"Invented by Senior Engineer and Technical Engineering Manager Luke Hamilton, the new patent allows Rode to manufacture microphone capsule backplates on high accuracy lathes, leading to a far more accurate and repeatable backplate, and improved acoustic and environmental performance. As a result, this new technology has paved the way to the creation of even better quality microphones and, unlike Rode’s competitors, the sub-micron tolerances of the capsule manufacture means that a ‘matched pair’ of microphones can be found from any two mics, rather than using a sequential pair by necessity. It is unique and revolutionary in the history of microphone manufacture.
The eureka moment occurred in November 2012, when Hamilton attended a machine tool show during conversations with Citizen Miyano Machinery about high accuracy lathes. The result was a tabbed backplate design – a world first. The new design allowed for the standardisation of the one-inch backplate range into a singular unit, so that these units could be flexibly used to work in conjunction with any configuration. The subsequent ‘cell’ of machines produced with Citizen Miyano Machinery is also a world-first in transducer design.
The first microphone sporting the new technology is Rode’s NT1 studio microphone. The upgraded technology allows for a significant lift in production, meaning the NT1 now sells with The Complete Studio Kit — with Rode’s all-new AI-1 audio interface — in record numbers. This process and partnership with Citizen is exclusive to Rode."