SteelSeries Alias Professional Evaluate – When contemplating microphones, you’re typically offered with decisions—USB or XLR connection, supported polar patterns, and extra. Whereas some microphones provide a number of polar patterns, such because the HyperX DuoCast with two or the Thronmax MDrill One with 4, the important thing lies in how successfully they choose up sound. For a lot of, together with myself, a single polar sample, particularly Cardioid, suffices—directing sound from a single going through route.
The SteelSeries Alias/Alias Professional excels at this. Throughout the microphone’s launch in Melbourne a few months in the past, I used to be pleasantly shocked by how effectively it captured my voice even from a distance, amidst background music and crowd noise. This microphone really stands out, and we’ll delve into why.
SteelSeries Alias Professional Evaluate – Unboxing and Packaging Contents
SteelSeries Alias Professional Evaluate – Design and Options
In the beginning, the SteelSeries Alias Professional boasts an interesting design. Its capsule-like look with uncovered wiring on a stand imparts a glossy and fashionable look when positioned on a desk. Whereas it comes with a desk stand, you may as well connect it to a increase arm for enhanced readability—an possibility I like to recommend for these looking for improved audio for each work and gaming. Nevertheless. that is additionally the primary time I’m actually completely happy to make use of a microphone on a desk stand as it’s that good in pickup my voice.
It is because the Alias Professional includes a considerably bigger capsule, 3 times the dimensions of a conventional microphone. This measurement benefit permits it to effortlessly seize your voice with a single polar sample, providing a targeted and clear audio expertise. This design selection prioritises the important, avoiding the complexity of supporting quite a few polar patterns that may by no means be utilised, a typical pitfall in different microphones.
The microphone has a decision/pattern charge of 24 bit/48 KHz and a frequency response of fifty Hz – 20 KHz. It utilises an XLR connection however eliminates the necessity for an extra audio interface. The included Stream Mixer with USB connection serves not solely as an audio interface but additionally as a mini management centre. With simply accessible dials for Microphone Acquire and Quantity, full with programmable/customisable choices, together with LED indicators for enter ranges, testing and adjusting change into handy duties.
The Microphone Acquire dial has a helpful LED ring round it that tells you its enter stage. That is actually helpful to check and see if you happen to improve the microphone acquire an excessive amount of (the Inexperienced LED will change to Yellow and Pink respectively).
Beneath the dials, outstanding buttons for Microphone and Quantity mute provide a fast strategy to silence when wanted throughout dwell streaming or non-public conversations. Including to the aesthetic attraction is the customisable underglow lighting, offering a contact of aptitude to your setup. This lighting helps numerous animations, however you possibly can go for a static setting to minimise distractions.
A helpful function for content material creators is the potential to run a dual-PC setup, permitting simultaneous audio output to 2 PCs. Achieved by connecting the 2 PCs by means of the 2 USB-C ports and enabling the operate on the SteelSeries GG software program, this function proves useful for streamers juggling a number of duties and audio sources like in-game, background music, and so on.
Past catering to streamers, the SteelSeries GG software program presents a plethora of superior options for tweaking audio sources. This consists of:
- Preset Configurations: When you don’t know tweak audio channels manually, you possibly can simply choose on a preset and verify the way you sound. Don’t prefer it? Use one other preset and take a look at.
- Customized Equaliser: You may tweak and regulate issues manually.
- ClearCast AI Noise Cancellation: That is in all probability the star of the present. This function routinely scans the surroundings you might be in and removes any non-vocal sounds and echo routinely. I take advantage of the Alias Professional on a regular basis for work conferences (and in-game chat after I sport at evening) and fairly shocked to see how good the noise cancelling is. It may take away the sound of the air con inside my bed room together with different room ambiance, and background noise made by my son exterior the door. I’ve additionally instructed you briefly that after I attended the launch in Melbourne, it may choose up my voice clearly even when there have been noisy chatter round me.
- Customized Noise Cancelling: There are additionally extra superior noise cancelling choices to tweak to fit your surroundings equivalent to Noise Discount, Noise Gate, and Compressor settings.
SteelSeries Alias Professional Evaluate Conclusion
SteelSeries’ design technique, incorporating a big, one-inch capsule contained in the microphone physique, proves profitable. Even when used on a desk, positioned removed from my mouth, the microphone captures my voice with exceptional readability, surpassing ambient and background noise. The voice stays crystal clear, devoid of any tinny or distant qualities, eliminating the necessity to increase my voice to be heard.
This marks the one occasion the place I discover pleasure in utilizing a desk stand microphone with out putting it in entrance of the keyboard for nearer proximity. For an optimum setup, attaching it to a increase arm additional reduces the Acquire, enhancing readability. The noise canceling by means of SteelSeries GG Sonar stands out as top-of-the-line I’ve skilled in a microphone (or a headset).
Establishing the Alias Professional is easy, with SteelSeries offering all the pieces wanted within the field—cabling, desk stand, shock mount, and so on. It’s a user-friendly, plug-and-play expertise, augmented by the inclusion of SteelSeries software program for these aiming to maximise its potential. And sure, it’s extremely really useful to put in SteelSeries GG and allows Sonar.
Whereas the Alias Professional caters excellently to streamers and content material creators, these on a funds not requiring these options can nonetheless benefit from the high quality by choosing the Alias (non-Professional) mannequin.
SteelSeries Alias Professional retails for A$629 and is obtainable on the SteelSeries web site and retailers in Australia. Additionally at Amazon.
Disclosure: SteelSeries Alias Professional evaluate pattern was equipped for reviewing
SteelSeries Alias Professional Evaluate
Abstract
The SteelSeries Alias Professional impresses with its glossy design, environment friendly single-cardioid sample, and superior options, making it a top-notch microphone for content material creators and streamers looking for distinctive readability and noise cancellation.
Execs
- Superb design
- Distinctive audio recording readability, because of the mix of {hardware} and software program
- Stream Mixer is beneficial and make issues accessible
- Packaging consists of all the pieces to get going
- The Professional is highly effective for streamers and content material creators
Cons
- Worth; however you possibly can go for the non-Professional if you’re not going to make use of it for streaming
