I disagree with most pro sm7b comments. The sm7b requires a lot of post eq to sit in a mix. The Steath seems to have done most of that for you. The sm7b seems to break up and crackle in the upper mid 4K region of the distorted electric guitar cabinet ( a very common problem area of mixing those guitars ) The Steath didn’t add cracked artifacts in that region. ..... I believe people are just use to the sm7b and have a familiarity bias.
The Stealth has a cup sound to it. I rather have a bit of crackle than the sound as if I am talking in a cup. It's not a terrible mic but to me, not worth the full one. Especially on guitar it's a fuckton better even raw across the entire spectrum.
@@RDYC It is indeed very "bland" and "plain". Doesn't have the focus/"drive" of an RE20, very sparse top-end excitement, and it's not as tight sounding, due to the longer distance to the diaphragm, inside the foam. Mechanically, it's a great mic, though. A real workhorse. If I got one for free, I wouldn't mind having my own. But to invest in it, over other mics: nah. Simply never been able to justify that, with its low gain, etc. And people gotta remember that its huge gain requirement means that it is hard to "get going", mechanically speaking. Dynamic mics generate their signal courtesy of the sound-waves hitting the diaphragm creating electrical current/output. It needs not only a high-gain preamp, but also needs a somewhat substantial input from the performer! Perhaps also part of the reason why it's popular as a vocal mic for heavy/hard rock vocalists.
James, excellent video on the Aston mic. I think an example of recording on a Hurdy-Gurdy would be good to see how much machine noise is picked up. Brian
as an owner and huge supporter of the SM7b, I gotta say that I like this Stealth a lot better. In almost every one of those tests I thought V1 sounded better than the 7b, regardless of the source. For me I think I'd use V1 as the standard voicing of the mic and then shift to another voicing based on need. Holy man does that thing ever sound good!
I have both are they're great mics. Stealth V1 is very similar to SM7b sound. Either make a seriously good choice, especially for vocals. I record both of these through Apollo x interface with Unison 610b pre into LA-2A printed. Sounds amazing. I use an SE dynamite with the SM7b. Not required with the Stealth.
Thanks for the comparison. It’s nice to have some variety. I’d be very interested to hear a comparison with the RE20, and I have a hunch that these Aston’s could work well as drum overheads. Weird, I know but I can’t stop obsessing about it. :-)
At least in my headphones the Aston and the Shure sounded very close together in the V1 and 2 modes of the Aston. The setting choices on the Aston might make more of a difference on the acoustic guitar used, Say the thin guitar shape used here and the big CA carbon baritone that I love to play. Not having to spend the extra $150 on a cloud lifter for the SM7b is a good point. I wish I could afford either one. They both would give a great starting point for the mixing after recording process.
Stealth v1 & v2, and esp vg have much more high frequencies. The SM7b is unique in having strong mids without sounding sounding muddy, and sounds amazing on electric guitar cab. The Stealth dark mode is its own thing, pretty nice addition, not sure how much it'd get used though.
I really liked the sounds of the stealth on vocals. I might even prefer it to the sm7b. The fact that you have different voicings is amazing of course, but for electric guitar, the shure sounds far better in my opinion. I'd love to hear the stealth as well as the shure on bass. there's way too little information for us bass players as far as microphones go.
Sounds like the sm7 is a good mixture of a few of the stealth voicings. Of the stealth options... the v1 & 2 voicings seemed to be the most useful. G was too bright and tinny and D was too muffled.
The Guitar setting on the Aston Stealth is a little underwhelming... it's kind of a touch brittle, not sizzle, but it lacks a touch of lower mids or bottom end, it's very clean however. I actually preferred the D setting for guitar, although the highs seemed slightly muted. SM7B kinda wins for me. Stealth is still an interesting mic and I would love to see what it's like in a live setting with other instruments in the same space. I'm curious as to whether you had to gain the SM7 differently to the Stealth? Thanx for the comparison! 👍🏼
Very nice comparison. Thanks. I would also appreciate a review of the Stealth on electric bass rig. As Shure SM7B is known for its great performance on metal vocals like screaming and growling, I am also pretty curious how Stealth does the job here. Cheers.
Did some sound-sample listening to a 5~6K tube condenser today, and 24 bit recordings. Better wait a few days for the glow to wear off. That said, there's a use for every mic, and being a snob just isn't a good look.
Hey brother, thanks for doing this comparison. I'm a long time SM7b user so am really interested in the Stealth - here's my thoughts - Always preferred the stealth on voice in all settings. Preferred the stealth vocal setting on the picked guitar. Hated the stealth on strummed acoustic - the SM7b wiped the floor with it, and in fact I didn't like the G setting on the stealth when recording guitars? sounds harsh and no bottom end? Stealth Dark mode on electric, but hey we know ribbons work good on distorted guitars so no shockers there. Good work lad.
