Aston Element, with its all new Ridyon capsule technology for superior performance at low cost, ships complete with a custom shock mount and pop shield. Like all Aston mics, Element incorporates a huge amount of innovation. Everything from the capsule technology, the chassis design, the magnetic pop filter, and even the backlit-LED logo 48V phantom power indicator or as we like to call it, cool light massively go beyond the limits of products normally sold at this price point.
Not only is Element extremely affordable, but it will consistently outperform all mics in its class. This is something which you really don’t have to take our word for because over 4000 customers from all across the world have helped us to define the sound of Element in peer-reviewed blind listening tests against the biggest brands in the business. During the course of this 3-month public testing series, we have developed the sound of the mic using data collected from these comparison tests, which have included major brand competitors such as Blue, Rode, AKG, Audio Technica, and Neumann.
Blind Listening Test Results
We spent a total of over 18 months developing the Aston Element; much longer than most products take in this class. More usual would be 6-9 months, which gives you some indication of just how complex this microphone package is.
The first 15 month period of our R&D process involved the development of our new Ridyon capsule technology, the acoustic housing for this (which involved a LOT of testing) and the design and prototyping of the chassis, the grille diffuser and many other pieces of proprietary technology in both the mic and the shock mount and pop shield accessories.
The final 3 months, however, has been all about public choice. Rather than simply putting a new technology straight to market, we engaged in public blind listening tests (by this we mean that coded audio files were made available to the public to audition and rank in order of preference) across 3 separate sessions from May 1st to July 15th. The results of this process, a world’s first in the ProAudio industry, are what have determined the sound of the final product… the world’s first ‘People’s Microphone’ – Aston Element.
The Sessions
Session 1 included our first Aston Element prototype in its raw form up against the 5 dominant, big-brand competitors chosen as the best of the best in their class. These included mics from Audio Technica, Rode, AKG, Blue, and Neumann. Before we even got to these 5 mic brands we tested mics from over 20 different brands to pick the best in class (that, with the exception of Neumann, being sub $500 mics… the Neumann was somewhat more expensive!)
Voting in the first round highlighted which mics the public preferred on 3 sources, male and female vocals, and acoustic guitar (the same 3 sources chosen throughout the tests), and what was liked and disliked about the sound of the raw Element prototype. This enables us to discard 2 brands form the test so that in Session 2 we had the top 3 competitor mics chosen by the public and 2 new versions of Element. By the end of the 2nd session, we had a much clearer picture of what people wanted from our mic, driven by the voting, subjective comments made about the competitor mics, and the relative preferences for 2 very different sounding Aston prototypes.
So, by session 3 we had only 2 remaining competitor mics… representing AKG and Neumann brands. We also had 4 different Element prototypes, each with different voicings based on preferences from the first 2 rounds. This enabled us to home in on the final sound and give our customers a wide range of choice for the final sound, whilst also making sure that the final Aston Element mic was able to at least equal, or hopefully out-perform the top 2 competitors on the market.
In the final analysis one Element prototype was the clear winner in the Session, beating both the Neumann and AKG mics (as well, of course, as all the other competitor mics that had come before in early testing and the first 2 sessions), as well as the other 3 prototype versions.
The World's First Customer-Designed Microphone
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 – has been 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.
Product Specifications:
Form Factor: Stand/Boom Mount
Element Type: 1x Active Dynamic
Polar Pattern: Cardioid
Frequency Range: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
Maximum SPL: 132 dB SPL
Analog Output: 1x XLR 3-Pin Male (on Mic)
Power Sources: Phantom Power
Form Factor: Stand/Boom Mount
Intended Sound Sources: Vocals, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, Orchestra
Sound Field: Mono
Element Type: 1x Active Dynamic
Diaphragm: 1.5" / 38.1 mm
Polar Pattern: Cardioid
Pad: No
High-Pass Filter: No
Frequency Range: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
Maximum SPL: 132 dB SPL
Sensitivity: 12 mV/Pa
Equivalent Noise Level: 3.8 dB A-Weighted
Analog Output: 1x XLR 3-Pin Male (on Mic)
Power Sources: Phantom Power
Operating Voltage: 48 V
Color: Black
Mounting Thread Size: 5/8"-27 Female
Dimensions: W: 2.3 x L: 6.4" / W: 58 x L: 163 mm
Weight: 0.6 lb / 275 g
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