Winokur: I heard about Aston mics as soon as they arrived in Israel and asked the local distributor (Yoav Shdema) to try one out. I immediately fell in love with the nice crispy and open sound. I especially like the way it sounds with my Telefunken V72 Vintage tube pre – it gives the mic an extra warmth and contrast to its very modern sound.
I produced a record for an up and coming artist named Erez. We tried many mics for her vocals and she was at the studio the day I got the Spirit mic. We tried it out and it sounded so good on her that it ended up on the final version of the song.
For some vocalists, especially the ones that have a very sharp high-mid action in their vocal, the Spirit just brings it out amazingly. I also found out that they are fantastic as drum room mics, as a stereo pair about two meters from the kit. Also, for acoustic instruments, I found that it sounds amazing when located in an overhead position about one meter above the instrument
Gerstein: Ori brought a pair of Aston Spirits to the studio and I got a chance to try them out on a few recordings. I liked how rugged they feel – they’re kind of fat and feel sturdy. They sounded great as room mics when recording a full drum kit. I ran them through my SSL E channel strips and compressed them quite hard. I loved that sound and compared with other room mics I use, such as my AKG 414 pair, they definitely match the quality and their sound is a bit brighter, maybe more modern. I now use the Spirit pair as drum room mics on almost every recording I make. I place them about two meters from each side of the drum kit and they just add this big, bright sound. I absolutely love what it adds to the sonic picture of a drum kit.
I also recently used a Spirit recording a guitar amp. I used a Coles ribbon and a Shure SM57, which I know and love. The Aston added a bright full sound which completed the sonic picture, especially on over-driven solos. I mixed all three mics together and I feel it’s a winning setup which gives me all the bite I need, as well as a full range of colours to choose from. I’m definitely going to keep using it for guitars.
As a big fan of the British sound in music and in gear, and also after spending a few formative years in London, working in different recording studios, I’m kind of biased towards UK based companies and the gear they make. It’s always well thought of, well made and you just know it’s going to sound great.