Aston Microphones Element Bundle
Product Information
Element Bundle
The Aston Element is a large diaphragm, active moving coil studio microphone designed to deliver unparalleled performance, particularly on vocals and acoustic instruments. Its unique Ridyon™ capsule takes the best features of dynamic, condenser and ribbon mic technology, without the drawbacks each tend to suffer from, and rolls them all into a sleek, lightweight-yet-tough, beauty.
In true Aston tradition, pretty much everything about Element is proprietary, from the all-new capsule to the signal-smoothing, waveform contoured chassis and that cool purple badge, which glows reassuringly to indicate the presence of 48v phantom power. The included pop shield and shock mount are bespoke, highly effective and ingenious, attaching to Element in the blink of an eye. And the whole bundle costs less than some brands charge for their shock mount alone!
Even the way Element was developed was a world-first, with the final voicing decided by public vote, with more than 4000 early adopters participating in a series of blind listening tests of Element prototypes against other brands’ leading models.
The resulting masterpiece of microphone design features the widest frequency response of any electromagnetic (ribbon or moving coil) microphone ever made. Element is also the quietest (in a good way) studio microphone on the planet!
Most importantly it sounds… incredible.
While other companies, particularly in the software sector, invite their customers to become beta-testers, this is invariably to check a product which is pretty-much already finished. It’s just checking for bugs. Never before in the audio industry has the actual SOUND of a product been decided by the eventual users from the early stages of development.
We took the Aston Element to prototype stage, so we had the chassis and the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the electronics in place, but the most important stage of all, the voicing – which gives each mic out there its own character and distinguishes it from all the others – was left to you.
By participating in Project Element, thousands of musicians, engineers and producers from all over the world, have had their say in the final heart and soul of this unique and beautiful microphone.
More than 4000 people signed up to be part of the Aston Family Developer Panel. They participated in blind-listening tests rating, from best to worst, downloaded audio files of Element prototypes against leading competitors’ mics (including some far costlier models) but without knowing which mic was which.
The voting data was analysed and the prototypes modified accordingly. The process would run for as many sessions as necessary until the Element was consistently receiving the majority vote. By the third session Element was the panel’s clear favourite for both male and female vocals and also rating highly for acoustic guitars.
The voting data, which provided Aston’s boffins with more than 50.000 data points to help craft the new mic’s sound, was peer reviewed by Music Tech Magazine and Sound on Sound magazine, two of the most influential and respected independent pro-audio publications in the world.
The resulting mic outperforms anything in its price range, and some far more expensive mics too. It’s a tough dynamic mic, which performs tonally like a smooth, warm ribbon but with the extended high frequency response and professional ‘studio sound’ of a condenser. The best of all 3 worlds all rolled into one beautiful package.
Aston Element – the world’s first ‘People’s Microphone’.
Specifications
- Transducer Type
- Moving coil
- Directional Polar Pattern
- Cardioid
- Frequency Response
- 20Hz – 20kHz
- Equivalent Noise Level
- 3.8 dBA (A-weighted)
- Sensitivity at 1kHz into 1kohm
- ave. 12mV/Pa
- Maximum SPL for THD 0.5%
- 132dB
- Product length
- 163 mm / 6.4 in
- Product width
- 58 mm / 2.28 in
- Product weight
- 275g / 0.6 lb
