After three years of painstaking development, SteelSeries has released a pair of microphones, their first entry into the microphone market. They’ve released the SteelSeries Alias, a USB microphone (you can read my review of that here) and The Alias Pro, an XLR microphone that comes with more than any XLR microphone in recent memory.
The SteelSeries Alias Pro comes in a large box for a simple microphone, but there is a lot packed in there. In the box, you’ll find the Alias Pro with pre-attached desk stand and shock mount, an XLR cable, two USB-A to USB-C cables (which we will get into shortly), an adapter to mount the mic on a boom arm and, the main difference between the Alias Pro and every XLR mic before it, a mixer that is included in the box. Also included is the power cable for said mixer.
The capsule of the SteelSeries Alias Pro is a sizable one inch. It has the same body design as the SteelSeries Alias, minus the physical controls and lighting that can be found on the USB version of the microphone. Its unique design is rounded off with small grills that surround the outer edge of the mic, closest to the capsule, allowing air to pass through and better let ambient audio not be captured by the microphone.
The mixer for the Alias Pro, sitting at roughly 4.5”x3” really just looks like all the controls from the USB version just put into a separate hub, but there is a lot more to it. The secondary knob and “mute” button are both programmable via the SteelSeries Engine, allowing you to control any fader in the Sonar For Streamers Application, meaning that you can quickly mute your chat going out to the stream if someone is less than safe for work, or you can fade up the music on the knob for your audience between games.
On the back of the mixer, in addition to the XLR input and power, you’ll see a couple of curious ports. There is a line out jack to output your audio to a separate device, and two USB-C ports, both of them outputs. That makes this the first and only microphone that you can purchase that allows you to send your audio to both PCs in a dual-PC setup without any additional purchase. Sure, there are a number of mixers that are built to support dual-PC audio, but these are expensive extra pieces of equipment, not accessories that come in the box.
“The SteelSeries Alias Pro, with its EQ and AI noise cancellation, provided crisp audio that brought out the best in my voice.”
The mixer also has a headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring, has ambient LED lighting emitting from the bottom and provides 48V phantom power to the Alias Pro Condenser Microphone. What is just as interesting, however, is that you open yourself to so many combinations by owning this mic. You can plug in any XLR microphone into the SteelSeries mixer (just remember to shut off the phantom power if you are going to use a dynamic mic. This can be done via SteelSeries Engine) and you can plug the microphone into any other audio interface.
By using the mixer, you can connect to SteelSeries’ free software, Sonar For Streamers, giving you full audio control, complete with 10-band EQ and numerous presets to get the most out of every available source, including chat, media, your game, your mic and an auxiliary source. Beyond the EQ, the biggest feature in Sonar For Streamers is the Clearcast AI Noise Cancellation. It is a learning AI that ensures that only your voice is being captured on the microphone. Sounds from a dog barking in the background, to construction happening outside, to a fan in the room will be completely removed without any negative effect on your vocals. I put this to the test with an air conditioner mere feet from the microphone, and it wasn’t heard at all.
“You can count on the SteelSeries Alias Pro to be a mic that, even as a beginner, can stay with you for the entire length of your career as a content creator.”
The SteelSeries Alias Pro, with its EQ and AI noise cancellation, provided crisp audio that brought out the best in my voice. I tested the microphone up on a boom arm as well as on its desk stand in an attempt to see how well the noise cancellation worked with more distance between my mouth and the capsule. Mounted on the boom arm, my voice sounded richer with a little more natural base in my voice. When placed on the desk, which was not only further from my mouth (naturally, but also placed it off to the side, rather than right in front of me and also placed my keyboard between my mouth and the mic. This is where the noise cancellation really impressed me. The keyboard test that I did showed that frantic typing did not get captured as long as the noise cancellation was activated.
Whether you choose to go with the Alias Pro or the USB sibling, the Alias, depends on your needs. If you don’t have use for the extras that the mixer provides you, specifically if you don’t have a 2-PC setup (and don’t plan to have one) or if you have no need for the extra line out, then I would skip the Pro and just go with the Alias. All the controls you need are available on the Alias and, if you want some external control, you can set up key binds in Sonar For Streamers to control anything in the software and control them via hotkeys on your keyboard or an external controller like a Stream Deck.
The SteelSeries Alias Pro comes in at $329.99 USD, which would seem like a big price for a microphone, but you have to consider what you are getting. In addition to a top-notch microphone, you get a mixer that is not only customizable, but has an additional output and the ability to be sent to 2 separate PCs. Considering that value, the price is on par with combinations of microphones and small mixers, but in this case, you only have to make the one purchase. You can count on the SteelSeries Alias Pro to be a mic that, even as a beginner, can stay with you for the entire length of your career as a content creator.
