The Swedish based Arozzi, renowned for their motor-sport inspired gaming chairs, are now offering a line of desktop microphones for streamers. Featuring high quality condenser capsule technology, along with plug and play convenience, could this be the microphone you are looking for?
Product on Review: Arozzi Colonna Silver
Manufacturer: Arozzi
Street Price: UK: £89.99 EU: €99.90
The microphone is an essential part of online life to allow you to have clear interaction with your friends and audience whether it is in-game, or recording a live stream; and for non-professionals that do not require an audio desk, a desktop USB microphone is your go-to friend. For some while now, the Blue Yeti has been the go-to solution for such tasks, whether it would be for streaming, recording videos on YouTube, or recording a Podcast with friends. Arozzi, a relatively young team based in Sweden, are now offering an alternative for high-quality USB microphone, of which the Colonna is their flagship part.
Available in Black, Gold, Silver, and Rose, the Colonna is a desktop microphone that is mounted on a heavy-duty base that in some sense does appear to be Blue Yeti esque. It features a 5/8 inch thread, which will enable it to be mounted on a standard microphone boom, and is completely plug & play. It features a headphone port for microphone monitoring, and features onboard dials for headphone volume, microphone sensitivity, as well as a switch to mute the microphone. At its heart, the microphone uses three 14mm high-quality condenser capsules that can pickup audio in three polar patterns (Cardioid, Bidirectional, Omnidirectional), which can be selected with the dedicated button. Coming in at €99.90, it undercuts the Blue Yeti’s pricing for their basic models, and so Arozzi are positioning themselves to provide better value than the competition.
Overview by Arozzi
Colonna microphone features classic desktop design in modern colors and offers studio-quality sound when streaming, gaming or recording on PCs, Macs and popular gaming consoles.
It uses high-quality condenser capsule technology with switchable pickup patterns (Omnidirectional, Cardioid, Bidirectional). Colonna features a 3.5 mm headphone jack with volume controller and a custom-made USB connector so users can literally “plug & play”, streaming in pro-level quality. The microphone also comes with a 5/8 inch thread mount so you can mount it on a studio boom microphone arm.
It uses high-quality condenser capsule technology with switchable pickup patterns (Omnidirectional, Cardioid, Bidirectional). Colonna features a 3.5 mm headphone jack with volume controller and a custom-made USB connector so users can literally “plug & play”, streaming in pro-level quality. The microphone also comes with a 5/8 inch thread mount so you can mount it on a studio boom microphone arm.
Technical Specifications
Specifications
Power Required/Consumption: 5V 500mA (USB)
Sample Rate: 22kHz to 192kHz
Bit Rate: 24bit
Capsule: 3 high quality 14mm condenser capsules
Polar Pattern: Omnidirectional, Cardioid, Bidirectional
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
Sensitivity: 4.5mV/Pa (1 kHz)
Max SPL: 120dB (THD: 0.5% 1kHz)
Headphone Amplifier
Impedance >16 ohms
Power Output (RMS): 130mW
THD: 0.009%
Frequency Response: 15Hz – 22kHz
Signal to Noise: 114dB
Dimensions
Height (Upright position): 27,5 cm 10,8 inches
Weight (microphone + stand): 1,4 kg 3,1 lbs
Cable: L-type shielded USB Cable: 300 cm 9.84 feet
Box Dimensions: 27,5x17x16 cm 10,8×6,7×6,3 inches
Gross Weight: 1,8 kg 3,97 lbs
System Requirements
PC: Windows Vista, XP Home Edition or XP Professional, Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 10
USB: 2.0 High Speed; 256 MB RAM (minimum)
Macintosh: Mac OSX (10.6.4 or higher)
USB: 2.0 High Speed; 256 MB RAM (minimum)
Power Required/Consumption: 5V 500mA (USB)
Sample Rate: 22kHz to 192kHz
Bit Rate: 24bit
Capsule: 3 high quality 14mm condenser capsules
Polar Pattern: Omnidirectional, Cardioid, Bidirectional
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
Sensitivity: 4.5mV/Pa (1 kHz)
Max SPL: 120dB (THD: 0.5% 1kHz)
Headphone Amplifier
Impedance >16 ohms
Power Output (RMS): 130mW
THD: 0.009%
Frequency Response: 15Hz – 22kHz
Signal to Noise: 114dB
Dimensions
Height (Upright position): 27,5 cm 10,8 inches
Weight (microphone + stand): 1,4 kg 3,1 lbs
Cable: L-type shielded USB Cable: 300 cm 9.84 feet
Box Dimensions: 27,5x17x16 cm 10,8×6,7×6,3 inches
Gross Weight: 1,8 kg 3,97 lbs
System Requirements
PC: Windows Vista, XP Home Edition or XP Professional, Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 10
USB: 2.0 High Speed; 256 MB RAM (minimum)
Macintosh: Mac OSX (10.6.4 or higher)
USB: 2.0 High Speed; 256 MB RAM (minimum)
Packaging & First Look
The packaging is sleek and elegant with little clutter, with just the brand logo, product image and name, and description.
