greetings earthlings today i'm back with a review of a microphone type that is sorely
underrepresented on this channel a small diaphragm condenser the microphone that we're kicking this
off with is the luit lct 140 air if you are interested in this microphone it will cost you
around 160 dollars like always i'll throw some links in the description down below for this
review i have the microphone running directly into the focusrite 18i20 24 bit 48 kilohertz gain at
130 and i will not do any kind of post processing but i may have to boost it a little bit in post
so check the doobly-doo to see what i didly did and now let's talk about what comes in the box
what a surprise you are going to get the microphone you'll get this cute little
foam windscreen thing that goes right on top of it you will also get the plastic mounting
system which does come with a 5 8 to 3 8 inch microphone stand adapter a zippered storage
pouch and a little bit of documentation then as far as the build quality it feels alright to me
it does feel a bit light and it doesn't really instill much confidence although i will admit i
don't boom microphone so that doesn't really come into play that lightness may be a huge benefit for
you but for me where i just put a mic on a stand it doesn't matter and it doesn't really instill
confidence but with that out of the way the entire body is made out of metal the metal grille is also
very sturdy and it does not have any give to it on the side of the microphone you will find three
switches they are plastic and they feel quite cheap you will find a negative 12 decibel pad an
80 hertz high pass filter and a high boost then as we move around the microphone we will find no
other switches or dials on the rear of the microphone you will find the xlr port and
if it matters to you this microphone is assembled in china then as far as the specs this microphone
has a cardioid polar pattern it's not listed but i am pretty certain it has a frequency response
of 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz a sensitivity of negative 36.7 db a self noise of 20 dba a max spl
of 135 db an impedance of 173 ohms and a phantom power requirement of plus 48 volts
now i am spinning around the lct 140 air to 90 degrees so you can hear the off axis rejection
and coloration we'll continue around to 180 degrees here's the rear of the mic continuing
around to the second 90 degree angle there we are and then rotating and ending at the front of the
microphone now let's test the plosive rejection of this microphone but i don't think any of us should
expect it to be good because it doesn't seem to be designed for close-up vocal use especially
without a pop filter please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza pronto please bring pizza
pronto do not use this microphone for vocal use without great mic technique or a pop filter please
now i'm right on top of the microphone to demonstrate the proximity effect on this thing
now i'm about three inches away from the mic with it pointed at the corner of my mouth and here's
how it sounds now i'm about one foot away from the microphone two feet away from the 140 air and
about four feet away from the luit lc t140 air and i also want to include a few samples with the mic
in different locations so currently i'm six inches away with it slightly off axis from my mouth
now i have the microphone just above my head about nine to ten inches pointed at my mouth and here's
how it's sounding in this position and now i have the microphone at the bottom of the frame it's
still about nine to ten inches away from my mouth but it's pointed upwards instead of downwards
or from the side and here's how it's sounding in this position now i'm typing on a keyboard
with gatoron blue switches to see how much of my voice versus how much of the keyboard it picks up
and for the lead game info can now i am typing on the sad w and spacebar keys
here is how the microphone sounds in a well-treated room
now here is how the mic sounds in a completely untreated room
because we can now i have the microphone booming myself from
underneath and here's how it sounds in the same environment
and just for another example here i have the mic booming myself overhead i know it doesn't
look like it but i can assure you it's pointed directly at my mouth and here's how it sounds
now i want to see how well the microphone and the provided mount reject shocks
so i'll go ahead and tap on my desk to see how much of that it rejects
and then i'll tap on the boom arm
and like i always do i need to annoy you so i will tap on the body of this microphone
to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
next i want to do a quick test to see how the provided foam windscreen affects the tone of
the recording so right now i'm about six inches away i do not have any filters engaged and here
is how it sounds without the foam windscreen installed and here is how it sounds with the
