Sontronics Aria

The Sontronics ARIA valve/tube cardioid condenser microphone was developed and designed by Sontronics founder and designer Trevor Coley specifically for getting the best from your vocals, and is already becoming a modern classic thanks to its beautifully smooth and balanced tone.

The multi-award-winning Sontronics ARIA will give you stunning, beautiful results on every recording, thanks to its silky-smooth characteristics, its accurate response and the trademark Sontronics high-frequency roll-off. Following the development of the new MERCURY variable-pattern valve microphone, Sontronics has now been able to refine and improve ARIA even further, to take its quality to the next level.

As designer Trevor Coley explains: "Using only premium-quality, branded components in our UK-made circuits, we have been able make considerable improvements to ARIA's signal-to-noise ratio and reduce its self-noise to incredibly low levels for a tube microphone. The new and improved ARIA delivers even greater levels of precision and clarity and we’re confident that you’ll love it!"

Housed inside the chromed grille is a large, 1.07-inch, edge-terminated capsule that captures all the detail and subtleties of any male or female vocal (sung or spoken) while the hand-selected European 12AX7/ECC83 tube lends a character that you'd expect to find in a classic vintage valve mic.

For that extra level of control, the accompanying SPS-2 power supply unit boasts pad (0, -10dB) and filter (linear, 75Hz) switches as well as a tube-ready LED, letting you know when the mic is warmed up and at its best to record. Inside the unit is a pro-quality, medical-grade electricity filter to ensure that the power supply is pure and interference-free.

During ARIA's development, it was beta-tested by top artists and musicians including producer/writer Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence & The Machine, Paul McCartney), singer/songwriter PJ Harvey, and also several engineers at Abbey Road Studios, all of whom now admit they can't live without their ARIAs! These and other users have all told us that ARIA's sound and quality is easily matched to mics (both modern and vintage) that cost ten times more!

The result is a go-to microphone that's a must-have if you're serious about achieving the best results from vocals but that will also give beautiful results on piano, acoustic guitar, cello and other instruments as well as voiceover and broadcast.

This ARIA microphone is supplied in its own velvet-lined wooden box, which comes in an aluminium flightcase together with its elastic spider-style shockmount, a ring mount and the SPS-2 power supply, connecting cable and power lead. Like all their mics, the Sontronics ARIA is covered by their  lifetime warranty.

FEATURES:

• Valve/tube condenser mic 
• Incredibly smooth sound
• Designed to give amazing results on male and female vocals
• Beta-tested with Paul Epworth, PJ Harvey and several engineers at Abbey Road Studios
• Covered by lifetime warranty

SPECIFICATION:

• Frequency response: 20Hz - 20kHz
• Sensitivity: 18mV/Pa -33dB ±1.5dB
• (0dB = 1V/Pa @ 1,000Hz)
• Polar pattern: Cardioid
• Pad: 0, -10dB
• Filter: Linear, 75Hz
• Impedance: ≤200 Ohms
• Equivalent noise level: 18dB 
• (A-weighted)
• Max SPL (for 0.5% THD @ 1kHz): 125dB
• Power supply: SPS-2 115/230V
• *Phantom power NOT required*
• Connector: 8-pin connector (mic),
• 3-pin XLR-M (power supply)
• Dimensions: 230 x 55 x 55mm (mic)
• Weight: 744g (mic), 1155g (mic with shockmount), 1880g (power supply)
• Comes with: wooden box (for Aria mic), shockmount, cables, SPS-2 power supply, aluminium flightcase