LEWITT LCT 640 Condenser Microphone

(first published in CX magazine – June, 2014)

 

A cool new multi-pattern condenser mic lobbed on my desk the other day – the Lewitt LCT 640. This is an Austrian designed side-address large diaphragm mic that features modern-looking satin black chiseled features, great noise specs and clear balanced audio performance. It’s a brand that’s new to me, so I was intrigued.

Looking pretty darn gorgeous, and reminiscent of AKG’s ubiquitous C-414 family, the Lewitt LCT 640 is a beautifully constructed individual, featuring five polar patterns: cardioid, figure-8, omni, wide-cardioid and super-cardioid, making it a very versatile performer.

I’ve used it to record countless things in the last couple of months, all with great success I’d have to say: main vocals, BVs, piano, pedal organ, acoustic and electric guitar, woodwind and a dozen other things besides. Everything has sounded true and clear – not hyped, not compressed, not smudged… just accurate.

The 640 comes with a fancy rectangular shockmount that holds the mic securely in place, making this an impressive overall setup. The mic’s pattern selector is an illuminated soft switch arrangement; easy to read but not so easy to see, and somewhat perplexingly these switches are on the ‘front’ of the mic. I say ‘front’ in inverted commas only because in Figure-8 and omni there’s no such thing, but in cardioid mode you might assume – as I did – that the big green Lewitt name brand and logo denote the ‘front’. In fact they are on the back. My first foray into recording in cardioid mode went something like this: “Man, that’s sounding dull… I wonder…” and sure enough it was back-to-front.

If you’re looking for a new multi-pattern condenser the Lewitt LCT 640 is an impressive beast. And if first impressions are anything to go by, my reaction was that it must be a 3K+ mic… turns out it retails for just over a grand. Very desirable.

 

In Australia, contact National Audio Systems for more info: (03) 8756 2600 or www.nationalaudio.com.au