Members STIXXS Posted February 9, 2017 Members Share Posted February 9, 2017 Hi all, Just got a chance to hear the relatively new Aston Origin and was blown away on strummed acoustic guitar/vocal...not the usual ice pick to the ear...Full open and pleasing high end. Is the Spirit that much better would any pickers here know? Thanks much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted February 11, 2017 Members Share Posted February 11, 2017 No experience with Aston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STIXXS Posted February 11, 2017 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2017 Lets see' date=' Aston Origin seems to be a cartioid microphone, a Taylor 510 is a dreadnaught and I have no idea what a Spirit is. Neither does google.[/quote'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STIXXS Posted February 11, 2017 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2017 Well...the Aston Spirit is the next mic up in the Aston line - but that wasn't the question...if you want to be of help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted February 11, 2017 Members Share Posted February 11, 2017 I'm sorry, I totally miss understood your question. No experience with either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted February 11, 2017 Members Share Posted February 11, 2017 I looked at both products and can say that the Studio Projects B1 1-inch condenser mic I had was probably similar in performance as the Spirit in that it has the 0, 10 and 20 decibel roll-off switch. I never use the roll-off feature on anything including the 10dB roll-off feature of the wireless Nady guitar transmitter I have or the Fishman SA220's similar option. I can't think of when I'd ever need it so I'd stick with the Origin if asked. Otherwise, any 1-inch condenser is probably similar in sonic quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STIXXS Posted February 12, 2017 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2017 Freeman no problem. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STIXXS Posted February 12, 2017 Author Members Share Posted February 12, 2017 Thanks man appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Hi all, Just got a chance to hear the relatively new Aston Origin and was blown away on strummed acoustic guitar/vocal...not the usual ice pick to the ear...Full open and pleasing high end. Is the Spirit that much better would any pickers here know? Thanks much I've seen their microphones at AES and at NAMM, but have never used one on a recording session or tested them for a review. I am a Taylor 510 owner too... have used it as my main acoustic guitar since my wife gave it to me as a wedding present in 1994. I have probably 70 microphones in my collection. One of my current favorites on acoustic guitars is the Blue Hummingbird (click the link to check out my review). Tremendous value, and a great sounding small diaphragm condenser mic. As to the Astons, it's cool to hear that the Origin lacks the high frequency harshness that plagues many modern (especially inexpensive) condenser microphones. Again, while I have not tried them myself yet (other than briefly singing into them on a noisy trade show floor), there are a couple of things to consider with the Aston Spirit. First of all, it's larger, which can make placement more challenging in some situations, but that's usually not a big deal when miking acoustic guitar. The big advantage is that it's a multi-pattern microphone. While most users will put it in cardioid and leave it there, there are times when the omni and figure 8 patterns may come in handy. Whether or not that would be worth the price difference for you, only you can say... Of course, Aston just came out with a new model, which you also might want to look into. It's a small diaphragm "pencil" style condenser called the Starlight, and it comes equipped with its own laser. No, I'm not joking. http://www.astonmics.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 I looked at both products and can say that the Studio Projects B1 1-inch condenser mic I had was probably similar in performance as the Spirit in that it has the 0' date=' 10 and 20 decibel roll-off switch.[/quote'] That's called a "pad" switch. It lowers the sensitivity of the mic so it can handle louder sound sources without distorting or overloading the mic preamp. You should probably refrain from calling it a "roll-off switch" since that will lead to confusion - there's another popular switch on many microphones called a High Pass Filter, which "rolls off" the low frequencies, which can be useful on sound sources without significant low frequency content, or with more LF content than you need - including (in many cases) acoustic guitars. A pad usually isn't needed when recording acoustic guitars. The pad switch is more likely to be beneficial when recording loud guitar amps, drums, and other high-SPL sound sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted February 13, 2017 Members Share Posted February 13, 2017 I've seen their microphones at AES and at NAMM, but have never used one on a recording session or tested them for a review. I am a Taylor 510 owner too... have used it as my main acoustic guitar since my wife gave it to me as a wedding present in 1994. I have probably 70 microphones in my collection. One of my current favorites on acoustic guitars is the Blue Hummingbird (click the link to