The SteelSeries Alias delivers strong performance in a premium design with innovative features like its LED display. It’s the perfect all-in-one package for gamers and budding content creators.
Pros
- Fantastic recording quality out of the box
- Excellent built-in controls
- Innovative LED display
- Intuitive controls
Cons
- Expensive compared to the competition
If you’re a serious streamer that relies on a setup with multiple PCs, then the SteelSeries Alias Pro is the better pick. It’s much more expensive, though, and its features won’t be useful for everyone.
Pros
- Supports two PCs at once
- Excellent recording quality
- Separate mixer included
- Professional XLR connection
Cons
- Trickier to set up
- Takes up lots more space
- Much fiddlier to control
The SteelSeries Alias vs Alias Pro matchup is likely something that you’ve been considering if you’re interested in picking up one of the best microphones for streaming or gaming.
These two models were released back in 2023 and come from the highly regarded gaming hardware brand SteelSeries. They share quite a lot in common on the surface level, including an overall capsule shape and similar materials, but are actually very different products aimed at completely distinct use cases.
The SteelSeries Alias is designed to be an all-in-one gaming microphone solution. It offers excellent plug and play performance right out of the box, helping you communicate clearly in calls with friends or teammates. Built with a combination of sleek black fabric and metal elements, plus some tasteful RGB, it’s a very premium looking microphone though this is certainly reflected by the relatively high $179.99 / £179.99 / AU$399 asking price.
Clever design means that it edges ahead of cheaper competitors like the Razer Seiren V2 Pro, which costs $149.99 / £149.99, or $139.99 / £119.99 HyperX QuadCast. It’s the microphone that I use on a daily basis, thanks in no small part to its in-built LED display and easy-to-use controls. The LEDs illuminate to show your current audio level, or a big red cross when the microphone is muted via the handy touch point button on its front – a life saver when I’m just about to cough in the middle of a meeting.
It comes with a great pack-in stand too, though is still compatible with a range of boom arms thanks to an included adapter if that’s your preferred setup.
The SteelSeries Alias Pro, in contrast, is purely aimed at content creators. It costs $329.99 / £319.99 / AU$699, which is an incredibly high price tag compared to most gaming microphones. You need to look over the world of XLR audio equipment for the price tag to make sense.
A decent XLR mic will set you back about $200 / £150 / AU$280, with another $100 / £80 / AU$150 to get your hands on a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to actually use it with your PC. Given that the Alias comes with a DAC out of the box, you would be spending about the same on a comparable from a brand like Rode.
The DAC here doubles as a stream mixer, with useful controls like the mute button and gain dial. It also features two separate USB Type-C inputs, which allow the mixer to be used with two PCs at the same time – ideal if you rely on a separate machine to process your stream.
Most users are not going to need these features, though, so there’s little point in paying almost double for the Alias Pro unless you’re already an established streamer. The separate mixer is also a lot more fiddly to use and more difficult to set up than the in-built controls of the Alias, which is a shame.
SteelSeries Alias vs Alias Pro: Price and value
The SteelSeries Alias and Alias Pro are both premium products, but still fall in very different price categories.
The SteelSeries Alias sits at the very top of the gaming microphone market, costing $179.99 / £179.99 / AU$399. It delivers excellent recording quality, but whether or not it’s worth it for you is going to depend on how much you value the sleek design and high-quality materials used.
At $329.99 / £319.99 / AU$699 the SteelSeries Alias Pro is in another league, going head to head with full XLR setups. By offering both a microphone and a DAC in the same package, it’s not a bad deal – but it’s a massive investment.
Thankfully both models are no stranger to massive price cuts. The SteelSeries Alias is routinely on sale for $129 in the US – a $50 price cut. In this price range it’s an absolute steal and comfortably better value than the competition.
The Alias Pro, meanwhile, often hovers around the $200 mark. It’s still expensive at this price, but not compared to a decent XLR mic and DAC. With these past prices in mind, savvy shoppers should definitely wait for sale events like Black Friday before taking the plunge.