provided foam windscreen at the same distance no changes have been made do you hear a big
difference in the audio i know that luit does a lot of work to make their accessories as
acoustically transparent as possible but let me know in the comments down below do you hear
a difference in the sound and now let's go ahead and see how the on built filters work
currently the microphone is in neutral mode i do not have the pad the high pass filter or the
high boost on and here's how it's sounding now i've switched on the 80 hertz high pass filter
and here's how it's sounding you should hear a slight decrease in the low end of the recording
and there you go now i've switched off the high pass filter so you should hear a bit more low end
but then i've engaged the high shelf or the high boost on this and you should be able to hear a lot
more top end a lot more crispiness to it you can really hear that coming through there and
there you go we have one more to do and now i've engaged the high pass filter again and the high
shelf is still engaged so you're getting that cleaned up low end and that boosted top end so
you are getting hyper detail hyper clean detail and there are the filters for you and now we're
back in the neutral mode and in my headphones it sounds much more pleasing last thing we're
going to do is engage the pad to see what kind of noise that generates so let me go ahead and
there it is and you hear that big click when we flip it on let me go ahead and disengage it
and there we go it slowly gradually comes back that's the pad for you now like i always do
we're going to do a quick comparison between the mic that we're reviewing and a bunch of
other microphones on the market so we can see how it stacks up against the competition
and i have to say i love small diaphragm condensers because they take up so little space
although i have legitimately lost one over the last year and i don't know where it went
let's start the comparison thing now we'll start on the mic that we're reviewing we are in neutral
mode so no filters engaged six inches off gain at 130 and here's how it's sounding
first up i am on the rode m5 this costs 200 for a matched pair so technically each of these is 100
i'm six inches off my gain is still at 130 and here is how this sounds compared to the lct 140.
let's jump back and do more comparisons back on the luit lct 140 air nothing has changed
and here's how it's sounding now i am on the buyer dynamic tgi 53 this costs 150 dollars again i am
six inches off my gain is at 130 check the lower third to see how much i boost each of these in
post and there you go buyer dynamic tgi 53 let's do more back again on the third time this is the
lct 140 air the mic that we're reviewing here's how it sounds let's jump to the third microphone
now we are on the sennheiser e614 this costs 200 i'm six inches off and it is extremely quiet
i had to increase my gain to 330 for this small diaphragm condenser there you go sennheiser e614
versus the luit lct 140 air let's do more comparisons again we are on the microphone that
we're reviewing this is the lct 140 air nothing has changed make sure to check the lower third
to see how much i boost each of these in post and let's jump to the fourth microphone now we
are on the se electronics se8 this costs around 285ish dollars i am six inches off my gain is
back at 130. this has a very healthy output and the microphone that i lost is the se7 i have no
idea where it went it was here i've used it i just don't know where it went this is a problem
this is the problem with small diaphragm condensers but this is the se8 let's jump back to
the luit and do more comparisons all right quick intermission this is the luit lct 140 air here's
how it sounds let's jump to the next one now we are on the octava or octava mk012 i have opted to
use the cardioid capsule because we're comparing it to another cardioid small diaphragm condenser
this costs around three hundred dollars three hundred dollars for the kit if you can find a
single mk zero one two six inches off gain at 130 and here's how it sounds
let's jump back to the luit and do more tests all right i believe this is the sixth comparison that
we're doing as cars rev their engines outside i hate them so much why are they so loud here's
how this microphone sounds let's jump to the next one now we're on the neumann km185
this is a hypercardioid small diaphragm condenser this costs around 900. six inches off gain still
at 130 and here is how this sounds 900 versus 160 dollars are you getting a big benefit you
ought to be but you tell me let's jump back and do two more comparisons again we have the lueter
here is how it's sounding nothing has changed neutral mode gain at 130. let's jump to the
seventh sixth seventh microphone now we are on the seo electronics rn17 this runs around 1170
and it has a transformer i believe designed by rupert neve that's the selling point
