NEWS

It looks like an old classic mic plucked from the past, time-traveled to the future for a redesign, and transported to the present day. But for all its cool retro-futuristic photogenic good looks, the AKG Ara is a powerful tool for podcasters, vloggers, gamers, and of course musicians.

Ara is a two-pattern USB microphone designed to capture audio at 24-bit, 96kHz resolution for crystal-clear speech clarity and stunning vocal and instrument tracks. Under its screen lie 2 fixed-charge back plate, permanently polarized condenser capsules; yes, this is a condenser mic and it runs on 5V USB/75 mA. Beside its USB port is a Headphones Out making audio connectivity ridiculously simple and self-contained.

Ara has 2 modes: Front and Front/Back. Front mode, as the name makes obvious, captures audio in front of the mic in a cardioid polar pattern for first-person audio capture. Front/Back puts Ara in omni mode and captures audio from— you guessed it— its front and back. This is perfect for clear one-on-one interviews or to capture performances from ensembles.

Lightweight and portable, Ara is at home on its desktop stand, but you can also use it with a boom stand, and it is extremely easy to use thanks to USB connectivity and class-compliant drivers. It works with Mac® and PC, plus iOS® and Android™ tablets and phones. Plug-in-and-play; that’s it! No need to have outboard gear or a sound engineer to hook it up. It’s camera-friendly so podcasters don’t have to worry about having a clunky-looking contraption sharing screen time. 

The AKG Ara Professional Two-Pattern USB Condenser Microphone and other AKG By Harman products are available at Lyric stores nationwide. Better yet, order it here: AKG Ara Microphone.