Yeah right? the G setting sounded by far the worst for guitars. I liked the D setting a lot but it tends to sound like there's a bad eq boost on the low end, so that's a shame.... We have to be careful though....the audio was treated and then squashed by youtube so we really don't know what kind of a chain we're listening to.
it would be good to see the SM7B vs Aston Stealth on wind instruments - Alto and Tenor / Bari saxophones, French horn, trumpet Euphonium. (Aston Stealth does a fantastic job - my vote goes to Aston all round)
How come the Aston sounds brighter when the frequency response is 20hz to 20 kHz and the sure 50hz to 20 kHz? Any ideas? I think i like the sure based on smoothness. Although the Aston is almost half the price in the uk at the moment. £229 - the sure is £411 with the FET pre. I think i prefer the sure as it feels less coloured and more neutral having said that for the price it might be worth a punt to go for the Aston. My personal opinion is that all the Aston mics have a colour and having owned the spirit that felt as if it had a colour too it that didn’t work with my voice. I feel the sure will be neutral and be a better foundation for vocal recording but I’m very tempted to try the stealth.
Great vid. I deffo would love to see comparison to MD421, M88 and RE20 on kick, bass cab and M&F sung vox. I wonder how many people saying they prefer the SM7b are also owners of the Shure mic? Is there a bit of confirmation bias going on here? I don't own either and the Stealth won across the board in terms of sound and versatility. SM7b always sounds like a broader SM57 to my ear.
The reality is that they didn't make a true comparison of apples and apples, the Stealth have an cloudlifter already built in. So either they turned of the cloudlifter on the stealth, or gave the SM7b a 150$ cloudlifter which would make it cost 60% more than the Stealth. Plus I've seen other videos where they blindtested them both and you barely heard any difference so I wonder why there's so much difference with this test here.
You win for playing Hozier. But also, every video i watch of the stealth it seems to have a lot of hiss in the top end... Is it particularly noisy do you find?
I'm having a brain fart - what's the song being played for the finger-picked guitar part starting at 2:20?! It's a Nick Drake song, no? Or someone like him? It's starting to drive me a little mad! Anyways, nice demo of the two mics
were these all recorded with preamp on? it seems the led was off on a few of the recordings but that may have been angle or the button was pushed in. would of been good to see guitar cab mic placement were they same position? what was the position you chose? definetly need to do a few more tests with itswitching straight between a steath voicing and back to the sm7b both pre in and out
There's an video on RUclips doing bildtest for voiceover on the stealth and SM7b, I wouldn't say you hear that big difference on them, maybe a slight roundness to the SM7b. On the other hand you need a cloudlifter for the SM7b which would make it cost 60% more than the Stealth or 200$ if you rather like to see the money. Put it like this, buy the stealth and an audio interface, cables and a microphone stand or buy the SM7b with a cloudlifter ;)
listening on ATH-Mx50s, I love voicing D on fingerpicked guitar. The 7B sounds great too. I hated voicing G on pretty much everything. The 7B blows the Aston out of the water on strummed guitar. It has all the smoothness of voicing D but retains definition. For voice, I wasn't sure until I jumped from voice 1 and 2 to the SM7b. voice 1 seems to try and sound like the 7b, but with less proximity effect, I liked it more. Voice 2 even further cuts out bass, but not too much. The Aston is not a bad mic at all. I like the utility that Aston brings to it's mic, I think it definitely holds that over the 7B. The Aston's noise did bother me a bit when listening on laptop speakers. The utility and variety is my favorite thing as well as my biggest reservation about the Aston. On one hand, you can record a variety of human voice types, you can switch the voice to sit in the mix nicely during tracking, the talent will probably appreciate the Aston. On the other hand, I think all that utility is what is causing the noise. I wonder if the mic will get noisier as it gets older with all the things it has inside.
Ew I Honestly Hated everytime the Sm7b came in. It was Missing some Frequency... Low/Mid or something... Yuk. Ps. I Run a Professional Recording and Music Video Studio out here in AZ. [TheLibraryStudios] Have Owned Neumann / AKG 6040 / TELEFUNKEN / BLUE / Original SM7 .. all of them. Seriously Interested in this Aston! 🤘😎🤘 Thanks, -Brando / [TheLibraryStudios]
Wow this is just what I needed. I went to Long & McQuade yesterday and I was looking at these two mics (because the guy recommended I try out the Stealth. Looking at this video I can see that the Stealth is really nice but I noticed I still preferred the SM7B, I would love to see a vocal test between the two mics though. I wouldnt really use the 7B for acoustic guitar, needs more high end for that.
I think I slightly preferred SM7B for the voice test but it was very close to Voice 1 on the Stealth, albeit with a bit more depth in the low end. It was close enough that someone with a slightly different voice could tip it in either one's favour though - V1 and V2 are for male and female vocals respectively so it would have been good to see a comparison with a more typically female voice. I think the guitar setting on the stealth sounded great on acoustic, although the electric seemed a bit tinny - that can be entirely down to amp settings and all kinds of stuff though. SM7B sounded worst by a long shot on electric guitar to me. The ribbon setting I dunno, would maybe use it as a blend for guitar with another mic, or definitely give it a go as a drum overhead or something. Hell maybe it'd make a nice snare mic! SM7B can clearly still hold it's own especially on voice, but Stealth wins for me purely because it's incredibly versatile for the price - Picked one up new for £230 this week and the SM7B is £320. Already have an Origin and that's a great little condenser.
To my ears, on vocals, the Aston sounded more clear and transparent with less bloat. The Shure had a warmer thicker sound but with a bit more bloom and not a detailed. I am looking for the most transparent sound possible because in post I can always add warmth and thickness but but adding clarity and transparently is almost impossible. In other words, I could make the Aston sound like the Shure but not vice versa. I would easily take the Aston for my tastes and for what I am doing.
