This article follows up on our first article on the Lauten Audio Eden LT386 in which we examined the effect of this mic’s three voicing options. In this second article we test the versatility of the three different voicing options of the Lauten Audio Eden LT386 by recording a whole track using only this mic.

Every studio should have a tube condenser microphone in their selection, but with so many options with large price tags, it can be a difficult decision which to go for. The Lauten Eden LT-386’s trademark Multi-voicing technology gives the microphone 3 different voices - forward, neutral and gentle. Along with 2 high-pass filter options and 3 switchable polar-patterns (cardioid, figure of 8, and omni-directional), this is arguably the most versatile tube condenser microphone we have used here at Cube Recording.

To find out more about the LT386 and the different voicing options it offers, read our article on this and audition example audio files which directly compare these options. You’ll hear how the differences between these options isn’t subtle. They are different enough to be useful but not taken so far as to make any of them distracting or overdone.

To test the versatility of this microphone, we had Aime Rose in the studio - 1 half of the duo, True Foxes. We decided to record her song ‘Sunny’ with 5 different instruments, using only the Lauten Eden LT-386 - taking advantage of the options of voices, filters and polar-patterns, and auditioning the options to find the most please sound for each instrument.

Before recording, I familiarised myself with the switchable options on the microphone and how each affects to the sound captured. The 3 voices the microphone has are: forward, neutral and gentle, displayed on the switch with F/N/G.

Lauten describe the characteristics of each voice as below

• Forward is bold, present and modern, but never harsh.

• Neutral is smooth and earthy with a natural balancing of sibilant sounds

• Gentle is dark and sultry with a warm vintage feel, ideal for taming bright and abrasive sound sources.

The microphone has 2 high-pass filter options, and this filter can also be bypassed. The top position is the filter bypassed. The middle position is what Lauten call the kickshaper filter, as it has a steep low roll-off. The bottom position is what Lauten call the vocalshaper filter, as it has a smoother roll-off.

Kick Drum - Cardioid, Forward Voicing With Kick Shaper

At first, I was a bit unsure as to why a high-pass filter would be designed specifically with the bass drum in mind, as it’s one of the few sound sources I wouldn’t filter any low-end from. The microphone was placed 4-6 inches from the resonant head of the bass drum and just off-centre. The microphone was in cardioid mode, and I auditioned the kick-shaper filter, and was very pleasantly surprised as to how the filter cleaned up any boominess, but still retained the desired low-end thud. I had the voice on forward mode, hoping it would capture more top-end for the bass drum, as I didn’t have a microphone inside the bass drum. The forward voicing didn’t disappoint.

Tambourine - Cardioid, Gentle Voicing With Kick Shaper

Next we recorded tambourine, which we selected the gentle voice for, as it tamed the abrasiveness you often get when close miking tambourine. I kept the microphone in cardioid mode with the kick-shaper filter engaged.

Electric Guitar - Cardioid, Forward Voicing

We then recorded electric guitar, with a Yamaha Revstar going through a Vox AC30. The microphone was positioned 2-3 inches from the grill, just off-centre of the speaker cone. This is quite a warm sounding amplifier, so we switched the voicing back to forward to capture a little more top-end. I bypassed the high-pass filter for this.

Vocals - Omni, Gentle Voicing Vocal Shaper

When it came to recording vocals, we auditioned the 3 voices to see what suited Aime’s vocal, and the track, the best. Aime’s voice was a little sibilant on the forward setting, but the gentle setting smoothed this out great.

Piano - Omni, Neutral Voicing With Vocal Shaper

Finally, we added piano to the recording. Taking advantage of the switchable polar-patterns, I decided to use the omni-directional polar pattern. Usually, I would record piano with a stereo pair of cardioid microphones, so felt omni-directional would help pick up the hammers across the piano, as well as capturing more of the room ambience. I kept the high-pass filter on the vocalshaper setting.

In summary, we found this microphone very impressive. There are many versatile tube condenser microphones with switchable polar patterns and high-pass filters, but Lauten have fine tuned 2 different high-pass filter options, which is very useful for cleaning up the low end - particularly if you’re a fan of compressing signals on the way in! The Lauten Eden LT-386 handles high pressure levels incredibly well, and it’s 3 voices all have their own flavour of coloration that’s desired when recording with a tube condenser microphone.