check out my review). Tremendous value, and a great sounding small diaphragm condenser mic. As to the Astons, it's cool to hear that the Origin lacks the high frequency harshness that plagues many modern (especially inexpensive) condenser microphones. Again, while I have not tried them myself yet (other than briefly singing into them on a noisy trade show floor), there are a couple of things to consider with the Aston Spirit. First of all, it's larger, which can make placement more challenging in some situations, but that's usually not a big deal when miking acoustic guitar. The big advantage is that it's a multi-pattern microphone. While most users will put it in cardioid and leave it there, there are times when the omni and figure 8 patterns may come in handy. Whether or not that would be worth the price difference for you, only you can say... Of course, Aston just came out with a new model, which you also might want to look into. It's a small diaphragm "pencil" style condenser called the Starlight, and it comes equipped with its own laser. No, I'm not joking. http://www.astonmics.com All potential GF's and Fiancee's, please take note. Guitars make lovely anniversary gifts too. I'm just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 All potential GF's and Fiancee's, please take note. Guitars make lovely anniversary gifts too. I'm just saying. Truth so pure. She also bought me a used Tele I had been eyeing at a local shop for my birthday one year. If they buy you gear, they're usually keepers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted February 13, 2017 Members Share Posted February 13, 2017 Thanks. Not having used any of the (named) features I confess confusion and now even more so. The roll-off of sources that do, as well as don't have significant LF content both benefit from that switch? How does that work? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted February 13, 2017 Members Share Posted February 13, 2017 GFs and Financees are a fleeting breed. Find and keep as many as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STIXXS Posted February 14, 2017 Author Members Share Posted February 14, 2017 I've seen their microphones at AES and at NAMM, but have never used one on a recording session or tested them for a review. I am a Taylor 510 owner too... have used it as my main acoustic guitar since my wife gave it to me as a wedding present in 1994. I have probably 70 microphones in my collection. One of my current favorites on acoustic guitars is the Blue Hummingbird (click the link to check out my review). Tremendous value, and a great sounding small diaphragm condenser mic. As to the Astons, it's cool to hear that the Origin lacks the high frequency harshness that plagues many modern (especially inexpensive) condenser microphones. Again, while I have not tried them myself yet (other than briefly singing into them on a noisy trade show floor), there are a couple of things to consider with the Aston Spirit. First of all, it's larger, which can make placement more challenging in some situations, but that's usually not a big deal when miking acoustic guitar. The big advantage is that it's a multi-pattern microphone. While most users will put it in cardioid and leave it there, there are times when the omni and figure 8 patterns may come in handy. Whether or not that would be worth the price difference for you, only you can say... Of course, Aston just came out with a new model, which you also might want to look into. It's a small diaphragm "pencil" style condenser called the Starlight, and it comes equipped with its own laser. No, I'm not joking. http://www.astonmics.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members STIXXS Posted February 14, 2017 Author Members Share Posted February 14, 2017 Phil thanks, Gotta check into hummingbird!...picked up a Shure SM 81 only because the Taylor (as we know) can be a bit bright with overtones and midrangey on the 510… My ultimate goal was having to record a singer/guitar at the same time - so pairing that with a SM7b for isolation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Phil thanks' date=' Gotta check into hummingbird!...picked up a Shure SM 81 only because the Taylor (as we know) can be a bit bright with overtones and midrangey on the 510… My ultimate goal was having to record a singer/guitar at the same time - so pairing that with a SM7b for isolation.[/quote'] Remember how I sad a multi-pattern mic often gets left in cardioid, but sometimes those extra patterns can come in handy? You're describing one of those situations. I will sometimes use a bi-directional (fig 8) polar pattern when recording a guitarist who wants to sing simultaneously. With microphones, pointing the mic at what you want it to capture is only part of the job - the other is pointing those null points towards what you don't want it to pick up - in this case, you don't want the guitar mic picking up the vocal. You'll always get some of it... but with a figure 8 mic's excellent side rejection null points, you can position it in such a way that it captures the guitar, but rejects a lot of the vocal. Sometimes I might even take that a step further and use a figure 8 mic on the singer too - that way, I can get the vocal isolated a bit more too, with less guitar bleed into the vocal microphone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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