Alistair McGhee tests out this ‘revolutionary’ new broadcast quality microphone for studio and stage…

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You have to feel a little sorry for microphone manufacturers. In an age where digital processing power sprinkles fairy dust on virtually every aspect of recording, in the world of microphones at the very front end of the audio chain innovation is a tough gig. But British mic makers Aston are not in the business of same old same old and their new Stealth mic is here to prove it. First the Stealth is a large diaphragm dynamic mic, nothing new there, with a built in autoswitching class A mic amp powered by phantom – now that is new!

There are four different ‘voices’, which are essentially four discreet circuits offering four different tonalities, two voice settings, a setting for guitars and a dark setting, ideal for late night sessions. Then there’s the mechanical stuff, an internal sorbothane suspension means the Stealth doesn’t need a suspension mount and in terms of fixing it, it has an internal socket for a clip that is light, durable and weighs next to nothing. It’s safe to say a lot of thought has gone into the Stealth.

And a lot of listening too. Aston has assembled a top team of producers, artists, engineers and liggers. Well not the liggers, but all the others were there and a massive listening exercise was undertaken to refine all the acoustic elements of the Stealth.  Aston have also put their shoulder to the unboxing experience too – the Stealth is nicely packaged, though I always kind of miss a case, yes even a thin cloth case so that when I chuck the Stealth in a bag (which I often did) I don’t scratch that slightly menacing all-black finish. The ingenious new clip is included but there’s no windshield as Aston claim the Stealth doesn’t need one.  

Once you’ve mounted it on the stand thinking, will that clip really support it? (yes it will) and will that clamp really hold it? Again, yes it will. The overall effect is pretty impressive – this is a big ass mic, it makes my Beyerdynamic M99 look positively discreet! You really will need to trust the clip and clamp because the Stealth is not a side address proposition but an endfire mic and that is going  to apply considerable leverage when levelled and ready for action.

The first thing you want to do is consider whether you want to power up the mic or not. The onboard class A mic preamp supplies at least 40 dB of gain. I need to think about that before pressing scene recall on an iLive, recalling a scene that had phantom on my Stealth channel where no phantom was before. Talk about ringing the room, I rung the building and several near by – so think carefully. I broke out a little Soundcraft for a simple voice and guitar gig – without remembering that the Soundcraft has permanent phantom and with mandatory 40+ dB of class A wallop, my gain structure was ‘interesting.’

The second thing is which voice you are going to use. The choice is on a ring that sits flush to the body of the Stealth at the connector end. Designed not to be nudged, the selector needs to be gripped around its circumference in order to move – you’ll get the hang of it, no problem. You are actually moving cogs and wheels to change connections inside the mic and you’ll want to do that with the gain turned down. And finally there’s a mic clip release button on the bottom of the mic. Actually that isn’t a mic clip release it’s just a button adjacent to the mic clip socket which actually engages the discreet LED lighting that tells you phantom is on. In some terribly clever fashion the mic clip engages itself automatically on insertion and with a dash of bravery and a firm hand you can reverse the process. Aston claims that you can hang the mic upside down from the clip without danger of droppage, unless you swing on it. So don’t do that.

With the onboard mic amp and four different voices, Aston are claiming that this is the world’s most versatile microphone – of course the marketing department have to earn their corn like everyone else. To be fair, they do have a point – you have eight different options before you even begin to position the mic and the difference in sound when the mic amp is engaged is considerable.

Without the mic amp the Stealth needs a fair chunk of gain – about 70 dB without yelling into it. This is ten dB more than my PR40 or M99, but I don’t care when I have quiet mic amps with tonnes of gain. The M99 itself has a couple of EQ positions but I left it in flat as otherwise there would just be too many options There was a consistent contrast between the Beyer and the Stealth, more top end on the Stealth and a distinctly warmer bottom on the M99. Having said that I felt the Stealth had more weight in the bottom than the very well regarded Heil PR40 and in my very limited use of other people’s ears the Stealth won out as having more presence.