V1 on the acoustic was charming. But the G(uitar) mode...? YUCK. Strangely so, as that's the intended purpose for that mode... Or is it intended for electric guitar?
SM7b has a depth & fullness to it that the Aston is missing on both voice and the guitars, I really wanted to like the Aston because I own the Aston Spirit and love it but as I already own an SM7b with a cloudlifter I think i'll need to skip this one. Thank you very much for the comparison, really well done.
It is hard to compare something as versatile as the Aston with the SM7b. While the SM7b is a recognizable sound, having established it's identity, I really found v1 to be superior for vocals with greater presence, detail, and openness. I think you hear this best on the Vintage King video with the female vocalist they used. The Aston seems to be the better value all around.
I agree. Came here expecting the shure to sound better. Everyone says it does, because it’s a classic. But to me the Aston was all around better on voice. Super impressed. Now off to check out their condensers....people seem really impressed with those
on my speakers, the G voice of the aston made the guitars sound crispier, while the 7b gave more tone and character. 7b sounds better but the stealth g is probably easier to eq.
don't know why, but old mics handle mid highs better. Shure is more natural especially on sibilants. If i want a ribbon mic sound i'll chose a ribbon mic! It's not only a matter of frequency response..mumble...mumble....
Yes, Bruno cena it will work on the UAD ARRow without a cloudfilter. Are you using an external preamp or the built-in preamp on the Arrow? If I'm not mistaken you can use the UAD preamp emulations while recording now as well so you have tons of options, or just record softly and adjust post then try out whatever preamp emulations you have. The output of the SM7b (gain)might be lacking a little, so you might want to turn it up on the preamp(whichever one you might be using). If you're using an external, and depending on what you may be using this might cause the recording to be noisier. But nowadays with all the newer preamps it really shouldn't be that big of a deal. If you find you don't like it, well save up a few bucks and try a cloudfilter down the road. All a cloudfilter is basically is a booster pedal or a mini preamp in simplified terms. So if your preamp that your using is to your liking then you shouldn't need a cloudiflter at all.
Most RUclipsrs that reviews the SM7b recommends a cloudlifter since most prosumer devices would need the SM7b to be in around the 70-100% gain which would make your recordings, maybe disappointing untill you actually buy the lifter since gain = less details and risk of crackly sound.
At first I thought that there was some sort of hiss on the recordings with the guitars, but now I think it's the fabric of you jeans against the guitar body …
Its 2022 and the stealth never got popular as a podcast mic or instrument mic or singers mic. Rode podmic is most pop budget mic, smb7 is still the mic of choice for podcasters and the Rode procaster is becoming popular. NT1 or NT1a is popular for a singers mic at a budget level. The stealth never took off. I think it has a muddy sound to it.
Show the actual audio clips compared to one another. With what sounds are highlighted different...record with multiple microphones. Compare with other broadcasting microphones would be nice .
I don't own either. To my ear, I thought the Aston was generally much smoother - though I appreciate that may be through various filtering in operation. In the distorted guitar test was the biggest difference, the SM7B sounded like all the frequencies had escaped and were running riot! Whereas the Aston kept it quite tight, with an added fun D mode for seeing if you could rattle the neighbour's windows! The Aston did seem to have a lot more attack than the SM7B (particularly G mode), and I think added a bit of live grit to the acoustic guitars. Overall, I think the features of the Aston with V1/V2 very close to the SM7B, but has 4 modes, in-built shock mount, phantom 48v, etc. just seems a better offering. For my use, I don't want to have to post-process if I can help it (mostly voice podcast/occasional recording). I also didn't want a USB mic because it limits the connectivity - otherwise I'd be asking for comparisons to that. Thanks for doing the comparison, Better Music. As a tip, I was interested in whether the pop guard actually made a difference, because the bumf says its' design is supposed to not need one.
I hate to say it but the SM7B sounds much better to me. Lower noise and more dimension, natural sound and clarity. I wonder what preamp he was using but I imagine there was far more money invested in the SM7B setup and it sounds like that. The Aston is probably very good for the value.
For me it’s not just clarity but transients. Listen for that and you’ll hear. It’s this kind of details that’s makes the SM7b so musical... but if for just podcasting either is fine
@@alvincornistamusic8754 neither of the microphones is made purely for music, if you are going to use it for guitars you might as well buy an microphone made for it.
@@alvincornistamusic8754 and about double the price of any other microphone that comes close in the same sound quality, RE20 and SM7b is the apple of the microphone universe, a lot of the money you buy it for is the name. I've seen blindtests of the SM7b and the Stealth where you barely heard any difference. Plus in reality the SM7b is not even a 400$ microphone, to get it to properly work it's another 150$ for a cloudlifter, something that the Stealth already have at the price of 350$. So ask yourself if you've heard a difference in sound that is worth the 60% higher price tag.
I was dead set on purchasing an SM7b when a friend hipped me to the Stealth. I was impressed with the extended feature set and rolled the dice. Now that I have it, I must say, it's a very clumsy design. The mounting concept is terrible. I hardly allows an XLR cable to be plugged into the mic making set up and tear down time-consuming and difficult. The mic is HEAVY! So getting it to stay in place with a standard boom stand is very challenging. And, the voicings are all a little off to my ear. Vocal 1 being the most usable. V2 is shrill, G is passable and if that's what a ribbon mic is supposed to sound like, then I don't want one. Overall, I'm pretty let down. I'm hoping to sell or trade mine for the SM7b that I should have bought in the first place. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the first one I received quickly had an issue with accepting phantom power so I had to return it to the company for a new one. They were helpful, but no one wants a new, expensive mic to have issues out of the box.
