It is usual for manufacturers to ask a few professionals their opinions on a new mic once it’s ready for production. We went much further, asking a panel of top engineers, producers and artists to actually help craft the sound of each new Aston, at prototype stage.

Named the Aston 33 after the original members who worked with us on our first mic, the Origin, the panel has now grown to more than 100 of the world’s top engineers, producers and artists, whose experience and expertise informs the sonic character of each new microphone. The Aston 33 are the ears of the Aston brand.

The panel participate in a series of blind listening tests, pitting Aston’s prototypes against competing models from other leading manufacturers but without at any stage knowing which they are listening to. They rate the candidates from best to worst across a range of relevant applications (male and female vocals, acoustic guitars etc.). Aston’s engineers modify each prototype according to the detailed and comprehensive voting data and the process is repeated, until there’s a version of the new Aston which is consistently judged the favourite, outperforming anything in its class and some far costlier ‘industry standard’ mics too. Only then does the new mic get signed-off for production.

For Element the concept was taken even further, with the public invited to vote on the new mic’s sound throughout its development. More than 4000 musicians, engineers and producers had their say on the eventual voicing of the world’s first ‘People’s Microphone’.

We will continue to design and develop our mics in the UK with the help of the Aston 33, to ensure each future release is a further shake-up of the microphone marketplace because, as our existing range proves, we believe world-class audio should be available to everyone.