SteelSeries Alias & Alias Pro

In a world where most of the stuff you buy in your local electronic store is rebranded crap coming from the same factory, and always a one-size-fits-all solution, hardware writers always perk up when SteelSeries invites you to a presentation and told after that "something will be shipped to you". It's the sure indication of SteelSeries being proud of having made something from scratch. That should be a given, but with computer hardware, it very often isn't.

In this case, SteelSeries is launching a, for them, new type of product: a gaming microphone. Not a PC microphone, not a podcast microphone, but a dedicated streaming microphone aimed at gamers. While we do play into their narrative, there are some pretty valid points to be found in not only the presentation, but also the tech material provided.

Because SteelSeries has a valid point. Why waste space and money on three tiny capsules to have an "omni recording pattern" that is capable of being utilised for a multi-purpose podcast setup, when all you need is one person speaking into it, nothing else, and if possible, without picking up the sound of 1000 key presses a minute?

What they have made is a massive, 25mm thumb size custom microphone capsule, and put it into a directional casing. It's a cardioid type, and it makes sense. It also makes a lot more sense with such a big capsule that records in 24 bit/48KHz.

It's housed inside a rounded chassis, placed on a shock mount, and attached to a very solid metal base. It's an odd pill-box-shaped housing, and I must say that while I understand going for lightweight material can make sense, there are other microphones on the market that are of the same quality sound-wise, but in an all-metal housing. As a metal housing is also the standard for studio microphones, the design and feel is nice. The premium feel of a metal housing should be included at this price point, but my main criticism is why not make the metal shock mount in the same material and colour to complete the look?

The {Alias} connects with USB-C, and has LED lights behind the fabric, and on-mic controls. It has mute and gain on the front, and a volume for monitoring on the back where a headphone jack is also hidden away. Does it have RGB? Yes, they couldn't control themselves. It's not cheap at €200, but given that it's a real product that isn't just a rebrand, I'd say that alone makes it worth it.

The {Pro} comes bundled with the new SteelSeries {Stream Mixer} that provides power to the XLR mic as it acts as a preamp with 48V phantom power, and has two USB ports for either using separate streaming and gaming computers, or very advanced setups. The mixer is easy to use, and partially customisable, but more importantly, the soft touch surface feels nice, and there is a good squishy feedback from the buttons. The {Mixer} is roughly equivalent to most €200 mixers available on the market, and so a combined price with stand and XLR cable of €350 isn't cheap, but it's cheap in comparison to less adequate solutions. It's possible to find better or slightly cheaper XLR mixers on the same level, but these are usually aimed at professional users, meaning they are ugly and sometimes difficult to set up, and the dual-PC support is a pretty brilliant move.

The sound is really great, neutral although with a slight lower mid boom to it and a well rounded treble that never gets metallic or harsh, hence the EQ options if you still like that sort of thing. The {Pro} has a slightly lower noise floor than the normal USB version, but otherwise seems identical in their sound signature. There still is this odd sound that is picked up as do most computer mics, and I suspect it comes down to micro-vibration and room acoustics, but it is noticeable that you are recording in front of a computer, and not in a professional setting - which would be odd otherwise. Don't get me wrong, computer recorded audio has leaped considerably over the last five years, but we are not at the finish line yet.

SteelSeries has one extra trick up its sleeve: the new and very improved sonar sound software (free and compatible with all brands of hardware). It makes setup a breeze with a small prompt that kindly asks you what hardware should be used for what and where it should go. And while SteelSeries might want to focus on equalizers, noise gates, drag-n-drop setup and lots of options with all sources and outputs, as well as general manipulation options, there is one brilliant feature that outshines everything else: the AI noise cancellation. I tested it in a busy office, in a large urban area, with the window open and both rain, traffic and generally noisy co-workers around. It supressed all of it to very low levels. The new version launching today also should have the new de-reverb function we had access to, providing reverb-haunted users the option of removing unwanted echo from their sound.

For more advanced users, the graphical user interface used to do app routing might be some of the most user friendly I have seen in a long time, anyone using OBS knows just how awful some streaming software can be. It also allows you full manual control of each of the five inputs and outputs, including a fully separate equalizer. And while some might get it for the Streamer Mode that makes for a one-app solution, I find their game specific EQs to be of great value, on the verge of cheating as sound optimisation in esports games really does make a significant difference in locating the enemy and the classical "hearing before seeing".

So, an overall great product, actually a fantastic first attempt at a microphone with the ease of use and setup we honestly should get every time, no matter the brand.