SHOULD YOU BUY THE LAUTEN AUDIO LA-220 v2?
Buy the Lauten Audio LA-220
AUDIO SAMPLES AT BOTTOM OF PAGE!
AH the final moment as we search for nirvana and BALANCE.
Yes my children, all things in balance is exactly what we have today, with the Lauten LA220…v2
Full disclosure - Lauten did send me this mic, and another one, for a future review, as well as some other fun things we are going to do in the future.
But for now, they know that this video is all mine, and they have no say in anything!
And considering my track record…well…
With that in mind, let’s see if this mic meets those criterion I stated before, as we dive in to one of the prettiest mics I have ever been hands on with.
BUILD QUALITY
And that is exactly what we have here…
An absolute experience to unbox…and what a bloody beautiful presentation.
At its price point…this is exactly the kind of packaging you should expect with a mic.
Not over the top…but also allowing you to keep the packaging as a protective case for the mic.
Nice touch.
When out of the box…you get a great looking mic.
Just a touch of give in the grille…
And the rest of the mic is powder coated black…with that red logo on the front.
It is a really nice looking microphone.
Two switches on the front as well…you have a high pass filter…as well as a low pass filter…something that is a bit different for a studio condenser…
We will get into the importance of that later.
This mic retails around the $350 usd mark…so we will keep that in mind while doing comparisons later.
SPECS
This thing is a hand tuned FET condenser microphone with the cardioid polar pattern.
It is 20hz to 20 khz
Max SPL of 130 db
Sensitivity of 16mv/Pa…
Self noise of 15db A-Weighted
The Low cut filter is at 120hz
And the high pass kicks in at 12khz
And you can see those in action here…with the frequency response graph.
The low cut is rather average…but that high cut…is rather aggressive.
And again…we will chat about why that is in a bit.
ABOUT LAUTEN
Lauten is based in California…
This is literally a family run company…meaning…there are 7 people running the place.
It is about as BOUTIQUE as you can get when talking about a mic company.
They are known for a wide range of mics that have been the talk of the industry since they launched the brand in 2006.
And while they have some mics that come with absolute eye watering price tags…
They also have mics like this one…the LA220…
Probably one of my most requested reviews to date.
A mic that receives the same quality of care…as those other higher end tube mics.
That is the beauty of boutique microphone companies…and what tends to set them apart from the larger corporations.
THE MEANING OF VERSATILITY
So…that flat balanced approach is the holy grail of studio mics…isn’t it?
Nice tight low end…clear mids…and silky highs and some nice presence to finish it off.
Not an easy ask these days…especially in this price point.
The highs on this mic are up there…and if you are sibilant like me…this might be an eq curve waiting to happen.
But again…my lispiness is not everyones experience…so your milage may vary.
There is just a touch of muddiness in the mids for my voice…nothing a small notch on the eq wont cure either…
All in all…balance.
But here is the thing.
Balance for voice…may not be balance for instruments.
A flute for example has much different demands for a microphone than a voice.
And with FET condensers…or solid state…non tube mics…
That beloved clarity can become a bit of a hinderance.
So no matter how balanced a studio mic is…it is utter trash if it isn’t working with the frequencies it is being fed.
And that is why this low pass filter…is a big game changer on this thing.
And as you heard on my Portuguese Uke…it can come in handy.
Which is the most important thing to a lot of studios…versatility.
A 350 dollar investment that can be used on multiple voicings is huge…
And if you are like me…and a u87 isnt in the budget…well…this thing…might just be…the next best thing.
PROS AND CONS
So…first up…beautiful sounding mic…
The coloration from off axis is quite low…and I was rather surprised at that…for this price point.
The proximity effect isn’t brutal either.
Sure…it kicks in…but the coloration isn’t egregious either…and the inherent muddiness is rather limited.
Very impressive.
Of course…as I mentioned earlier as well…this is a swiss army knife of mics too…it is super versatile, and will fit any mic locker.
As for the cons…well…I did notice a bit of resonance from it…but not overly much.
At the max sound pressure level that might cause a bit of distortion…but I doubt most people not named Dylan would hear that.
Otherwise if you are using this as a desk mic…try not to ping it.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT
Yeah…this one is a really easy recommendation.
And something that is cool when you buy from a boutique company like Lauten.
They don’t have the capital to release garbage…
Their reputation is hanging on each and every mic.
A company like Neumann can have QA issues with the BCM104…like we saw in our older video…and they can shrug it off…
But a company like Lauten is going to make sure those little checks are being done.
A very refreshing microphone from a world that is becoming more and more overwhelmed with mass produced options.
So yeah…it is a feel good purchase…for more than just the sound of the mic.
Stay tuned as well…we do have more coming from Lauten!
And from this…the LA220.
Cheers!
