Aston Origin on two live stages.

[nbs2005]

Hi all,

I wanted to report my experience with an Aston Origin mic in two open stage examples I've had recently. The bottom line is it works really well and did not have a feedback problem in the two venues I've used it in. It's a joy to just walk up and play and sing and not have to futz with cables and such. And the sound is quite wonderful.

I first tried this at an open mic my friend Brennagh runs weekly. During the summer we're outside on a patio, about 20 meters from a pretty busy road. She has a tower PA and a small board. The audience is usually between 15-30 folks. The mic worked really well. There was a very open and natural feel to the sound. It was also great as you could call people up to play with you and you didn't have to figure out how to get them all plugged in (we had a group of 5 of us at one point). I was happy with how the Origin performed, but wondered how it might do in a more traditional indoor setting.

Last night, I got to try it in a small hall (basement of an Odd Fellows hall) with a full stage/backline/PA. After figuring out the mic placement and turning off the stage monitors, we got a really nice sound. I played lead for my friend Conrad and we did a song just around the single mic. Another friend did his two songs using the mic and sounded great, and I did my final set using the mic. The crowd was about 45 folks and this open mic is licensed though we are known for being an attentive group. The volume for the condenser sets vs the standard setups used by most was slightly less, but that actually worked as I think people paid closer attention as you were not being blasted (I wear earplugs to that event to protect what hearing I have left; it's not crazy loud but I'm extra careful). And of course the time savings for changeover for those of us who used the condenser was nice as this event often goes long and the sound guy has a young family he needs to get home to on time. I hope to use the mic at the next event and convince more people to give it a try.

So my bottom line is this $270 CAD mic sounds great and works well for acoustic music. Maybe I'm not that picky, but you don't have to spend a lot on a good condenser mic for live acoustic music.

Thanks,

Jeff

[guitaniac]

I checked out the promo video, but it said nothing about the mic’s response pattern. I have to suspect it has a wide cardioid pattern if more than one person can sing on it. That will be less than ideal on a noisy stage.

There’s an 80 Hz cut switch which might help in a noisy environment, but that won’t always be applicable since some bass singers and some instruments will go way lower than that.

You mentioned not having to fuss with cables. Does that mean you have a wireless rig, or that a single mic can handle multiple voices and/or instruments?

I don’t doubt that the mic delivers good quality sound, and that the 10db pad will certainly be helpful for some applications, but I suspect that the mic has a wide enough response pattern to be problem in noisier settings.

God bless you if every musician you play with and every crowd you play for will keep the volume and/or noise level down out of respect for your mic’s limitations. If that’s the case, you’ve got a good thing going for yourself. However, that mic won’t be the best tool for every possible “acoustic” performance situation.

On the plus side, I definitely appreciate learning about this mic and I’m sure others will too. It sounds like it could be a relatively inexpensive choice for decent home recordings, as well as certain live music settings.

[nbs2005]

We were able to use one mic (so one cable to a mixer) and have multiple instruments and singers in the outdoor setting. Indoors we only tried two instruments with one person singing.

I agree, this setup might fall apart in a loud bar. But I'd like to try. A drum kit could be a disaster as would mixing acoustic and electric instruments. Maybe I'll ask my quiet group to get a bit rowdy next time and see what happens

[Robin, Wales]

I have two tips:

Firstly, get something soft and sound absorbant (or a lot of space) behind the band. You want to get over the general background noise. If the bar room noise is bouncing off a wall behind the mic' then you are just amplifying it!

Secondly, get a 15 band e/q so you can notch out feedback frequencies and allow a little bit more mic' gain.

[SpruceTop]

I've been interested in Aston mics since they were introduced maybe a decade ago. Made In England and for reasonable prices too. I've considered the Aston Spirit Multipattern for about $379 USD.

Aston Microphones Spirit Features:
Large-diaphragm pressure-gradient condenser microphone with variable polar patterns

Polar pattens switchable between Cardioid, Omni, and Figure-8
1-inch gold-evaporated capsule; protective wave-form mesh head with built-in pop filter

Innovative blend of discrete and integrated circuitry

Optimized circuit stage scheme from phantom power input circuit to capsule voltage bias

Unique nonlinear voltage/current source rectification

Shock-resistant, wave-form mesh head with built-in pop filter

Unique, individually tumbled chassis finish

Custom-molded end cap with integrated XLR and interchangeable mic stand thread adapter

Onboard 10/20dB pad and 80Hz highpass filter

48V phantom power required for operation

[guitaniac]

Jeff,

Robin is spot on about the problem with reflective surfaces. Having to set up in front of a big picture window is one of the reasons why I have magnetic pickups in two guitars. My Audix OM7 vocal mics, on the other hand, handle that situation with ease. They are dynamic mics with a low gain design which enables very close miking with minimal proximity effect. The downside is that they require more gain (at the mixer or amp) than most other mics. Some mixers can’t provide enough gain for them to operate well, so they wouldn’t necessarily be helpful at a friend’s open mic. If you have compatible gear, however, they are very helpful on a noisy stage.