Forgive me for commenting a year later. Entirely possible it's just due to the signal flow of the gain. +40dB gain at the start of a signal path is intense before a pre-amp is hit, and definitely not intended to be used up close without some kind of pad. Frankly, the only time I use the built-in pre is with a pad that is at least -10dB, and preferably -20 so I can push the pre into saturation a bit. Otherwise, it makes for a great mono room mic on the dark setting with +48v applied. And if it really comes down to it, an expander or gate can always be used to assist in the noise department. For the price tag, it's a solid unidirectional microphone that is tuned for a vast amount of applications and definitely sounds better than an SM58 or SM57. Whether the sound quality is better out of the SM7B or Stealth is subjective due to the similar price, at that point the utilitarian aspect comes into play. The stealth has 4 voices and each are affected differently by the built in pre-amp, so it stands to reason to assume 8 voices from this. Due to the built in pre, the heavy coil's signal is amplified far more than the transformer in an SM7B's, even with a Cloudlifter CL-1, allowing for easier saturation or compression before tracking if so desired, otherwise can bring out a pleasant low end and clarity that can be fine tuned with a couple of EQ cuts. Excluding the built in pre-amp, the Stealth also boasts an internal shockmount, pop filter, excellent side rejection, and no awful cord that can short out easily. This does not mean the stealth is without flaws. My single biggest complaint about the Aston Stealth is the clip system. Aston must have studied Sennheiser very closely because this clip is just better than an MD421's. The thing is wobbly but it does at least hold the mic on, unlike the previously mentioned classic. Other than that, I think the pre-amp could be reduced to +35dB and be much more useful in delicate situations where your input source is already loud. Then again, that's where the pad comes into play or simply not having the pre-amp activated. Cheers.
I much prefer the SM7B. With the Aston Stealth, I hear the mic (or preamp) coloring the sound quite a bit. The SM7B sounds like whatever you are miking.
It would have been useful if you put clips of the Stealth on "G" adjacent to the SM7b so we can hear the difference without the lame Dark setting to erase our memory of how "G" sounded. The way it is now the comparison is useless.
Видеоклипы
![Aston Spirit Microphone REVIEW - [Shootout with Shure SM7B & Neumann TLM + Acoustic Guitar Test]](/img/1.gif)
Aston Stealth V1, Voice - 1:33
Aston Stealth V2, Voice - 1:40
Aston Stealth G, Voice - 1:50
Aston Stealth D, Voice - 1:58
SM7B, Voice - 2:07
Aston Stealth V1, Steel string finger pick guitar - 2:18 , 2:51 , 3:17 / Pick and Strum - 3:50
Aston Stealth V2, Steel string finger pick guitar - 2:27 , 2:57 , 3:21 / Pick and Strum - 3:55
Aston Stealth G, Steel string finger pick guitar - 2:33 , 3:04 , 3:28 / Pick and Strum - 3:59
Aston Stealth D, Steel string finger pick guitar - 2:39 , 3:10 , 3:34 / Pick and Strum - 4:07
Shure SM7B, Steel string finger pick guitar - 2:45 , 3:14 , 3:40 / Pick and Strum -4:15
Aston Stealth V1, electric guitar - 4:56 , 5:26
Aston Stealth V2, electric guitar - 5:03 , 5:30
Aston Stealth G, electric guitar - 5:08 , 5:34
Aston Stealth D, electric guitar - 5:14 , 5:39
Shure SM7B, electric guitar - 5:20 , 5:41
you're a hero
I disagree with most pro sm7b comments. The sm7b requires a lot of post eq to sit in a mix. The Steath seems to have done most of that for you. The sm7b seems to break up and crackle in the upper mid 4K region of the distorted electric guitar cabinet ( a very common problem area of mixing those guitars ) The Steath didn’t add cracked artifacts in that region. ..... I believe people are just use to the sm7b and have a familiarity bias.
true well pointed out, i find the sm7b to be the same, the stealth likes a certain n preamp too
The Stealth has a cup sound to it. I rather have a bit of crackle than the sound as if I am talking in a cup.
It's not a terrible mic but to me, not worth the full one.
Especially on guitar it's a fuckton better even raw across the entire spectrum.
I sold my sm7. It had no personality of any kind. I think its just industry standard but nothing special about the sound.
@@RDYC It is indeed very "bland" and "plain". Doesn't have the focus/"drive" of an RE20, very sparse top-end excitement, and it's not as tight sounding, due to the longer distance to the diaphragm, inside the foam.
Mechanically, it's a great mic, though. A real workhorse. If I got one for free, I wouldn't mind having my own. But to invest in it, over other mics: nah. Simply never been able to justify that, with its low gain, etc.
And people gotta remember that its huge gain requirement means that it is hard to "get going", mechanically speaking. Dynamic mics generate their signal courtesy of the sound-waves hitting the diaphragm creating electrical current/output. It needs not only a high-gain preamp, but also needs a somewhat substantial input from the performer! Perhaps also part of the reason why it's popular as a vocal mic for heavy/hard rock vocalists.
