As the market for livestreaming and gaming microphones continues to remain active and bustling, it’s hard to find a middle ground between USB mics that are good for getting started and expensive XLR setups that are more suited to a studio. However, SteelSeries took note of that middle ground and developed a new line of microphones that are built from the ground up to hit the sweet spot between ease of use and professional quality audio capture and mixing. The results are the Alias and Alias Pro, the latter of which we thoroughly tested and found to be an incredible experience for both newcomers looking to learn and well-seasoned streamers that want to improve their sound quality and custom options.
What’s in the box?
The Alias Pro is a hefty package of goods. The mic itself is quite a manageable size. Compared to my previous Blue Yeti X mic, the Alias Pro mic itself is about four inches shorter. It’s also thinner, and its stand is smaller profile as well. The regular Alias packs a similar form factor, but the Pro features quite a few extras. There’s an XLR cable packed in with the Pro, as well as a console that handles mute, gain, and volume functions. It also comes with a screw hinge that can be swapped in for the mic stand so it to be attached to most boom arms and two USB-C to USB-A cables that allow for dual PC audio capture.
I’m an instant fan of the size of the Alias Pro. It’s so much easier to maneuver around than most mics I’ve used for the power and versatility it packs in. It becomes a little less convenient with all the wires you’ll plug in, plus finding a spot for the volume/gain/mute control console, but it’s still a pretty tidy package. I suggest keeping the ties that secure the cords because they will go a long way in helping you to reduce wire clutter once you’ve got your placement sorted. I also like the fact the mic stand that comes with the Alias has a built-in shock mount. Just for kicks, I did a lot of slapping and pounding on my desk during testing to see just how much feedback I could get out of the Alias Pro. Not much, it turns out. That shock mount is dang good at its job.
How does it handle?
Out of the box, the SteelSeries Alias Pro is a pretty solid mic once set-up and activated. One of the things that helps it to achieve that is its sound capsule. I had a chance to talk with SteelSeries Head of Audio Jordan Trais, who told me this was the core of innovation in the Alias design. It packs a capsule that’s about three times as large as that of a standard mic. In the end, that allowed the developers to create a sound capture system that’s meant to be more rich, bigger, and vibrant.
Having heard Trais himself on the Alias Pro, and having tested it for myself, I can happily say that the development seems to have paid off. Once I mixed the Alias Pro’s settings to my specifications, I found it sounding clean and rich, handling my highs and lows with impressive clarity and impact. One of the most impressive parts of it I observed during my chat with Trais, and during my testing, is that the Alias Pro seems to create a stable bubble around the user that captures sound consistently well. I move around a lot when I stream and don’t necessarily end up speaking right into the mic when I’m playing. That isn’t an issue with the Alias Pro. It picked my voice with satisfactory consistency whether I leaned in, leaned away, or moved all over the place. I won’t say it’s magic, but it is dang good at creating this bubble where you’ll sound stable and clean no matter where you move in front of it within reason.
What’s more, the control console makes the Alias Pro easy to adjust as you go. I liked having easily accessible mute buttons not only for the mic itself, but also for PC volume itself. You can also mess with the mic gain and output volume with further knobs on the console. You can even customize them with some RGB lighting effects via settings in the SteelSeries GG program.
So… what about SteelSeries GG?
Source: SteelSeries
Previously, I’ve cared very little about SteelSeries GG. I’ve used it to change the RGB settings on a few SteelSeries devices in the past, but the Alias Pro ended up getting me far more invested in it, specifically because of Sonar. I’d say SteelSeries GG is a must for this mic because where it works well on its own, SteelSeries Sonar brings out the best in it. For one, Sonar lets you activate AI-powered noise canceling for the Alias Pro. What that means is that as Sonar learns the patterns of your voice, it will learn to cancel out things that aren’t your voice. That, in of itself, is a great reason to have it for the Alias, but there are other great features included as well.
Sonar lets you sort pretty much every sound input and output on your PC into five categories. You can even program apps to operate within your mix. Let me tell you, getting this thing ready for OBS was an absolute breeze because you can mix your sound settings in Sonar, messing with your highs, lows, mids, and bass as you see fit, and then you can easily load those settings into OBS by selecting Sonar as your input source, a pro tip given to me by Mr. Trais that I’m now passing on to you. Once I knew how to do it, getting my ideal settings over to OBS and streaming with them was a snap.
Big sound, big tag
Over and over, I found myself enamored with the ease of use of the Alias Pro, the customization I could lock in to get to my ideal sound input, and the features it packs in to create a quality sound experience. For all of this, there’s only one thing I find prohibitive about this mic: Its price. The Alias Pro retails for $329.99 USD, which is well above most USB mics. Comparatively, the regular Alias mic retails at $179.99 USD, but then you lose out on the XLR cable and control console in favor of a USB mic that has the mute and gain knobs built into the actual mic itself.
However, I’d also argue that the Alias Pro feels to me like a Swiss Army Knife of a mic. Whatever I wanted out of it, it had the capability to deliver and even surprised me regularly with what it could do. If this keeps me from needing another mic for a few years or more, I’d say that’s worth it, especially since it’s still cheaper than most quality studio setups. Whether you feel the same is for you to decide, but if you want a mic that will rise to meet your growth as a livestreamer or what have you, this might be the one.
This review is based on a sample unit provided by the manufacturer. The Alias Pro is available for $329.99 USD via the SteelSeries website and partnered retailers.
SteelSeries Alias Pro Microphone
- Solid sound capture out of the box
- Solid mixing and customization with Sonar
- AI Noise Cancellation is awesome
- Built-in shock mount works great
- Control console keeps lots of functions in easy reach
- Sound capture stays stable even during intense movement
- Mic itself is small and easy to find space for
- Hefty price tag
- Lots of wire clutter
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replyTJ Denzer posted a new article, SteelSeries Alias Pro microphone review: A sound investment
