Aston Starlight Instrument Microphone

The Starlight features a 20 mm cardioid capsule hand-picked by a panel of more than 70 top producers (Aston 33) in double blind listening tests conducted during 2016. Starlight showcases a host of innovations, including laser targeting, multiple voices (Vintage, Modern & Hybrid), and near perfectly linear off-axis response, which have seen the mic win a host of international awards, and a nomination for 2018 NAMM TEC, the ‘Oscars’ of the music technology industry.

The Aston Sound
Right from the start of ‘project Aston’, we engaged with some of the top audio professionals in the industry to create a development panel to be our ears, while we focussed on perfecting every tiny detail in our mics, to finally produce what we believe to be the very best products in their class.

Class 2 Laser
The addition of a Class 2 laser to our Starlight SDC, with on/off switch, allows the user to recall mic positions in the studio so set up can be easily replicated. It also means, for touring bands, that mic positions can be marked off on drums etc, and set-up becomes a breeze. It’s a world’s first and a big leap in helping to get a consistent sound whatever the situation.

Sintered Metal Head
Sintering is not new to the mic world, though seldom used… but we’ve taken the technology a step or 2 further than ever before. We tested many thicknesses of sintered head, as well as the average size of the sinter spheres, and combined that with nickel plate which is controlled to only a few nanometres thickness to achieve near perfect acoustic porosity. In addition the head is virtually indestructible, so like all Aston mics, it can take any amount of studio or even live use and will never let you down.

Voice Switching
Yet another remarkable step-up in technology, performance and cool features! The Starlight has 3 modes of operation, courtesy of some very fancy front-end filtering between the capsule and PCB. You can choose between Vintage, Modern and Hybrid settings to get the perfect tone response for your application… guitar cab, drums, strings, even vocals… whatever the application you’ll get a perfect fit for your music, and each setting has been carefully tuned to give superb top-flight performance, way beyond Starlight’s price point.

Chassis
Part of the beauty of our microphones is the custom finish of each chassis. There are no mass-produced paint job finishes here… instead, each chassis is individually tumbled for up to 4 hours to give it a very hard-wearing, extremely beautiful, finish. To perfect the look, each microphone is separately engraved with its legends, and our brand mantra… ‘The Art of Audio’

PCB

• A superbly balanced mix of discrete and integrated electronic circuitry

• Harmonised circuit stage arrangement for easy integration from phantom power input circuitry to the capsule voltage bias

• Novel non-linear voltage/current source rectification to provide controlled amplification and smooth/ clear audio output

Eco-Friendly Packaging
We have put our hearts and minds into creating the most beautiful performance pieces possible with each Aston product. When it comes to packaging we believe simplicity is king. Protective, re-useable, environmentally sensible packaging that doesn’t cost the earth.

SPECIFICATIONS

Transducer Type: Capacitor
Acoustic Operating Principle: Pressure Gradient
Directional Polar Pattern: Cardioid
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz (+/- 10dB)
Equivalent Noise Level: 15dB A-Weighted
Sensitivity at 1kHz into 1kohm: 42.1mV/Pa
Maximum SPL for THD 0.5%: 130dB/ 140dB/ 150dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (rel. 94dB SPL): 79dB A-Weighted
Pad Switch: -20dB/-10dB/0dB
Low-Cut Filters: 80Hz, 140Hz
Product length: 181 mm / 7.13 in
Product width (with laser): 36 mm / 1.42 in
Product width (without laser): 26 mm / 1.02 in
Product weight: 251 g / 0.55 lb