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Wedges2 « It was good until it stopped working. »
Published on 04/04/11 at 18:13The Sterling Audio ST51 is a condensor mic I used to record vocals and guitar with in my studio.
OVERALL OPINION
For the time before it broke after a year which I'll talk about later it was actually very good. For a 1 hundred dollar mic I was impressed. It was a sturdy well made mic. It didn't sound to bad either. In fact it didn't really have a characteristic about the sound I didn't like. It wasn't too bright or harsh and it wasn't too warm. I thought it had a nice balance. It doesn't require that much gain either. I turned up the gain less than half most times. For being in a studio without a noise proof recording room this mic worked well because it wasn't all that sensitive.
Using it was easy as well. It requires phantom power so you'll need an interface with that ability. I just plugged it into the XLR port turned on the phantom power and it was ready to go. On the outside of the mic nothing ever happened and it was scraped against ceilings and bumped and moved some what.
I wish it came with more accessories though. It didn't come with a pop filter or a shockmount. Just a normal mount.
Now after a year and being pleased it just started sounding different. It really picked up more reverb than normal and boosting around 200hz. It was very strange and it happened just outside the 1 year warranty so needless to say I was mad.
So bottom line, no I wouldn't recommend this mic just for the fact that it broke after a year. It sounded nice but I'm sure you'll be able to find another mic just as good for the same price that won't break.
OVERALL OPINION
For the time before it broke after a year which I'll talk about later it was actually very good. For a 1 hundred dollar mic I was impressed. It was a sturdy well made mic. It didn't sound to bad either. In fact it didn't really have a characteristic about the sound I didn't like. It wasn't too bright or harsh and it wasn't too warm. I thought it had a nice balance. It doesn't require that much gain either. I turned up the gain less than half most times. For being in a studio without a noise proof recording room this mic worked well because it wasn't all that sensitive.
Using it was easy as well. It requires phantom power so you'll need an interface with that ability. I just plugged it into the XLR port turned on the phantom power and it was ready to go. On the outside of the mic nothing ever happened and it was scraped against ceilings and bumped and moved some what.
I wish it came with more accessories though. It didn't come with a pop filter or a shockmount. Just a normal mount.
Now after a year and being pleased it just started sounding different. It really picked up more reverb than normal and boosting around 200hz. It was very strange and it happened just outside the 1 year warranty so needless to say I was mad.
So bottom line, no I wouldn't recommend this mic just for the fact that it broke after a year. It sounded nice but I'm sure you'll be able to find another mic just as good for the same price that won't break.