SteelSeries also sells a compatible boom arm, which can be yours for around $100 / £100. This might be worthwhile if you want a perfectly all SteelSeries setup, but you can easily find generic alternatives for less than half that price.
SteelSeries Alias vs Alias Pro: Specs and performance
To help guide your purchasing decision, here is how the SteelSeries Alias and Alias Pro stack up in the specs department.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
SteelSeries Alias |
SteelSeries Alias Pro |
|
Price |
$179.99 / £179.99 / AU$399 |
$329.99 / £319.99 / AU$699 |
|
Polar pattern |
Cardioid |
Cardoid |
|
Sample rate |
48 KHz |
48kHz |
|
Bit rate |
24 bit |
24 bit |
|
Frequency range |
50 Hz – 20 KHz |
50 Hz – 20 KHz |
|
Impedance |
N/A |
N/A |
The SteelSeries Alias and Alias Pro might look similar on paper, but there are some major differences to bear in mind. Both are capable of 24bit and audio and have a 48KHz sample rate, though the Alias Pro relies on an XLR connection rather than USB like the Alias.
Rather than connecting directly to your PC, it requires a DAC to convert the analog signal. This takes the form of the included mixer, though the microphone will be compatible with your existing DAC if you already have one.
In terms of performance, the SteelSeries Alias sounds absolutely superb and is ideal for day-to-day use and casual streaming. It picks up your voice well with minimal background interference, especially when you pair it with the noise removal tools in the compatible Sonar software.
It’s impossible to fault as an all-round option, but the SteelSeries Alias Pro does sound noticeably better – as you would expect given the stark price difference.
The Alias Pro is ideal if you want a professional audio setup at home, be that for streaming, podcasting, or even recording audio books. Paired with software like Audacity and OBS Studio, plus appropriate sound dampening measures like acoustic foam in your room if needed, it delivers studio quality recordings.
You wouldn’t need audio of this quality outside of those kinds of use cases, though. A chat application like Discord, for example, relies on compression that will ultimately negate much of the difference between the two microphones.
SteelSeries Alias vs Alias Pro: Design and dimensions
Both microphones have a similar capsule-shaped design, but there are some major differences in how they operate.
The SteelSeries Alias features built-in LED indicators on the front, which light up to denote the current volume level. This makes it easy to work out whether you’re coming through loudly enough, with gain easily adjusted via the small adjustment knob. There’s also a handy button that you can tap to mute the microphone, reflected by a prominent red cross icon. The back of the Alias has a 3.5mm jack for monitoring headphones, plus a small volume dial.
The Alias also has some RGB lighting in a small ring at the bottom of the capsule. It’s not the most exciting lighting out there, but it can be customized using the compatible SteelSeries software and adds a nice little splash of color to your setup.
The capsule of the Alias Pro doesn’t feature any controls. They’re all located on the DAC mixer instead, which has an customizable RGB level indicator ring and a customizable RGB base light plus the gain knob, mute button, volume dial, and additional programmable button. The mixer is also where you will find the 3.5mm headphone jack for monitoring and two USB-C ports to plug in both of your PCs.
The capsules of both microphones are roughly the same size, at 9.1 x 5.1 x 4.3 inches / 23 x 13 x 11cm though the Alias Pro has a larger footprint on your desk thanks to the addition of the separate DAC mixer.
SteelSeries Alias vs Alias Pro: Verdict
Whether you should choose the SteelSeries Alias or Alias Pro depends heavily on your use case and budget.
If you’re just looking for an easy-to-use gaming microphone, the SteelSeries Alias is the one to go for. It’s much cheaper than the Pro and significantly easier to use. Having tested both microphones, it’s the one I’ve kept in my setup for the last two years as it looks great and performs very well.
If you are a professional content creator, though, then the Alias Pro could be worth the investment. If you use two PCs at the same time, or require seriously high-end recording quality then it is the better pick.
Just make sure that you will actually use its features, as otherwise you will be spending a lot more money for a microphone that’s harder to use and takes up more space in your setup.
The best microphones for streaming
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dash.wood@futurenet.com (Dashiell Wood)