of this sdc and i am six inches off my gain had to be boosted to 330 because this is a quiet boy
and here is how it sounds let's jump back and do one more comparison and i believe we have one more
microphone to go but first the lct 140 air neutral mode gainer 130 let's jump to the final microphone
and lastly we are on the neumann u87ai this is a multi-pattern large diaphragm condenser microphone
i am on the cardioid mode my gain is at 11 30 and here is how this sounds oh this costs 3 600
not a fair comparison but this is the constant from video to video neumann u87
music test i don't know what's happening
do you think that everything will be
all right i'll tell you that it won't because we're all gonna die
i hit that note yeah i've been feeling super doomery lately i'm just fine i'm not depressed i
don't think there's anything to be depressed about the end isn't nigh we're not all going to die
and the conclusion to this video is super duper important so so let's do that
honestly i'm fine all right i think this is going to be a really fun rabbit hole that we dive down
looking at small diaphragm condensers and as far as a jumping off point i think the lct 140 air is
a great place and first up in terms of pros they have made this thing quite versatile by including
a built-in pad a built-in high-pass filter and a built-in high boost and also the polar pattern on
this thing is really nice and you get very minimal and pleasing off-axis coloration but then as far
as cons the build quality leaves a little bit to be desired with these switches feeling quite weak
and then the main issue that i have with it is the self noise 20 dba is quite high so if you're going
to be micking up incredibly quiet sound sources it may start to become an issue then as far as my
overall thoughts and opinions of this microphone on the electric guitar i almost liked it it's so
close and so cool sounding the lows are nice and controlled because you do have a bit of a roll
off the mids are neutral but then the top end just gets to be a bit too detailed a bit too articulate
and a bit too overpowering i think the top end just got to be a bit too much but i almost loved
this thing so cool sounding then on the acoustic guitar i don't necessarily like it solo but i
imagine in a full mix this would be really easy to work with there isn't too much body so it sounds
a little bit weak in the low end again the mids are pretty neutral and inoffensive and then the
top end you get this really hyper detailed really hyper articulate sound which is typically why you
select a small diaphragm condenser because you get a lot better transient response and with that
being said the reason i didn't like it solo on the acoustic was the lack of body which is why i
think pairing this with a ribbon microphone would probably work really well you get that body and
warmth and depth from the ribbon and then you get this hyper detailed articulate top end from the
small diaphragm condenser next up for singing this was the shocker for me this was a big surprise
i do not think of small diaphragm condensers as singing microphones but i really enjoyed it here
the airiness to it was just a really nice touch you have that neutral midsection and then the low
end just gets out of the way i think there's bugs flying around and i think i'm about to be murdered
by a spider but i really enjoyed it on singing and lastly unspoken word at any kind of distance
i find the low end to be a bit too lacking and empty sounding the mids are neutral and
nice but then when you get to the top end it is so detailed and so articulate that i think it becomes
top heavy and a bit distracting so i think you would need to really play the microphone
and use that proximity effect to your benefit if you're using this for spoken word and to wrap up
would i recommend the luit lct 140 air i think so at 160 dollars this is quite a versatile small
diaphragm condenser is it the best sounding sdc in this lineup no but i think the better sounding
microphones were a bit more expensive the ses 8 the neumann km 185 and then the cream of the crop
the rn 17 i thought those were all outstanding so if you're just looking for your first sdc
for general studio use i think this is a really interesting option because of the versatility
and the low price point all right i think that's going to wrap up for today but i would love to
hear from you in the comments down below which of the microphones in the lineup was your favorite
and being that this is my first proper modern review of a small diaphragm condenser mic
let me know in the comments if there's anything that i'm missing that you want to see
in future reviews if you found this video fun interesting or helpful go to give me a thumbs
up if you hated it give me a big ol thumbs down i hope you have an amazing halloween this bug
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you so much for listening i see you i'll talk to you next time have a happy halloween bye bye