Quality Condensers for all vocal situations – LYRA & ARA Review

AKG Is known in the audio recording industry for recording artist quality devices, and has been part of the Harman brand of audio devices since 1994. Now they are breaking into the gaming market with a couple of versatile condenser microphones, Ara and Lyra.

Right from the opening of the box it’s clear that AKG puts an emphasis on design. Both the Ara and the Lyra are sleek, and striking. The lower priced Ara is softer and rounder while the feature rich Lyra leans into sharper angles with its boxier body. I really like the style and aesthetics of these microphones. More striking and less status-quo. Not to mention the quality and weight of the stands make them feel easy to adjust, without having to worry about bouncing them around or knocking them over. They also include a universal mounting hardware if you are looking to fit them to your existing equipment or want to go the extra mile in your setup with a desk arm or tripod setup.

Before I dig too deep into the features and qualities of each of these microphones let’s take a look a the listed specs for each:

LYRA – $150
USB 2.0 (type-C port)
Transducer: 4 proprietary, permanently polarized back plate, condenser capsules
Capture Modes Selectable: Front, Front & Back, Tight Stereo and Wide Stereo
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
Bit Depth / Sample Rate: 24-bit / 192 kHz
Maximum SPL: 129 dB SPL (0.5% THD)
Power Requirement/Consumption: 5V USB / 75 mA
Headphone Impedance: 16 ohms
Headphone Power Output (RMS): 43 mW
Headphone THD: <0.009%
Headphone Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 22kHz
Headphone S/N Ratio: 98.0 dB

ARA – $100
USB 2.0 (type-C port)
Transducer: 2 fixed-charge back plate, permanently polarized condenser capsules
Capture ModesSelectable; Front, Front & Back
Frequency Response20 Hz – 20 kHz
Bit Depth / Sample Rate24-bit / 96 kHz
Maximum SPL120 dB SPL (0.5% THD)
Power Requirement / Consumption: 5V USB / 75 mA
Headphone Output Impedance: 16 ohms
Headphone Power Output (RMS): 12 mv (16 ohm)
Headphone THD: 0.03%
Headphone Frequency Response: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Headphone S/N Ratio: 91db

Without getting into some of the more nuanced technical differences, the Lyra and Ara have a lot of similarities apart from audio recording quality. Both devices have a dedicated listening aux port with a listen volume knob. They both feature a USB-C port for easy device connectivity. Both come with an on-device mute button and have a knob to change cardioid patterns. This is where things start to differ. The Ara only has two capture modes, or cardioid patterns to choose from: “Front” and “Front and Back” while the Lyra also adds “Tight Stereo” and “Wide Stereo” essentially allowing users to capture omnidirectional audio. For me having the option for versatility puts the Lyra just above the Ara in those respects. I can leave the Ara plugged in to my home setup, in a stationary position for remote podcasting, and chatting online and then have the Lyra ready to go for more advanced situations that require some more dynamic capture abilities, and not having to rely on software to adjust the gain is just a huge plus for me. Having the gain adjustment directly on the device also means I can be recording in a noisy distillery production room, dialing down the gain when the noise changes quickly, without having to fumble around with alt-tabbing to the right software.

Cardioid patterns are quite valuable when it comes to a USB condenser microphone and both models of these AKG microphones have options. They give the user the flexibility of changing the input direction (where to listen for sound) that can match the setup. While the lower-priced Ara only has the two options: Front and Front & Back, that’s actually more than most people need, especially for a solo streaming, podcasting and chatting. The Front setting is gonna be where most people live with the Ara unless you are bringing your microphone with you to do some one-on-one podcasting interviews. This is why I’ve found the Ara is great to set up at a home desk option, even better on a microphone arm. A set it and forget it solution. The Lyra on the other hand, is more versatile. In addition to the two cardioid capture patterns of the Ara, Lyra also includes Tight Stereo and Wide Stereo. These are essential for capturing vocals from a group of people. The Lyra is what I am going to be using for the next round table podcast recording after a convention when the MonsterVine crew gets back together in-person. This will let people sit more comfortably while still capturing audio from multiple directions, and still getting rich and quality recording.

What’s great about both microphones is that they function well in all environments. I preferred using the Lyra in more dynamic use cases (while at the typically noisy distillery) because of the dedicated gain knob, especially when I am using the microphone and bouncing between different spaces on different days. When you don’t have an easy to access software solution, like when streaming with a single screen and not having access to your production software, it’s nice to be able to just adjust those settings directly on the microphone.

Both microphones offer rich audio capture and recording capabilities. I didn’t get to test the devices as a singer-songwriter (because I don’t play any instruments) but I can say that whether using it for discord to chat with my friends, hosting the occasional twitch stream, or recording some simple voice segments for a podcast, the quality for a single speaker was great. I’d give a slight edge to the Lyra again in this department, but I don’t think most people are gonna be able to tell the difference, especially if you’re sending your audio over the internet where it’s being compressed and altered through your software anyway.

The Good
Great vocal capture quality
Class Compliant Drivers (tested on Win10, OSX & Android)
USB-C Port
Easy improvement over most gaming microphones
Stylish Design

The Bad
Limited to USB (No XLR port)
Ara lacks an on-device gain control

The Final Word:

Both these new condenser microphones have a lot to offer when it comes to a good bang for your buck with vocal audio recording. The Ara is a great price point, and better than a lot of other products at the $100 mark, while also breaking away from the played out, cookie cutter cylinder style offerings that a lot of the other devices on market offer. This is an absolutely great solution for those looking to ditch their cheap webcam or headset microphone and give their Discord channels, twitch streams and podcasting a level-up. My ultimate recommendation is to go with the Lyra. Only an extra $55 and for me, that dedicated gain knob and the additional two capture profiles makes it way more flexible and dynamic for when you have the opportunity to capture room audio, record an in-person podcast with more than two people while still sitting comfortably, or if you are gonna bounce between recording locations or rooms and want to be able to tweak and configure things directly from the device.