I would say the Stealth leans towards a condenser in presentation. To test the proposition I fired up a Neumann condenser – the BCM 104 large diaphragm. In preparation for this stern test I shoved some phantom up the Stealth to engage the preamp. This makes a big change in the Stealth sound. The 104 has that seductive Neumann sound that is almost impossible to define but you know it when you hear it. In comparison the Stealth just has a slight thickening on some vocals and a shelfy top that isn’t as silky smooth as the 104. Which in case you are interested, costs three times as much. The Stealth works well on a guitar cab, mean enough for the level, detailed enough for definition and weighty enough to be full bodied.

Live and out and about I dropped the Stealth into three or four live gigs as a vocal mic and each time it did sterling duty – it cuts through the mix easily. You can pop it if you try but then you can pop anything if you try. Mechanical handling was commendably low – at least 10 dB better than the M99 when both were directly mounted to a bar. I didn’t have a chance to run the Stealth in every situation it could possibly handle and it is an incredibly versatile performer. I understand the pitch that says you don’t need a gain lifter but I think this is more of an issue for podcasters than broadcasters. I I like the fact that the phantom power option changes the sound, in fact I found it a bigger change than the optional ‘voices’. In summing up, James Young from Aston outlines three factors in the sound of a mic – the capsule, the electronics and the mechanics. Each area has been addressed by Aston in the Stealth and it really is a special mic. What do you know – innovation in the microphone world without DSP is still a thing!

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The April edition of Audio Media International is now available online.

In this issue, Colby Ramsey speaks to the CEO of ADAM Audio, Christian Hellinger, about how the professional studio monitor manufacturer is marking its 20th anniversary in 2019.

Emily Lazar – the first ever female mastering engineer to win a Grammy for her work – tells AMI about how she is making her mark on history, sound professional Resul Pookutty explains how he created bespoke soundscapes for Indian drama Love Sonia, and Colby Ramsey sits down for a chat with mixing and mastering engineer Wes Maebe.

Meanwhile, Creative Assembly’s audio director reveals how award-winning video game scores are created, Nuno Fonseca tells us what we can expect from Sound Particles 2.0, and MasterSounds founder Ryan Shaw reveals all about the UK-based vinyl accessory manufacturer.

This month’s review section is a mixed bag, featuring products from Aston Microphones, Unity Audio, Audio-Technica, and plug-in specialist Krotos.

Read all this and more in the latest issue of AMI online, here.

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Aston Microphones has announced the launch of Stealth, a versatile broadcast quality microphone for studio and stage.

Stealth works in both passive and active modes and has four switchable voices. It is said to be the world’s first microphone with an autodetect function which senses 48V phantom power and automatically switches the mic to active mode.

This in turn activates a built-in Class A mic preamp which dispenses with the need for an external gain lifting device. Other features include a Sorbothane internal shock mount system and Aston’s robust build quality.

Stealth was developed in partnership with more than 90 top engineers, producers and artists on the Aston 33 development panel who participated in a series of blind listening tests designed to create the best possible sound. The resulting four voice settings, Vocal 1, Vocal 2, Guitar and Dark, offer a variety of sounds to suit a range of applications.

Aston Stealth features:

• Broadcast quality cardioid microphone for studio and stage
• 4 settings – 4 different voices – 4 discrete signal paths
• Autodetect function senses 48V and activates built in preamp
• Class A mic preamp built in – no external gain lifting device required
• Unique Sorbothane internal shock mount
• Excellent off axis (side) rejection
• Built-in purple LED phantom power indicator – switchable for stealth mode
• Supplied with quick release stand mount

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Relatively-newcomers to the microphone world, Aston Microphones, managed to stir much hype around its initial release Origin. Not only did they release a microphone, which looked great, complete with new innovations and a remarkable low price, but the company flew the British flag very high. Just as the similarly-named luxury sports car brand from the UK, it’s clear that a product made in Britain still grabs attention.

