I’ve been a giant fan of SteelSeries’ gaming headsets over time, however I’ve at all times paired them with a devoted XLR microphone for improved high quality after I recreation with associates on Discord, hop on Zoom requires work, or sometimes stream on Twitch. Now, SteelSeries is filling the hole in its gaming lineup of equipment at the moment with the brand new Alias and Alias Professional microphones, designed with avid gamers and streamers in thoughts.
Each of SteelSeries’ new microphones are a primary for the corporate, with a pill-shaped design that nests right into a sturdy stand or attaches to a increase arm. Each use a customized one-inch condenser capsule that’s larger than what we sometimes see on gamer-focused microphones, mixed with a cardioid sample.
The $179.99 Alias connects over USB and affords achieve management on the entrance, alongside a mute button and an assortment of LEDs that may present degree monitoring. There’s RGB lighting, too, as a result of each gamer wants customizable colours on their microphone.
The $329.99 Alias Professional is a big step up, eradicating the onboard controls in favor of a devoted XLR Stream Mixer — a management station that sits in your desk. It takes the XLR microphone connection from the Alias Professional and provides a pre-amp, +48V phantom energy, and two USB-C ports. One is sufficient for a single PC setup, however the second can be utilized by steamers with a twin PC setup to connect with each a streaming PC and gaming PC.
The XLR Stream Mixer additionally affords a handy mic mute button, achieve management, and a customizable dial which you could pair to your headset quantity. There’s even a further mute button which you could customise to mute the audio channels present in SteelSeries’ Sonar software program.
I’ve been making an attempt out the Alias Professional over the weekend, and I’m impressed with what SteelSeries affords right here. I wasn’t initially an enormous fan of the Sonar app when it was a requirement on the launch of the Nova Professional Wi-fi headphones, however I’ve come to find it irresistible in latest months. Sonar is admittedly the place these microphones shine in comparison with the competitors.
I’ve used a mixture of apps like Voicemeeter over time and even devoted XLR interfaces just like the GoXLR and Elgato’s Wave XLR. SteelSeries has actually nailed the mixture of a management deck on your desk and the software program smarts to make all of it work in tandem. The Sonar software program affords up a number of audio channels, and you may simply drag and drop your apps into wherever you need them to output. SteelSeries does all of the work of forcing Home windows to conform, and it turns a sophisticated audio setup into a very easy course of.
It additionally has an AI-powered noise-cancellation function for the microphone, which is analogous to Nvidia’s Broadcast app. It’s nice at eradicating all the pieces however your voice from conversations, so your barking canine or the development employees close by aren’t picked up in any respect.
I’ve been utilizing the noise cancellation function of Sonar for months now paired with a Shure SM7B and Wave XLR to file podcasts and YouTube movies and infrequently stream on Twitch. It’s a dependable device that stops me from needing to rerecord audio if my dachshund decides to run into the room to attempt to play ball.
SteelSeries’ XLR Stream Mixer is the star of the Alias Professional present for me, and it’s far superior to Elgato’s Wave XLR. Whereas the Wave XLR sits there lifeless on my desk, the XLR Stream Mixer affords a simple strategy to see your microphone is choosing up your voice and clear LED indicators for if you’re on mute otherwise you’ve muted a specific audio channel. You may even customise the colours and brightness ranges of the LEDs, so it’s tremendous clear to see what’s muted or how your achieve is ready. The one draw back to this XLR Stream Mixer is that it requires energy from a wall socket, so if you wish to use it with a laptop computer, USB-C isn’t sufficient.
The Alias Professional microphone is a superb enchancment over among the extra fundamental gaming microphones in the marketplace at the moment, however I’m simply not an enormous fan of condenser microphones. In my testing of the Alias Professional, I discovered that it merely grabbed an excessive amount of of the room round me to provide an ever so barely echoey sound to my voice.
I personally use a $499 Shure SM7B, a extensively used microphone by streamers and professionals, so I’m completely spoiled by that microphone. Logitech, HyperX, and now SteelSeries are actually making an attempt to compete with Shure at a extra inexpensive degree. At $329.99 the Alias Professional can also be competing with Logitech’s Blue Sona, a $349.99 dynamic microphone. I can’t fairly assist however surprise what the Alias Professional would sound like if SteelSeries had opted for dynamic as an alternative, although.
I simply want that SteelSeries offered the XLR Stream Mixer individually. It affords the straightforward controls I need on an XLR interface, even when it’s not as absolutely featured as Focusrite’s Vocaster vary. For gaming and streaming, it makes Elgato’s $159.99 Wave XLR seem like a fundamental desk toy as compared. I requested SteelSeries whether or not there are any plans to promote it individually. “We presently do not need plans to promote the Stream Mixer on it’s personal, but when sufficient followers and customers need it, that could be one thing we discover as we’re at all times making an attempt to resolve issues for avid gamers,” says SteelSeries spokesperson Paul Murphy.
Even for those who’re not within the {hardware}, SteelSeries’ Sonar for streamers function of its GG app is a formidable strategy to route your audio in Home windows for those who’re a PC gamer or streamer. When you let it take over all the pieces, you’ll most likely by no means return to the difficult mixture of apps to good your audio setup.
The Alias is on the market at the moment priced at $179.99 (€199.99), and the Alias Professional additionally launches at the moment for $329.99 (€349.99). Each can connect to SteelSeries’ new increase arm, accessible for $99.99 (€99.99).
Images by Tom Warren / The Verge
