Repeating golden placement of studio microphones between recording sessions can be a bit of an imprecise pain. The UK's Aston Microphones has come up with an industry first that could save precious time, a whole load of stress and allow for accurate positioning recall from session to session. The company has tapped into boardroom presentation tech to design the Starlight, a pencil microphone with an integrated laser pointer.
The Starlight's Class 2 laser module – like those found in laser pointers, not the kind that can bring down drones or take out trucks – is mounted to the top of its stainless steel chassis. There doesn't appear to be any measurement of distance using the laser, so engineers will still have to break out the tape measure, but it should mean that mics can be set up in the studio or stage in relation to equipment and the layout repeated.
The laser can be activated or deactivated with the first of a bank of switches on the side, while the second is used to engage either vintage, modern or hybrid voice filtering settings. The active filters have been positioned at the front end of the discrete microphone amp circuit to alter the response of the 20 mm cardoid capsule within the sintered head without adding unwelcome noise.
The Starlight was announced at last week's Winter NAMM show in California and is due for release next month for an as yet undisclosed price.
Source: Aston