The influences Britain has had on the music industry, are world renowned. Within pro audio, “that British sound” is something we hear quite a lot, and something Aston are clearly pushing. According to Aston, they are the first brand to solely manufacture their microphones in the UK, with minimal Chinese OEM parts involved. With the release of the company’s more high-end and slightly more expensive microphone, Spirit, I was certainly keen to see what all the fuss has been about.

From The Top

Not many are aware that the team behind Aston Microphones are in fact some of the original founders of sE Electronics. Whilst sE microphones may not typically be my first choice, they’ve certainly been successful. More importantly, the development behind the brand has certainly taught the Aston guys a thing or two about microphones.

With a blank canvas, the Aston Microphone design team set about to re-evaluate the purpose of each element of a professional microphone. This lead to several innovations and new ideas brought into play. Their first release, Origin, wasn’t just another inexpensive studio condenser. It offered several new features and a fresh design not seen before.

The Spirit essentially sports the same design ideas, but in a slightly larger package including changeable polar patterns. As well as cardioid, the Spirit also performs omni and figure-of-8. The unique “wave-form” spring head around the capsule has been carried over from the Origin. This is Aston’s unique method to try and protect the capsule should the worst ever happen. I think this is a great design element, which has in turn delivered the brand an easily recognisable look.

Behind the wave-form is a stainless steel mesh-knit pop filter. Slowly we are seeing built-in pop filters coming into modern microphone design, which is clearly a great idea. Aston also claims that you can even hold the Spirit in your hand, as the capsule chassis has it’s own isolation. These are excellent features to have, even if they realistically only minimise these un-wanted side effects from recording to a degree. Thanks to the isolation, the microphone can be directly mounted to a stand, or via an optional shock-mount.

These features are great, but it’s the build quality that most impressed me. The Spirit is a decent size and weight, as well as being constructed from quality materials. This is a pleasure and surprise to see from something that almost re-defines “cost-effective”. The tumbled custom finish to the chassis is beautiful and, (not that I tried it) but apparently very hard wearing.

Put In Perspective

After testing the Spirit in several scenarios, I certainly see why the brand has managed to cause quite a stir and I feel it is well deserved. In simple terms; yes this microphone delivers the results it promises extremely well. Couple that with the clever and well delivered marketing strategy for our industry, there’s no wonder nearly everyone has heard about these mics already.

However, if all this sounds like a no-brainer purchase for every studio in the land, then let’s just remind ourselves of two very important points. Firstly, there isn’t a single microphone that is perfect for every eventuality. Choosing the best mic for each application is a skill that’s still required. For me, I would describe the sound of the Spirit as “current”. This is great for many of course, especially pop singers of today for example. However, others will very quickly criticise the sound as “bright”.

Secondly, we must remember; you get what you pay for. Whilst this is a phenomenal product that will stand up against microphones ten times the price, it is inexpensive. A very general school of thought may suggest a ‘bright’ sounding mic can usually help bring a vocal forward in a mix. However, the low-mid to mid range of this mic doesn’t jump out of the speakers, in the same way nameless valve microphones can. Of course, a different pre-amp in the recording path might be part of the answer. Regarding the microphone alone though, it was this character which I thought delivered an interesting proximity effect. The Spirit seems to handle differences in distance to the sound source very well – useful if you’re working with a animated performer. In turn though, I believe other condensers can feel closer and more intimate when used carefully.

Conclusion

The success that Aston Microphones have very quickly generated is well deserved. This is a brand that we can be proud of here in Britain, delivering a high-quality product. The suspect artifacts I’ve experienced in other equally inexpensive microphones, thankfully aren’t present here. The Spirit does deliver it’s own unique character, which is refreshing to see, amidst other new microphones aiming to be as neutral as possible. I’m not sure I’d call it the British sound, but it’s certainly a sound from Britain.

RRP: £322 ($430)

Key Features:

· Low-cut filter 80 Hz

· 48 V phantom power

· Integrated pop filter

· Frequency range: 20 Hz – 20 kHz (+/- 3dB)

Simon Allen is an engineer/producer and pro audio professional with nearly two decades of experience. Working mostly in music, his reputation as a mix engineer continues to reach new heights.

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