Aston Microphones Spirit High-Performance Switchable Pattern Condenser Microphone

The Aston Spirit is a high-performance switchable pattern microphone utilising a 1” gold evaporated capsule. A switch on the mic body selects from Omni, Cardioid or Figure-of-Eight polar patterns. It is versatile enough to use with most instruments and excels on acoustic guitar and vocals. Its Aston 33 panel selected capsule is teamed with high-end transformer balanced circuitry using only the best components.

The Spirit is designed to deliver a beautifully open sound with sparkling harmonics. This highly accurate microphone gives a stunningly natural and transparent recording, capturing all the detail in the high range but without adding the harshness that some condenser microphones seem to.

Aston Spirit
The Spirit represents one of the biggest engineering advancements in the microphone industry in decades.

Nominated for the prestigious NAMM TEC Award in 2017 and universally acclaimed as one of the best mics on the market today at any price, it achieves a level of technical excellence and performance never before seen at this price point.

Origin vs Spirit - Sound distinction
The Spirit can be considered our ‘pro’ mic option, simply because of its revealing and incredibly polished sound. It’s transformer based circuit gives oodles of headroom, which means more ‘air’ and ‘space’ to the sound, and an incredible amount of detail and harmonic content. It’s a big, expensive-sounding mic that will allow you to get the very best results possible from any recording. A sports car of a mic it’ll give you fabulous results if you treat it with respect and give your best. Spirit is a superb all-rounder mic, delivering a stunningly transparent vocal sound, yet equally suited to recording pretty much any instrument. If you want one of the most professional sounds out there, Spirit is your mic.

There is a lot of subjective talk about ‘this mic for this application the perfect vocal mic, the perfect instrument mic etc’ yes, sometimes that can be the case, but mostly this is just manufacturers trying to make the easy sale. Tell someone, ‘this is ideal for guitar recording’ and they’ll migrate to that product. The truth is somewhat different from the marketing hype. Most good condenser microphones will be equally at home on vocals and various instruments. This is especially true of both the Origin and Spirit, which find themselves on everything from vocals for the likes of Noel Gallagher and Kylie Minogue, to drums for Arcade Fire and Geoff Dugmore (Elton John, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen) and live guitar cab mics for Radiohead's Thom Yorke

So more important is to go for a mic which gives you the sound that you want.

The Origin, by comparison, is the cornerstone of the Aston brand, our first mic, and a global best seller. Simple, but incredibly well engineered, and perfect for everyone from budding singer-songwriters to seasoned industry pros. The Origin’s sound can be best described as ‘forgiving’ it doesn’t flatter to deceive but its ultra-smooth and pure sound, while rich with detail, will not overload with harmonics and leave you reaching for the EQ. It sounds, well, just like you do.

So, If you’re looking for a really good all-rounder, which will make your playing, or your singing, sound incredibly natural and true and easy to manage in the mix, then the Origin is the mic for you.

Technical Specifications

Transducer Type
Condenser
Acoustic Operating Principle
Pressure Gradient
Frequency Response
20Hz - 20kHz (+/-3dB)
Equivalent Noise Level
14dB A-Weighted
Sensitivity at 1kHz into 1kohm
23.7mV/Pa
Maximum SPL for THD 0.5%
138dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (rel. 94dB SPL)
80dB A-Weighted
Polar pattern
Omni/Cardioid/Figure-of-Eight
Pad Switches
-20dB/-10dB/0dB
Low-Cut Filter
80Hz
Product length
175 mm / 6.89 in
Product width
54 mm / 2.13 in
Product weight
625 g / 1.38 lb