I agree, I had sm7b with no cloudlifter...
Great to hear the riff for the greatest view for the electric guitar shootout!
Thanks, love it!! I would love to hear V1 only vs SM7b and RE20 on vocals!
James, excellent video on the Aston mic. I think an example of recording on a Hurdy-Gurdy would be good to see how much machine noise is picked up. Brian
instant smile when you played cherry wine man!
good job on the video
It’s a dynamic mic, an important top of the list fact to mention I would have thought.
as an owner and huge supporter of the SM7b, I gotta say that I like this Stealth a lot better. In almost every one of those tests I thought V1 sounded better than the 7b, regardless of the source. For me I think I'd use V1 as the standard voicing of the mic and then shift to another voicing based on need. Holy man does that thing ever sound good!
Right. This mic seems to need a lot less post processing than a sm7b.
SM7B for guitar cabinets any day! Very surprised how similar the Aston V1 was compared to the Shure on the strummed guitar! Great comparison review! 👍
I have both are they're great mics. Stealth V1 is very similar to SM7b sound. Either make a seriously good choice, especially for vocals. I record both of these through Apollo x interface with Unison 610b pre into LA-2A printed. Sounds amazing.
I use an SE dynamite with the SM7b. Not required with the Stealth.
PLEASE compare this to the M88, 421, 414, and 57. These are industry standards and would be great to hear the comparison. Really good review!
Thanks for the comparison. It’s nice to have some variety. I’d be very interested to hear a comparison with the RE20, and I have a hunch that these Aston’s could work well as drum overheads. Weird, I know but I can’t stop obsessing about it. :-)
I bet they would indeed. I use aston Spirits as overheads and they sound amazing.
I like them both but think the D setting would be a blast to use on my 70db gain guitars
At least in my headphones the Aston and the Shure sounded very close together in the V1 and 2 modes of the Aston. The setting choices on the Aston might make more of a difference on the acoustic guitar used, Say the thin guitar shape used here and the big CA carbon baritone that I love to play. Not having to spend the extra $150 on a cloud lifter for the SM7b is a good point. I wish I could afford either one. They both would give a great starting point for the mixing after recording process.
Stealth v1 & v2, and esp vg have much more high frequencies. The SM7b is unique in having strong mids without sounding sounding muddy, and sounds amazing on electric guitar cab. The Stealth dark mode is its own thing, pretty nice addition, not sure how much it'd get used though.
I really liked the sounds of the stealth on vocals. I might even prefer it to the sm7b. The fact that you have different voicings is amazing of course, but for electric guitar, the shure sounds far better in my opinion. I'd love to hear the stealth as well as the shure on bass. there's way too little information for us bass players as far as microphones go.
Sounds like the sm7 is a good mixture of a few of the stealth voicings. Of the stealth options... the v1 & 2 voicings seemed to be the most useful. G was too bright and tinny and D was too muffled.
on my JBL lsr 305 i can hear hissing in very high frequencies. it is REALLY noticeable on V2 for the Aston & G. That is absolutely unacceptable!!!!
Nice comparison, I feel it misses out on the 4 voicing options you can get with the SM7 itself though
AWESOME VID!..
The Guitar setting on the Aston Stealth is a little underwhelming... it's kind of a touch brittle, not sizzle, but it lacks a touch of lower mids or bottom end, it's very clean however. I actually preferred the D setting for guitar, although the highs seemed slightly muted. SM7B kinda wins for me.
Stealth is still an interesting mic and I would love to see what it's like in a live setting with other instruments in the same space.
I'm curious as to whether you had to gain the SM7 differently to the Stealth?
Thanx for the comparison! 👍🏼
Very nice comparison. Thanks.
I would also appreciate a review of the Stealth on electric bass rig.
As Shure SM7B is known for its great performance on metal vocals like screaming and growling, I am also pretty curious how Stealth does the job here.
Cheers.
seconded.. show us the aston with a growler.
Did some sound-sample listening to a 5~6K tube condenser today, and 24 bit recordings. Better wait a few days for the glow to wear off. That said, there's a use for every mic, and being a snob just isn't a good look.
Compare the sm7b to the re20 to the akg broadcasting microphone.
Hey brother, thanks for doing this comparison. I'm a long time SM7b user so am really interested in the Stealth - here's my thoughts - Always preferred the stealth on voice in all settings. Preferred the stealth vocal setting on the picked guitar. Hated the stealth on strummed acoustic - the SM7b wiped the floor with it, and in fact I didn't like the G setting on the stealth when recording guitars? sounds harsh and no bottom end? Stealth Dark mode on electric, but hey we know ribbons work good on distorted guitars so no shockers there. Good work lad.
Yeah right? the G setting sounded by far the worst for guitars. I liked the D setting a lot but it tends to sound like there's a bad eq boost on the low end, so that's a shame....
We have to be careful though....the audio was treated and then squashed by youtube so we really don't know what kind of a chain we're listening to.
it would be good to see the SM7B vs Aston Stealth on wind instruments - Alto and Tenor / Bari saxophones, French horn, trumpet Euphonium.
