TECHNOLOGY REVIEW Sontronics Aria VALVE MICROPHONE
Simon Allen puts his doubts aside and finds the latest release from Sontronics holds its own even against more expensive options.
B
ritish microphone design company Sontronics is now in
its 10th year and has built an extensive range around one guiding principle: to design ‘task-specific’ microphones. Te company’s success story is built on build and sound quality along with reliability, but at surprising prices thanks to the fact that its products are built in Shanghai to founder Trevor Coley’s exacting specifications. However, with a wide range of microphones already in its catalogue, where will this latest addition sit in terms of both application and sound? With this in my sceptical mind I was very keen to get my hands on one. I wanted to find out if the Aria is really able to compete with well- known classic microphones as it is suggested.
On The Surface
Tere is no hiding the fact that the new Aria looks great. Its design pulls on styles that instinctively suggest its purpose and level of quality before you even turn it on. Te satin and chrome finish coupled with the shape and size give this microphone a very attractive retro look. Te Aria comes equipped
with two styles of stand mounts: a simple clip and a cradle. While the finish of the microphone is of very high quality, the suspension mount is just as spectacular. All too often cradles are poorly designed, but the Aria’s is well thought through and built with strength. Like most valve mics, the Aria uses its own power
32 July 2014
supply unit, which is built very well, and offers a -10dB pad and a 75Hz high pass filter. Tere is also a blue LED to let you know when the tube has warmed up for optimum recording results, which is great.
Completing the package inside its neatly presented flight case is a good length custom cable with screw connectors to run between the PSU and the mic itself. If the Germans built this
microphone then yes, you would expect a slightly higher refinement of the engineering of some components, but to be honest, not by much. Considering the price and what you are getting, this is definitely Sontronics’ best build quality to date, to a level of which it should be proud.
Beneath the Exterior
Te Aria has been predominantly designed as a vocal microphone and has a fixed, single cardioid polar pattern. It features a 1.07in gold edge-terminated capsule. Following the capsule is the tube itself, for which Trevor Coley, the founder and designer from Sontronics, specified the well-used ECC83 from Eastern Europe. Coley is not only proud of this choice, but he personally selects which valves actually get used in each microphone, as he reports that each one differs a little.
Another component that
Sontronics is proud of is the power supply unit. Te manufacturer has installed a high-quality, medical- grade mains electricity filter to ensure a pure and interference-free supply. Normally, you would expect
to have a slightly lower noise to gain ratio with valve microphones, which is the case here too. However, the Aria is better than many classic valve mics and it didn’t concern me on any of the recordings I made while testing it. If you wanted to mic something more ambient, then this possibly wouldn’t be the best choice. Tere has been a lot of
development around the Aria, and it shows. Te microphone has been on the drawing board for about three years with some fairly important individuals involved over the last 12 months of R&D, including PJ Harvey, Paul Epworth, and several Abbey Road engineers. Tey all now own an Aria and are strong advocates for Sontronics. Tere is pedigree associated with the microphone already and I think it’s well deserved.
“The Aria doesn’t just match what very expensive microphones achieve, but also shines a little of its own magic when inside a mix.” Simon Allen
The Sound
Initially, I used the microphone for several vocalists, both female and male, at Woodbury Studios. In direct comparison with some other microphones of significantly higher value I found negligible but pleasing differences. I was really impressed by this because it’s
as if Sontronics has unlocked the secret to a great vocal microphone, which I didn’t expect. I have to admit that I had my doubts, but it wasn’t long before I realised the significance of this release. With the female vocalist
there was less noticeable difference between the microphones but the male vocalist highlighted some key benefits of the Aria’s valve. Te valve really was allowing the harmonic content to shine through in the way that you would expect to hear from classic valve microphones worth several thousands. Te response was very smooth with a slight presence lift, but not quite in the sibilance territory. Looking at the extremes: the high end, like with most of Sontronics’ mics, isn’t over- emphasised but is in fact slightly tamed. I think because there was already so much clarity and detail in the sound,
thanks to the valve, there wasn’t the need to look to the ultra-highs for more detail. At the low end, there was a lovely warmth and richness to complete a full-bodied sound, but it wasn’t too much at the same time. In fact, the result was very close to a finished mixed vocal and there wasn’t much treatment needed. I should point out that
in direct comparisons it was hard to pinpoint the Aria’s tone when the mics were in ‘solo’ mode. Te sound was just as I would have expected from a more expensive vocal microphone. I’m also reassured that there isn’t anything about the sound that is out of the ordinary. As soon as you hear the microphone within a mix however, that is when its character starts to be more obvious.
Along with the silky highs that come through, the presence in the mids and its low-end depth, you also really
www.audiomedia.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44