New Music Gear Monday: Slate VMS M-1A Virtual Microphone System

Microphones are like guitars – they all sound different, and that makes us want to collect them. Just like guitars, that can get expensive, but luckily the virtual microphone comes to the rescue, where you can select from a wide variety of popular mic emulations for a fraction of the cost of purchasing an entire mic locker. Slate Digital has been involved with virtual mics almost from the beginning of the genre, and it’s latest ML-1A takes up where its older ML-1 left off.

The ML-1A differs from its original version in not only a sleek new look, but also in its additional features. Like the original, it’s a large diaphragm condenser mic, but this one is a lot quieter, with only 8dB of self-noise. It also adds a built-in pad which can provide 10 or 20dB of attenuation, and that means it will handle up to 145dB SPL, so that it should handle the transients of just about any drum without overloading.

It’s All In The Plugin

The magic really happens in the Virtual Microphone System plugin. There you can select a microphone emulation, trim the input level, and insert an adjustable low-frequency rolloff filter. You can also adjust the proximity affect, and select the Intensity control. This allows you to blend the amount of virtual mic emulation with the raw microphone signal, but it also allows you to add up to 50% more of the emulation to really emphasize the particular tone of that model.

A unique aspect of the plugin is that you can also switch into Dual mode, which then allows you to select two virtual mics. You can then adjust the Interpolate control to adjust the balance between them.

The plugin doesn’t stop there. There are also controls for mono or stereo operation complete with Pan and Width controls, and a slot to add a virtual microphone preamp as well.

There are 36 virtual microphones available (include the new expansion pack from Radio France), but the unit ships with 18 out of the box. It also includes a shock mount and carrying case.

The retail price for the Slate ML-1A is $599 and is available from most audio retailers. You can find out more here, or watch the video below.