LAUTEN AUDIO LA-320

The Lauten Audio LA-320 Twin Tone Tube Condenser Microphone Version 2.

Oh we’re getting into it.

This mic is insanely impressive. And I don’t even mind saying it right off the hop.

This is the second Lauten Audio microphone that I’ve tried and it’s safe to say that I think Lauten Audio might be my new favorite mic company of all time. And I haven’t even gotten to try the big flagship signature series mics yet. But I think I’ve discovered Atlantis!

The first review I did on Lauten Audio, I told you about an actual dream I had where I must have absorbed Lauten Audio’s subliminal advertising in my mind somehow, because I was first introduced to Lauten Audio in a dream. As woo woo as that sounds, I assure you, it’s all true.

Lauten sent me the LS-208 large diaphragm condenser microphone to test out and I was blown away. I’m sure I won’t stop talking about it, and I probably also won’t stop comparing some future mics to it. It is so impressive.

Lauten Audio is a relatively new company that was founded by a clever man named Brian Loudenslager back in 2006, which was The Prestige and The Davinci Code ago.

But Lauten Audio is different breed of company. How different?

Well, to launch this company, Brian Loudenslager teamed up with Grammy-nominated producer/engineer Mike Terry (of Foo Fighters fame) and theoretical physicist Charles Chen, PhD.

I said “theoretical physicist”.

Did you hear that last part? They’ve got an in-house theoretical physicist.

It gets better. For their solid state circuitry, they source only US-manufactured FETS, and when possible, use only authenticated new old stock tubes for their tube creations.

The method used in creating these mics — all the way through to the final product — is unique and completely innovative.

This isn’t an ad. I’m not writing an ad. This is real life. I’m not being paid to say any of this.

Anyway…

World fabulous engineers like Fab DuPont and many others know all about Lauten Audio have have several of their products in their mic lockers.

But more home recording enthusiasts need to know about Lauten Audio and I hope to bring much due attention to these mics.

Anyway. Let’s get into the LA-320 V2 in particular.

The Packaging:

Let me tell you, opening this mic up for the first time was an experience. I mean, that’s exactly the word to use. An experience. You feel like you’re unveiling for the first time an authentic lightsaber or something.

It feels like you’re receiving a 1 in only 200 collectible. Like what you’re about to hold in your hand belongs in a museum.

It belongs in a museum!

Inside, there’s Literature, a limited edition print signed by Bay Area Artist Russell Powell, a warm welcome card with Brian’s personal email in case you run into any issues. You likely won’t, and finally, a quick start guide that tells you all you need to know about this modern classic mic.

Man, the presentation is better than any mic I’ve ever bought. And I have bought a lot of mics.

Inside the box comes your usual tube mic apparatus:

A power source to power the mic (it doesn’t require phantom power since the power source provides that), a 5-pin 25 foot cable that connects to the mic to power it up and deliver the sounds, a high quality spider shockmount, an expensive silk-textured mic cover, and the mic itself.

But the mic, though…

THE LA-320:

We’re talking about a custom-made hand soldered tube circuit path with a freshly improved custom hand-tuned 32mm transducer capsule, complete with high-resolution low-distortion polypropylene capacitors and resistors and a dual-triode vacuum tube in complete harmony with a vintage-inspired output transformer. Perfectly balanced, low drag, minimal torque.

No exaggeration? I could not love a human baby as much as I love this mic.

It’s better than the Verticoli.

For those of you who don’t speak super mega nerd, it means good. It’s made of good.

It’s made of excellence and dreams.

For those of you who DO speak super mega nerd, you know exactly what I’m talking about.   

The mic itself has a familiar but somehow unique design; like buffed chrome on black satin, with that oh-so-elegant red Lauten Audio crest.

It connects to its power supply via a provided 5-pin connector. But you’ll need to supply your own XLR cable to output from the box to your interface, preamp, or recorder.

