Element Bundle The Aston Element is a large diaphragm, active moving coil studio microphone designed to deliver unparalleled performance, particularly on vocals and acoustic instruments. Its unique Ridyon™ capsule takes the best features of dynamic, condenser and ribbon mic technology, without the drawbacks each tend to suffer from, and rolls them all into a sleek, lightweight-yet-tough, beauty. In true Aston tradition, pretty much everything about Element is proprietary, from the all-new capsule to the signal-smoothing, waveform contoured chassis and that cool purple badge, which glows reassuringly to indicate the presence of 48v phantom power. The included pop shield and shock mount are bespoke, highly effective and ingenious, attaching to Element in the blink of an eye. And the whole bundle costs less than some brands charge for their shock mount alone! Even the way Element was developed was a world-first, with the final voicing decided by public vote, with more than 4000 early adopters participating in a series of blind listening tests of Element prototypes against other brands’ leading models. The resulting masterpiece of microphone design features the widest frequency response of any electromagnetic (ribbon or moving coil) microphone ever made. Element is also the quietest (in a good way) studio microphone on the planet! Most importantly it sounds… incredible.
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 – was 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.
Element – Developing a game-changer
The Aston Element bundle was more than 18 months in development (6-9 months would be more usual for a product in this class). It’s a complex package!
The first 15 months was all about the foundations for the mic; the all-new capsule technology, the acoustic housing (which involved a LOT of testing), the chassis, grille diffuser and the development of the included, dedicated pop filter and shock mount.
Then it was over to the public; the musicians, engineers and producers who would ultimately be using Element in their work. How to make sure the new mic’s sound was exactly what they wanted? Brands seeking feedback or enlisting beta testers typically only do so when a product is all but finished. We went much, much further and, in a pro-audio world-first, invited customers to vote on the voicing of the final product.