(Aston Stealth does a fantastic job - my vote goes to Aston all round)
Very good I am singer and I find your video informative 👍
How come the Aston sounds brighter when the frequency response is 20hz to 20 kHz and the sure 50hz to 20 kHz? Any ideas? I think i like the sure based on smoothness. Although the Aston is almost half the price in the uk at the moment. £229 - the sure is £411 with the FET pre. I think i prefer the sure as it feels less coloured and more neutral having said that for the price it might be worth a punt to go for the Aston. My personal opinion is that all the Aston mics have a colour and having owned the spirit that felt as if it had a colour too it that didn’t work with my voice. I feel the sure will be neutral and be a better foundation for vocal recording but I’m very tempted to try the stealth.
Great vid. I deffo would love to see comparison to MD421, M88 and RE20 on kick, bass cab and M&F sung vox.
I wonder how many people saying they prefer the SM7b are also owners of the Shure mic? Is there a bit of confirmation bias going on here? I don't own either and the Stealth won across the board in terms of sound and versatility. SM7b always sounds like a broader SM57 to my ear.
The reality is that they didn't make a true comparison of apples and apples, the Stealth have an cloudlifter already built in.
So either they turned of the cloudlifter on the stealth, or gave the SM7b a 150$ cloudlifter which would make it cost 60% more than the Stealth.
Plus I've seen other videos where they blindtested them both and you barely heard any difference so I wonder why there's so much difference with this test here.
Was that Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick I heard at the 4:00 mark?
The 7B is a little more forward in the 500-800hz area which makes the stealth seem a little more “hifi”
Aston in D mode was the best on distorted guitar. Otherwise I preferred SM7B.
Anyone else noticed the hiss on the acoustic guitar tracks? Is that just a bad preamp?
You win for playing Hozier. But also, every video i watch of the stealth it seems to have a lot of hiss in the top end... Is it particularly noisy do you find?
Merci
Travail de pro ;)
good job
I'm having a brain fart - what's the song being played for the finger-picked guitar part starting at 2:20?! It's a Nick Drake song, no? Or someone like him? It's starting to drive me a little mad!
Anyways, nice demo of the two mics
were these all recorded with preamp on? it seems the led was off on a few of the recordings but that may have been angle or the button was pushed in. would of been good to see guitar cab mic placement were they same position? what was the position you chose? definetly need to do a few more tests with itswitching straight between a steath voicing and back to the sm7b both pre in and out
There's an video on RUclips doing bildtest for voiceover on the stealth and SM7b, I wouldn't say you hear that big difference on them, maybe a slight roundness to the SM7b.
On the other hand you need a cloudlifter for the SM7b which would make it cost 60% more than the Stealth or 200$ if you rather like to see the money.
Put it like this, buy the stealth and an audio interface, cables and a microphone stand or buy the SM7b with a cloudlifter ;)
This video makes me want to own both.
listening on ATH-Mx50s, I love voicing D on fingerpicked guitar. The 7B sounds great too. I hated voicing G on pretty much everything. The 7B blows the Aston out of the water on strummed guitar. It has all the smoothness of voicing D but retains definition. For voice, I wasn't sure until I jumped from voice 1 and 2 to the SM7b. voice 1 seems to try and sound like the 7b, but with less proximity effect, I liked it more. Voice 2 even further cuts out bass, but not too much. The Aston is not a bad mic at all. I like the utility that Aston brings to it's mic, I think it definitely holds that over the 7B. The Aston's noise did bother me a bit when listening on laptop speakers. The utility and variety is my favorite thing as well as my biggest reservation about the Aston. On one hand, you can record a variety of human voice types, you can switch the voice to sit in the mix nicely during tracking, the talent will probably appreciate the Aston. On the other hand, I think all that utility is what is causing the noise. I wonder if the mic will get noisier as it gets older with all the things it has inside.
Interesting thoughts Isaac!
✌🏻
Ew I Honestly Hated everytime the Sm7b came in. It was Missing some Frequency... Low/Mid or something... Yuk. Ps. I Run a Professional Recording and Music Video Studio out here in AZ. [TheLibraryStudios]
Have Owned Neumann / AKG 6040 / TELEFUNKEN / BLUE / Original SM7 .. all of them. Seriously Interested in this Aston! 🤘😎🤘
Thanks,
-Brando / [TheLibraryStudios]
V1 sounded good on everything
Wow this is just what I needed. I went to Long & McQuade yesterday and I was looking at these two mics (because the guy recommended I try out the Stealth. Looking at this video I can see that the Stealth is really nice but I noticed I still preferred the SM7B, I would love to see a vocal test between the two mics though. I wouldnt really use the 7B for acoustic guitar, needs more high end for that.
The SM7B has a presence switch just so ya know. You can also remove the Windscreen and get more top end clarity.
I think I slightly preferred SM7B for the voice test but it was very close to Voice 1 on the Stealth, albeit with a bit more depth in the low end. It was close enough that someone with a slightly different voice could tip it in either one's favour though - V1 and V2 are for male and female vocals respectively so it would have been good to see a comparison with a more typically female voice. I think the guitar setting on the stealth sounded great on acoustic, although the electric seemed a bit tinny - that can be entirely down to amp settings and all kinds of stuff though. SM7B sounded worst by a long shot on electric guitar to me. The ribbon setting I dunno, would maybe use it as a blend for guitar with another mic, or definitely give it a go as a drum overhead or something. Hell maybe it'd make a nice snare mic!
SM7B can clearly still hold it's own especially on voice, but Stealth wins for me purely because it's incredibly versatile for the price - Picked one up new for £230 this week and the SM7B is £320. Already have an Origin and that's a great little condenser.
