Recording - May 2018 - 39

suited to cleaner music styles like jazz, pop,
R&B and such.
Next I did some side-by-side comparisons of the cardioid V1 against my classic
Neumann KM 84 mics. Where many
overseas pencil condensers tend toward
modern brightness, I was surprised to find
the V1 a touch rounder on top than the
KM 84... it made my KM 84 sound a bit
brighter by comparison, and I never find
the KM 84 "bright." That's not to say the
V1 is a "dark mic"-it's just more rounded
and a touch darker than the KM 84, and
far less bright than most import SDCs.
Armed with this knowledge, I used the
cardioid pair for a live tracking gig as
overheads on a drum set. The issue with
this gig was that I was also recording a
50-person choir, along with keys, two
electric guitars, bass, and acoustic guitar.
Even with the drums walled on the sides
with plexiglass, the sound of the cymbals
always carries into the choir mics, making
the drums sound overly bright and edgy. I
chose the V1 mics to balance this by adding
a nice smooth weight to the cymbals and
kit. It worked fantastically; when mixed
together, both live and in the recording, it

allowed me to push the drums hotter than
normal for a fuller, well-blended sound.
The only capsule in the small-diaphragm
collection I literally did not warm up to was
the omni capsule. It is the brightest of the
bunch, and while nice on dark sources to
bring out space and detail, it would not
be my first choice on tambourines, cymbals,
or other trebly sources.
This leads me to an observation that
while the three cardioid capsules' tones
are all close to one another but with slight
changes in tone and punch (as you'd
expect on a multipattern mic), the omni
capsule jumps tonally to that wide-open
reality. It's not a bad thing, just surprising
given the warmer tone of the other three.

Go big

Switching to the V34C Lolli for vocals,
more acoustic guitars, and percussion, I
was quite impressed by its natural rich
capture. In cardioid it has a nice proximity
effect, and it does not lose its richness
at a distance. Having been deliberately
designed with an open and unprotected
capsule, it lets you get nice and close to
sources for a rich intimate sound.

However, because there is so little between the capsule and the source, it's very
sensitive to plosives, and breathing on the
capsule can cause a bit of temporary static. A good pop screen is absolutely vital-
especially for vocal work or any source
that moves a lot of air directly at the mic.

Conclusions

This is a solid and well-thought-out kit with
a classy look and great fit and finish. The
large-diaphragm V34C Lolli is both visually and sonically beautiful, and I am very
pleased that the small-diaphragm capsules
offer their own sound-a delicate smoothness balanced with a clean capture that
doesn't just try to copy other SDC mics. Even
more impressive is their very approachable
price. If the designers at Vanguard keep this
up, they will carve a nice niche for themselves in a very crowded mic space!

PRICES: single mic, $349
($699 with V34C Lolli added);
stereo pair, $499 ($999
with Lollis added)
MORE FROM:
Vanguard Audio Labs,
www.vanguardaudiolabs.com
http://www.vanguardaudiolabs.com http://www.gracedesign.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - May 2018
