The Sterling Audio ST44 is a small diaphragm tube condenser microphone that is for use in the recording studio. A few months ago I had the opportunity to check out the ST44 at a large recording studio in Los Angeles. While the mic wasn't at all up there with the best that they had when you consider popularity or price, the ST44 did stand on it's own for the application I was using it for, which was as a distant room microphone in a very large room. The mic comes with a shock mount, hard shell carrying case, it's power supply and all the necessary cables. The mic does however require phantom power. The mic has a fixed cardioid polar pick up pattern and also has a -15 db pad and a high pass filter which is fixed at 75 Hz, dipping 12 db/octave. The mic has a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

OVERALL OPINION

The Sterling Audio ST44 is some of the best bang for your buck that I've seen as of late when it comes to tube condenser microphones. It's incredibly cheap and still has a very full and rich sound. I've only had the opportunity to use it for one session where I set it up as a mono room microphone about ten feet back from a drum set. I was really happy with the result as it added a certain room thickness to the kit that I didn't get with any of the other microphones on the kit. The price definitely is the best part about the ST44 as it's probably the best sounding tube mic for the money that I've heard. It's better than the Apex 460 in my opinion, and even though it costs a little bit more, it's going to be worth it in the end. Sterling Audio has some great deals including the ST44 and also the ST77. I'd check out the ST44 is you're in the market for a tube mic on a budget.