I liked the aston steath. More versatile also. Also cheaper and you dont need extra DB you need to power it.
To my ears, on vocals, the Aston sounded more clear and transparent with less bloat. The Shure had a warmer thicker sound but with a bit more bloom and not a detailed. I am looking for the most transparent sound possible because in post I can always add warmth and thickness but but adding clarity and transparently is almost impossible. In other words, I could make the Aston sound like the Shure but not vice versa. I would easily take the Aston for my tastes and for what I am doing.
can i get the link for the Shockmount??
V1 on the acoustic was charming. But the G(uitar) mode...? YUCK. Strangely so, as that's the intended purpose for that mode... Or is it intended for electric guitar?
SM7b has a depth & fullness to it that the Aston is missing on both voice and the guitars, I really wanted to like the Aston because I own the Aston Spirit and love it but as I already own an SM7b with a cloudlifter I think i'll need to skip this one. Thank you very much for the comparison, really well done.
It is hard to compare something as versatile as the Aston with the SM7b. While the SM7b is a recognizable sound, having established it's identity, I really found v1 to be superior for vocals with greater presence, detail, and openness. I think you hear this best on the Vintage King video with the female vocalist they used. The Aston seems to be the better value all around.
I agree. Came here expecting the shure to sound better. Everyone says it does, because it’s a classic. But to me the Aston was all around better on voice. Super impressed. Now off to check out their condensers....people seem really impressed with those
on my speakers, the G voice of the aston made the guitars sound crispier, while the 7b gave more tone and character. 7b sounds better but the stealth g is probably easier to eq.
I feel like the SM7b wins...it just has a sound you can't beat.
don't know why, but old mics handle mid highs better. Shure is more natural especially on sibilants. If i want a ribbon mic sound i'll chose a ribbon mic! It's not only a matter of frequency response..mumble...mumble....
What brand is the external shockmount you mentioned at 0:58
That's Aston's own shockmount
SM57B seems to pick pick strumming quite better, which Aston somehow kills transients, but it not sounds bad, just different.
Liked more the sm7 still on everything but the EGTR weirdly. Overall sm7 sounds more 3D and balanced
Which pre amp did you use?
please help me out , will sm7b directly work on UAD ARRow without cloudlifter booster
Yes, Bruno cena it will work on the UAD ARRow without a cloudfilter. Are you using an external preamp or the built-in preamp on the Arrow? If I'm not mistaken you can use the UAD preamp emulations while recording now as well so you have tons of options, or just record softly and adjust post then try out whatever preamp emulations you have. The output of the SM7b (gain)might be lacking a little, so you might want to turn it up on the preamp(whichever one you might be using). If you're using an external, and depending on what you may be using this might cause the recording to be noisier. But nowadays with all the newer preamps it really shouldn't be that big of a deal. If you find you don't like it, well save up a few bucks and try a cloudfilter down the road. All a cloudfilter is basically is a booster pedal or a mini preamp in simplified terms. So if your preamp that your using is to your liking then you shouldn't need a cloudiflter at all.
Most RUclipsrs that reviews the SM7b recommends a cloudlifter since most prosumer devices would need the SM7b to be in around the 70-100% gain which would make your recordings, maybe disappointing untill you actually buy the lifter since gain = less details and risk of crackly sound.
I shoose Sm7b ... for VoiceOver and podcast
At first I thought that there was some sort of hiss on the recordings with the guitars, but now I think it's the fabric of you jeans against the guitar body …
Its 2022 and the stealth never got popular as a podcast mic or instrument mic or singers mic. Rode podmic is most pop budget mic, smb7 is still the mic of choice for podcasters and the Rode procaster is becoming popular. NT1 or NT1a is popular for a singers mic at a budget level. The stealth never took off. I think it has a muddy sound to it.
Show the actual audio clips compared to one another. With what sounds are highlighted different...record with multiple microphones. Compare with other broadcasting microphones would be nice .
Thanks for the feedback Dino, it's appreciated!
What pop filter is this?
Aston Shield www.astonmics.com/EN/product/Accessories/Shield-GN
I don't own either. To my ear, I thought the Aston was generally much smoother - though I appreciate that may be through various filtering in operation. In the distorted guitar test was the biggest difference, the SM7B sounded like all the frequencies had escaped and were running riot! Whereas the Aston kept it quite tight, with an added fun D mode for seeing if you could rattle the neighbour's windows! The Aston did seem to have a lot more attack than the SM7B (particularly G mode), and I think added a bit of live grit to the acoustic guitars. Overall, I think the features of the Aston with V1/V2 very close to the SM7B, but has 4 modes, in-built shock mount, phantom 48v, etc. just seems a better offering. For my use, I don't want to have to post-process if I can help it (mostly voice podcast/occasional recording). I also didn't want a USB mic because it limits the connectivity - otherwise I'd be asking for comparisons to that. Thanks for doing the comparison, Better Music. As a tip, I was interested in whether the pop guard actually made a difference, because the bumf says its' design is supposed to not need one.
Shure for shure!
I hate to say it but the SM7B sounds much better to me. Lower noise and more dimension, natural sound and clarity. I wonder what preamp he was using but I imagine there was far more money invested in the SM7B setup and it sounds like that. The Aston is probably very good for the value.
