In this article, Julian highlights 5 microphones that are unashamedly modern. With so many mics available, which echo or even copy designs of more than 50 years ago, what can a modern mic offer, which doesn’t involve microphone modelling?

To the casual observer it might look like, in a world obsessed with unavailable vintage microphones, the only new thing happening in the world of mics is mic modelling. There’s no getting away from the fact that systems like the Townsend Labs Sphere L22 are amazing. Honourable mentions should also go to the systems from Slate and Antelope, which while I’ve never tried are also very capable performers.

However, microphones are a mature technology. Is there anything more for mic manufacturers to do other than build replicas of 50-year-old classic designs? You can get a Neumann-alike mic for any budget, from something which looks like a U87 but that’s where the similarity ends for extraordinarily little, to lovingly crafted replicas of U47s for eye-watering sums but what is there left to do which is new and original in the world of microphones? Here are 5 mics that step out of the ordinary.

Aston Element

The last 30 years have been dominated by the proliferation of extremely affordable condenser mics. Traditionally condensers were more expensive than dynamic mics but this hasn’t been the case for a long time. However, the dynamic mic doesn’t seem to have received as much attention as it deserves, with old stalwarts from Shure and Sennheiser dominating.

The Aston Element is an unashamedly modern design that seeks to be an accessible dynamic with condenser like performance. To achieve this it uses modern materials to circumvent some of the longstanding issues which have traditionally limited dynamic performance. People looking to use a dynamic mic with a commendably flat performance have previously looked to mics like the Sennheiser MD441 and the Electrovoice RE20. Neither of which are inexpensive. Something very encouraging about the Element is it is a very affordable mic, costing less than Aston’s Origin condenser.

The use of modern, high strength magnets means a smaller voice coil can be used and with a light diaphragm and voice coil, coupled with low impedance operation supplemented by active electronics this dynamic mic injects some new life into the good old dynamic. There’s more to dynamic microphones than SM7b’s and the ubiquitous SM57.

Presonus Revelator

Speaking of the SM7b, when Presonus released their PD70 dynamic, a clear homage to this extremely popular model, we thought they were so comparable in terms of quality of results that we ran a shootout between the two. You can find the results here.

However, we’re going to concentrate on their Revelator USB mic as an example of what kinds of features mic manufacturers are developing for the podcasting and YouTube community. The Revelator is a USB C equipped condenser microphone, which has built-in DSP allowing processing of audio at source using the same EQ and compression algorithms found in its StudioLive Series III mixers.

With built-in monitoring via a 3,5mm headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring and control from your desktop or tablet this is very flexible but as the mic features onboard DSP it can be operated without using software via onboard presets. A very useful feature of the Revelator is its loopback function, which allows separate audio streams to be mixed with the microphone audio from the software mixer allowing easy control over signal routing. Unusually for a mic of this type, this mic also features multiple polar patterns.

Apogee Clip Mic Digital 2

While physically big, prominent mics are increasingly acceptable in shot, for people shooting video with more traditional production values the lavalier and shotgun approach is still very much the preferred option and while lots of options exist for on-camera shotguns, unless you have a boom operator there is still a place for lavaliers, especially for the self-shooter filming mobile subjects. I’ve used an inexpensive lavalier designed to be used recording locally to an iPhone in the subject’s pocket the past as an easy way to capture dialogue of a presenter who is on the move without the expense and complexity of radio lavs. The Apogee Clip Mic Digital offers the convenience of this workflow with the quality of a premium lavalier. Something I didn’t get from my cheap and cheerful alternative.

Austrian Audio OC818

We’ve strayed into video production but what about studio recording? Is there anything new modern design and production techniques can bring to analogue microphones or did this technology peak in the 1950s?

The Austrian Audio OC818 has been a great success in the usually conservative studio community, offering as it does a reimagining of what the revered CK12 “Brass” capsule from the original AKG C12 would have been if they had had the production techniques needed to reliably produce them back in the day.

The results have been the stellar multi pattern OC818 and cardioid-only OC18. In our On Test article (click the image above to find out more) we find them to be flawless performers but the clever part, which earns the OC818 a place on this list is their separate outputs for each capsule and the ability to not only choose the most appropriate polar pattern post-record. Using their free Polar Designer plugin, it is possible to create polar patterns, which vary across different bands of the frequency spectrum. You can even hit a button and get the plugin to choose the best patterns to reject spill!

Zylia ZM-1

If the 2 capsules of the OC818 aren’t enough for you then hopefully the 19 capsules of the ZM-1 should suffice. We tried the ZM-1 in its music guise, using the mic with the Zylia Studio Software to capture an ensemble of players with an impressive ability to deconstruct the 360 degree capture post record.

However the Zylia is also an Ambisonics mic and while Soundfield have made 4 channel, first-order ambisonics mics with tetrahedral arrays of capsules for decades, the increased channel count of the Zylia ZM-1 opens up possibilities at higher orders of Ambisonics capture.

We won’t get into that here, for more info on Ambisonics check out our explainer here but for people who have engaged with the immersive workflows available in Pro Tools the proliferation of products like the ZM-1 makes experimentation beyond first-order more accessible than ever.

Whatever your work involves, mic brands are addressing the needs and possibilities presented by new workflows and continue to prove that, lovely as U47s are, there is more to mics than just the classic era.