Recording - December 2016 - 17

As for audio quality, refer to the first sentence of this
review. The omni mic is a great way to record players in a
room or a singer playing guitar or piano; it simply captures
everything around it with clarity. The mic preamp offers plenty of gain (and phantom power if needed), and the instrument input doesn't color the sound of guitar pickups, even
finicky piezo units. The headphone output sounds so good,
we can see users carrying the ONE in their laptop bags just
to enjoy 24/96 audio the way it was meant to be heard!
All in all, the ONE does what it sets out to do: provide
quality recording, simply and effectively, for anyone with a
Mac and a desire to capture great audio.-MM

Gibraltar GRSDJ-1 Radius DJ Workstation
$299.99 (accessories extra); www.gibraltardj.com

Aston Spirit
$399; www.astonmics.com

In our April 2016 issue we took our first look at
the Origin, a brand-new microphone from UKbased Aston Microphones. While Aston is new,
the men behind it are not; most of them are the
same team who launched and built up the sE
Electronics brand.
Aston boasts microphones that are designed and
manufactured on UK shores. The only Asiansourced part is the specially-chosen capsule; all metalwork, electronic parts, toroidal output transformer,
and other components are proudly made in
England. Aston also aims to prove that domesticallybuilt microphones can also be affordable microphones, and at $249, the cardioid Origin hit that
mark dead on. For this Buyer's Guide, we're reviewing the
Origin's big brother, the Spirit. It's the multipattern member of the
Aston family, in a longer body measuring 7" x 21/8" in diameter.
As with the Origin, the Spirit has a very unique look and
styling. The head grille is made up of Aston's Wave-Form
Mesh design. The outer layer is a compression spring that
flexes, making it largely immune to dents, dings, hits, and
drops as it can easily be pushed and rolled back into shape.
Inside that is a stainless steel mesh layer that aids in plosive
protection and can be removed and washed with ease.
The perfectly cylindrical body is made of 2mm tumbled
steel and is fixed with a purple Aston badge. Although
Aston offers an optional Rycote shock mount, the capsule is
internally shockmounted and the mic has a built-in stand
thread on its underside. With the exception of drum tracking, I rarely use a shock mount with the Origin or Spirit; I
like how quick and easy it is to set up and place with just
the built-in mount.
Unlike the transformerless design of the Origin, the Spirit
has a transformer-balanced output. The Spirit offers the same
80 Hz highpass filter switch as the Origin, but its pad switch
adds a -20 dB setting to the Origin's -10, and it has a third
switch to select polar pattern: cardioid, omni, or figure-8.
It has good off-axis rejection, especially in figure-8 mode,
and I found the tonal changes between the three patterns
less obvious than with many mics. Sonically the Spirit is very
close to the Origin in overall sound, but thanks to its transformer it's a touch punchier on the lows and a tad smoother
overall. It also has a less pronounced proximity effect in cardioid mode, and of course even less in omni. The figure-8
has a rich, thick timbre.
Overall the Spirit is a neutral and well balanced mic, but
it's rounder and smoother than most spiky low-cost condensers. It's a non-clone sound, but its top end leans closest
to the 251 school, similar to the Origin's.
The Spirit, with its pattern choices and added transformer
punch, is only $150 more than the Origin. It's unquestionably one of the very best mics at this price point, punching
well above its weight!-PV

The GRSDJ-1 Radius DJ
Workstation is the latest
from famed drum (and now keyboard and DJ) hardware maker
Gibraltar, and it's one serious stand. It features a 30" crossbar supported by two elegantly curved 36" legs with stable feet. The crossbar supports a pair of adjustable mounting arms, as well as an additional T-bar with another pair of mounting arms. This lets you have a
tabletop DJ system, large keyboard, or you could use a shelf to support a mixer, interface, talkback mic on a stand, etc., with a smaller
keyboard or laptop computer suspended above and behind it.
Assembling the Radius takes a while if you've never built a
Gibraltar stand before. Every connection uses insanely overengineered hardware: massive clamps secured by heavy bolts of
various sizes to 1.5" diameter steel tubing that wouldn't be out of
place in a race car's roll cage, secured with tabbed Memory Locks
for reliable reassembly every time. All connections use one of three
tightening methods: T-bar nuts/wing nuts (tightened by hand or with
tools), hex nuts, or standard drum lugs. You don't need to buy tools;
the Radius comes with a drum key and a gizmo called the RAT, a
dual-ended polymer wrench with a cutout for tightening T-bar nuts
on one end and cutouts for wing nuts and hex nuts on the other.
We also got to test a few accessories with our Radius, all of
which show equal attention to quality. The DJ-GEMAT ($79.99)
is a square table/tray with a soft cloth inner lining, a low lip to
prevent small objects rolling off, and a sturdy folding hinge to
make transport easier without having to remove it. The DJGMBA-PK ($44.99) is a mic boom stand with a standard
Gibraltar clamp that lets it be mounted to any 1.5" diameter
structural bar, with angle and height adjustment and built-in
cable management. The DJ-DSDH ($26.99) is a mesh drink
holder that keeps your travel mug or water bottle out of the way
of your precious gear. For onstage use, you can even get a
scrim ($49.99) to stretch between the legs of the stand, hiding
cables and offering a target for stage lighting systems that's
more interesting than your pants.
The Radius is incredibly stable and strong, making most competing hardware products seem flimsy by comparison. It's also
quite heavy, so plan on having help moving it and setting it up
if you have a bad back. The only piece of hardware in the
package that's poorly engineered is the RAT tool, whose hex-nut
driver side strips out after a few hard tightenings (rotate the hex
cutout by 30º for a better grip, guys!), but fortunately that's only
an issue during construction and you can always borrow a hex
wrench. Another thing to keep in mind is that the curved legs,
while sexy-looking and very stable, take up a lot of floor space.
If that's a consideration, look into Gibraltar's more compact
Foundation workstation instead.
Long story short: if you believe in quality studio furniture as an
investment that pays long-term dividends, the name Gibraltar
shouldn't just mean something to your drummer.-MM
RECORDING DECEMBER 2016

http://www.gibraltardj.com http://www.astonmics.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - December 2016