We used an Apollo x8 for both microphones as our pre-amp and interface so that they have a level playing field :)
Much prefer the Shure , thought I was gonna fall for the Aston after all the reviews 🤔
Thank-you for giving us evidence that the SM7b is superior
How in the world is the sm7b superior?
For me it’s not just clarity but transients. Listen for that and you’ll hear. It’s this kind of details that’s makes the SM7b so musical... but if for just podcasting either is fine
@@alvincornistamusic8754 neither of the microphones is made purely for music, if you are going to use it for guitars you might as well buy an microphone made for it.
@@lolsa123 I do love the sm7b on instruments! Guitar, Cabinets, Kick, snare, Toms, Hi Hats!! It's got vibe. Classic sound!!
@@alvincornistamusic8754 and about double the price of any other microphone that comes close in the same sound quality, RE20 and SM7b is the apple of the microphone universe, a lot of the money you buy it for is the name. I've seen blindtests of the SM7b and the Stealth where you barely heard any difference. Plus in reality the SM7b is not even a 400$ microphone, to get it to properly work it's another 150$ for a cloudlifter, something that the Stealth already have at the price of 350$. So ask yourself if you've heard a difference in sound that is worth the 60% higher price tag.
Test 4 Electric Guhtaaahhhhhh
Shure sm7b with a cloudlifter all day long
Lots of microphones are better than the Shure SM 7B. For example The Neil PR 40, electro-Voice RE-20 and RE-320, to name a few.
Thumbs up for Hozier
I was dead set on purchasing an SM7b when a friend hipped me to the Stealth. I was impressed with the extended feature set and rolled the dice. Now that I have it, I must say, it's a very clumsy design. The mounting concept is terrible. I hardly allows an XLR cable to be plugged into the mic making set up and tear down time-consuming and difficult. The mic is HEAVY! So getting it to stay in place with a standard boom stand is very challenging. And, the voicings are all a little off to my ear. Vocal 1 being the most usable. V2 is shrill, G is passable and if that's what a ribbon mic is supposed to sound like, then I don't want one. Overall, I'm pretty let down. I'm hoping to sell or trade mine for the SM7b that I should have bought in the first place.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that the first one I received quickly had an issue with accepting phantom power so I had to return it to the company for a new one. They were helpful, but no one wants a new, expensive mic to have issues out of the box.
sm7b wins 100% the aston was super noisy
Was the phantom onboard pre engaged though?
@@peterbull3955 Didn't he say the light is purple when it's on?
Forgive me for commenting a year later.
Entirely possible it's just due to the signal flow of the gain. +40dB gain at the start of a signal path is intense before a pre-amp is hit, and definitely not intended to be used up close without some kind of pad. Frankly, the only time I use the built-in pre is with a pad that is at least -10dB, and preferably -20 so I can push the pre into saturation a bit. Otherwise, it makes for a great mono room mic on the dark setting with +48v applied. And if it really comes down to it, an expander or gate can always be used to assist in the noise department.
For the price tag, it's a solid unidirectional microphone that is tuned for a vast amount of applications and definitely sounds better than an SM58 or SM57. Whether the sound quality is better out of the SM7B or Stealth is subjective due to the similar price, at that point the utilitarian aspect comes into play. The stealth has 4 voices and each are affected differently by the built in pre-amp, so it stands to reason to assume 8 voices from this. Due to the built in pre, the heavy coil's signal is amplified far more than the transformer in an SM7B's, even with a Cloudlifter CL-1, allowing for easier saturation or compression before tracking if so desired, otherwise can bring out a pleasant low end and clarity that can be fine tuned with a couple of EQ cuts.
Excluding the built in pre-amp, the Stealth also boasts an internal shockmount, pop filter, excellent side rejection, and no awful cord that can short out easily. This does not mean the stealth is without flaws. My single biggest complaint about the Aston Stealth is the clip system. Aston must have studied Sennheiser very closely because this clip is just better than an MD421's. The thing is wobbly but it does at least hold the mic on, unlike the previously mentioned classic. Other than that, I think the pre-amp could be reduced to +35dB and be much more useful in delicate situations where your input source is already loud. Then again, that's where the pad comes into play or simply not having the pre-amp activated.
Cheers.
I can hear that I would mostly just leave it at V1
It's a great setting, most male users would leave it at v1 since it is the normal male setting while female got the V2 setting
I much prefer the SM7B. With the Aston Stealth, I hear the mic (or preamp) coloring the sound quite a bit. The SM7B sounds like whatever you are miking.
sm7b win 100%
Super thick as a brick!,,
Cannon vs Nikon
except the Nikon needs a $150 filter in order to keep up. (referring to the SM7b's need for a Cloudlifter)
Aston has more options for the same price as the SM7B ;)
50$ less than the SM7b actually + the SM7b would need a cloudlifter which would put it at a 200$ higher price than the Stealth ;)
It would have been useful if you put clips of the Stealth on "G" adjacent to the SM7b so we can hear the difference without the lame Dark setting to erase our memory of how "G" sounded. The way it is now the comparison is useless.
I own the Aston, it has a hell lot of noise, it sound aweful, worse than my smartphone's. Save your money
Aston is so bad...
If you want compare a SM7b, compare it to MD441 / RE20 / M88 tg ...
And compare Aston to... a rode procaster (still loose the test)