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I purchased a Røde NTG3B a month ago, but there was strange noise whenever I moved the mic. As if something was moving inside the mic. The mic was practically useless.

I returned the mic and the seller identified it as a bad unit. They sent me a replacement. However, the new mic has the same fault! Or is it a feature?

I just sent this video to the seller, but I thought that maybe you could also give your judgement.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8285047/NTG3B.mp4

The Rycote Lyre suspensions and the handle grip of the Røde Blimp are tightened firmly. I believe also that the noise is not coming from the cable, as I have tried with several cables and cabling setups.

When the mic is attached to the blimp the noise appears both when I tilt the mic up/down or sideways. When the mic is in my hand I manage to get the noise only when moving the mic sideways in a particular position.

Am I doing something wrong? Even though the seller did identify the first mic faulty, could the noise still be feature of the NTG3 design and be avoided by proper use? Or are both the units just from a bad batch?

Thanks a lot for your wisdom!

Matias

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  • Very strange! What happens if you just wiggle the cable? Or hold the mic vertically when moving it? – Johannes Jul 31 '15 at 19:24
  • Wiggling the cable or connector doesn't produce any sound apart from normal handling noise. When holding the mic vertically in hand and moving it, the problem disappears. However, when attached to the blimp and hold vertically, the noise can be heard when the mic is tilted, even slowly. However, there's much less noise in this position. It seems that for some reason the Lyre suspension system triggers/boosts the problem. For now I have attached the mic on its side (the "RØDE" texts pointing sideways) and that has helped a lot, however it hasn't removed the noise completely. – Matias Aug 2 '15 at 12:35
  • I just bought a NTG3 and I have the same issue, it's like something is in the capsule, at first I thought it was normal but it's not. I'm contacting the seller to replace it. – user15170 Aug 15 '15 at 9:26
  • Is your mic NTG3B - the black one - too? Or the basic silver one (NTG3)? The faulty ones I had were both black. The other had serial number 5344, but I didn't write down the other s/n. They were confirmed to be a part of a bad batch from the manufacturer. Just wondering if your mic is from the same batch. – Matias Aug 16 '15 at 18:26
  • No it's the silver one, my serial number is pretty high 27645. Now i'm just waiting for the response from the reseller. – user15170 Aug 17 '15 at 19:58
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It could be a fault caused by shipping / handling of the product outside of Australia, where the mic is manufactured, which could have effected both mics if they were imported in the same batch. I have a number of Rode mics, they are manufactured to the highest standard and Rode guarantee / warrant their product a lot longer than their competitors similar priced products. They stand by the product 100% and generally have a teriffic product. My advice is to return the mic to the dealer to have it replaced if you think that there is a fault with this one also. I am in no way are associated with Rode, or sell their products. I am just an end-user like you, although I have never had these issues with my mics. Hope this helps.

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  • I finally returned the second mic back to the reseller and it was found defective, too. The third mic I bought (from a different reseller) has been flawless. So perhaps there indeed has been an issue with the shipping of the particular batch. Now I'm very happy with the mic. – Matias Jan 28 '16 at 7:48

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