Phantom power is not required. The power supply provides…

There are two 2-position switches just under the headbasket.

One switch is a flat or high pass filter at 120hz. The other is a flat and a low pass filter at 12khz. I’m going to touch on these later. They’re super cool.

The switches feel very good. They feel expensive.

The mic plugs into the power supply using the included 5-pin cable and then the power supply needs to be plugged into the wall to achieve 1.21 gigawatts.

From the power supply box, you throw in an XLR cable and then out to your interface. Once all of your connections are securely in place, only then do you switch on the power supply and wait.

Yes. Wait. Because at the heart of this mic is an ECC83 vacuum tube, and tubes need to warm up.

As I was saying, the mic needs some time to warm up. Everyone has a different opinion on how long they should warm up for. Some say a half an hour. Some say a day. I usually give tube mics at least an hour to warm up before a performance.

But with vacuum tube gear, it’s always good practice to let the tubes burn in for a while before expecting its peak performance.

I did about 48 hours of burn in time. That means I switched it on and left it on for a couple of days to allow the tubes to get all situated. This is a debatable topic and many would tell me that was too long of a time and even more would tell me I should have let it burn in for a week straight.

But to be fair, I did 48 hours and used it for many more hours to do some recordings and tests.

I’ve had this mic for about a month now, and have had a chance to use it on all kinds of stuff.

The Particulars:

The mic weighs just under a pound so it’s not as heavy as I thought it would be. But it’s heavy enough to feel genuine.

It measures about 8 and a half inches long and just over two inches in diameter.

I just wanted to say that I always hang tube mics upside down since it’s what we always did back in the day.

Tube mics used to get hot and since heat rises, you wanted the heat rising up the other way so as to not dry out or otherwise bake the mic capsule.

I’m not sure about this one, it never gets too hot. Just a little. So the upside down thing is probably not needed, but I will always do it anyway. Habit.

The LA-320 is called a Twin Tone Tube Mic for a reason. You can achieve the clarity of a modern mic sound or instantly convert it to a warm vintage tube mic sound with the flip of a switch. And boy is that accurate.

Conclusion:

Ok so by now you must have a pretty good feel for how nice this mic is. It sounds great on everything. And in case you need sound and video to show you, check out the video review that this written review is based on here: LA-320 Video Review

It’s got a prominent low end that can be tamed with the high pass filter. And the top end is very smooth and not even a slight hint of brittleness or harshness.

You can hear that harmonic saturation and slight compression that is indicative of tubes and it sounds so warm and pleasant.

In case you missed it, I adore this mic. I think I might even like it better than the LS-208 which I didn’t think was possible.

I love the look of it, the warm sound, the well made shockmount and even the full presentation you get in the box. I’m a huge fan.

I cannot wait to test out the signature series mics — namely the Atlantis, as Lauten Audio has told me they’re sending one over mid August 2023.

But as for the LA-320, I am once again humbled by its sound.

But is it a $3000 microphone? Nope.

You can own this right now for $699 USD, and it’s often on sale.

I know if I was reading this review like you are right now, I’d be heading right over to www.LautenAudio.com to learn more. It’s a really nice and fast website too.

I’m so glad I had a chance to test it out with the Beatles back in the early 60s. The mic almost completely blended in but the guys had questions. They’d never seen such a colorful mic. Haha. Oh man, John and George looked at the photographer and were like, “who the f&$@ is this guy?” What a day!

Anyway. I 100% fully and completely recommend the Lauten Audio LA-320 Twin Tone Tube Condenser Microphone.

If you’re in the market for a vacuum tube mic or even if you’re just recently curious about them, stop. Stop wondering. Go to your nearest dealer and grab one. I feel like making a glass dome for it and displaying it to my guests. If I HAD guests.

I’m a family oriented hermit.

Anyway, that just about does it for me.

I’ll get INSIDE your face!

Bye now.

End transmission.