The reverse side gives an overview of what the product is, and lists its various features in several different languages.
Included in the packaging is the manual and a 3m USB cable.
The Colonna microphone is 275mm tall, and weighs 1.4Kg with the stand. At the front, underneath the Arozzi logo, you will find the microphone mute button and the headphone volume dial.
Closer Look
The stand itself features some knobs which can be adjusted to hold the microphone at various angles, and features some rubber grommets to reduce vibration sent to the microphone.
On the rear face, the microphone features a button to toggle between the polar pickup patterns, and the microphone sensitivity dial.
The microphone can be easily angled using the included stand, allowing you to position it however is best for your situation.
At the base, you will find the USB port, and the headphone jack to monitor the recording.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & ObservationsSetting up the Arozzi Colonna will require a spare USB 2.0 port, from there it is plug and play.
The included cable is 3m long which is great as it allows you to position the microphone at a significant distance away from your PC system, however we would have liked the cable to feature some braiding, and a ferrite core to reduce any interference (RFI or EMI).
Much of the body of the Colonna is plastic, while high quality, it does dampen the ‘visual’ quality a little, but this can easily be overlooked. However, the frame on the included stand, and is rather bouncy and likely to easily cause interference with the microphone should you accidentally knock the microphone. The dials too are plastic, but felt fine and certainly capable of doing what they are intended for. The onboard buttons are very stiff clicking, and we would prefer a little more squish or resistance to them.
Performance Testing
During our testing, we did note that there was indeed some RFI, as well as background vibrational noise caused by our PC systems cooling, this is an inevitable consequence of having the microphone placed within 600mm of both our PC system, and our WiFi Router. However, voice pick up is incredibly clear and detailed, and despite not using a pop-filter, it didn’t choke under the pufferances of any of the plosives (sounds when aspirated, you expel a puff of air, for example the letter P). Our recording is a fairly easy fix to clean up using basic filters, but in an environment where you are streaming, you may wish to adjust your desktop, and system positioning to ensure there is no interference, while you may wish to use a microphone boom to mount the Colonna, allowing it to be both closer to you, while allowing you to reduce the sensitivity. Thanks to the long cable and various pickup patterns, you should have no problem using it for group recordings, or Podcasts.
To test out if we could reduce the RFI, we swapped the cable out for a cheap £3 one from Amazon. We found that it did reduce the RFI, but didn’t eliminate it completely, and so it is likely that I would need to rearrange my setup/system to help improve, and reduce any interference. Also, simply buying a higher-quality shielded cable will fix the issue; regardless, this isn’t something that should be necessary.
Conclusion
Those looking for a desktop USB microphone for streaming, recording podcasts, or for general recording purposes, may certainly want to consider a USB option, and if you are looking for something that represents good value, the Arozzi Colonna is certainly up to the task. The Colonna can be quickly setup for high quality recording out the box.
We, of course, would loved to have seen the Colonna feature more aluminium, such as on the buttons, dials and body. This would give a more professional, high-quality finish to the overall impression of the microphone. We also noted that the so called ‘shielded cable’, picked up some interference in our recording, which is slightly annoying also. Our restest did show that any RFI is likely to be curtailed by buying another, high quality shielded cable, this shouldn’t be necessary, but if it is, it will eat into any savings had when choosing the Colonna over the competition. Regardless, at around £99/€99 it can be found for £20-30 cheaper than the Blue Yeti, and can deliver some great results. So if you are looking for a new desktop microphone, keep an eye out for Arozzi and the Colonna.
The Arozzi Colonna is easy to setup, and is capable of recording high quality, detailed audio.
Pros.
+ Solid build quality
+ Available in 4 colours
+ Various pick-up patterns for different use
+ On-board controls
+ High-quality recording
+ Headphone monitoring port
+ Plug and Play
+ 3m Cable
+ Price
Neutral
+- Large/heavy
+- Plastic exterior
Cons.
– Included cable picks up RFI/EMI
+ Solid build quality
+ Available in 4 colours
+ Various pick-up patterns for different use
+ On-board controls
+ High-quality recording
+ Headphone monitoring port
+ Plug and Play
+ 3m Cable
+ Price
Neutral
+- Large/heavy
+- Plastic exterior
Cons.
– Included cable picks up RFI/EMI
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
