Thank you for that felt mod!! I ripped mine out watching this and am now way happier with these!! Im going to try and find some thinner felt, maybe try various ones and see how that goes. I know the DCA headphones come with some, maybe I can get thoes and cut to fit. I hope that an aftermarket like Dekoni makes a slightly larger ear pad as that seems to be everyone's complaint

[kvnngkronos]

I like the objective sound description of voices sounding like Shakira. We should make it a new audiophile term.

[ByStephenJones]

I really like the NTH-100 but my criticism was “the low mids sound almost mushy” this makes a lot of sense.

[Ben-icve]

There’s so many mixed reviews of this headphone. Just decided to buy it and see what happens. If it wasn’t for the look and build, I would have gone for the akg k371.

[jin]

*update, my set cracked in the adjustment mechanism as well after 5 mo of only sitting on my head or the headphone hook. can't recommend due to this.

Mine doesn't sound quite as dead in the air regions as the graphs suggest, I don't know if it's unit variation or just my ears. It also is not as boomy as something like an hd 599, and since it's a gradual clockwise tilt in the mids and not a contoured midbass hump I wouldn't say it's bass dominated at all. In terms of technical performance I find it matches at least the k361 and bests it in imaging, although that's not really a high bar. For my ears the harman over-ear target is way too sharp in the mid treble so the nth100 is more to my preference. It's also free of the treble peaks that other closed backs have at this price point.

[FLawLesSTaStE]

What headphone can I get open back style if possible for 50 usd that will sound good,
I game a lot and I would prefer comfort and ok sound, bass does not matter, clarity and mids more.
Thanks in advance.

[Islwynpaul]

People are disiing this headphone atm, not sure why. I have a pair and they are amazing for the price. They are an involving and detailed listen with great bass and great mids. I have 20 headphones, iems and ear buds and some are over 3 times more expensive than these but it is the Rode that I prefer listening to. All in all they are amazing value and make music sound great.