Aston Micophones SPIRIT Professional Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone with Switchable Patterns

I'm not an expert in mics...I was just looking for a decent condenser mic for my semi-pro level home studio. I was looking for that presence, that pro sound, the larger than life magic that a good mic will deliver. This delivers that. Even through a mid level Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 preamp it sounds good. That's naked. It just sounds good. Add some nice compression and fx and it sounds awesome. It's rich, clear, warm, detailed. It does the right things in the right places. My only criticism is the figure of 8 and omni modes are a touch brighter than I'd like but that's better that than not bright enough, I'd always rather cut than boost eq wise.Build quality - I'm sure I don't really have to mention this, you've all read the reviews (hence you are looking at this mic), but it's absolutely solid. In fact, it's a gorgeous piece of kit. It feels quality, well built, solid.I don't really buy the eco thing with the packaging. Unless it's your only mic, you will at some point need to box and store it and it comes in a cardboard box which is ok, but not great. And including things like stickers and cast metal badges in the box that most people will discard rather undermines those eco-credentials. A simple basic sustainable box would have been great.Overall, it's great. It delivers a tone that sounds way more expensive than it costs. I can see why it's been getting a lot of love thrown at it by the industry.

I went from a Scarlett CM25 to this microphone and it's a big step up. Three polar patterns, a low-cut filter and a pad for volume adjustment at mic-level. The quality that you can get out of this microphone is outstanding, especially for the price!

Compared to the Rode NT1, it provides a less boomy sound, but at the same time it produces some whistling that you can notice for example if you compare it to the original Blue Baby Bottle which has a very similar sound, but without that distracting whistling frequency that is perceived every now and then..

Amazing microphone, sounds absolutely perfect, really natural and unbelievable for the price. I'm using in a small home setup and it sounds as close to studio quality as I could hope for. I think this will be my mic of choice for a long time to come.

Bought this as an upgrade on the Rode nt1-a, and it is definitely a step up in quality. Not knocking the Rode at all, and in fact they are great if you are just starting out, but this microphone is just all round better. Love it already and only had it for a few days.

It stopped working after a month

I purchased the Aston Spirit as a private individual after reading reviews and listening to test recordings on YouTube.Testing the cardioid mode against a Neumann TLM102 on a stereo bar, the Spirit's responses to voice over 2.5 octaves, piano, tambourine and SATB choir in a reverberant church environment were very close to those of the Neumann.

Absolutely brilliant microphone, could not be happier with it. Sounds beautiful.