Recording - February 2016 - 44

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

Back in February 2012 we introduced
readers to Lewitt Microphones. Lewitt's
mics are a shining example of the new
globally-sourced microphone paradigm.
All of its mics are designed in the company's Austrian headquarters, and then
built to demanding specs with affordable
Asian manufacture.
That first look at the Lewitt line was for
the multipattern solid-state flagship, the
Authentica LCT 640. The LCT 640
impressed many of us here at
Recording, and in addition to my
review, our then-Editor Lorenz Rychner
gushed over the microphone's use on
stringed instruments in a classical setting.
I said it then and I will reiterate now:
Lorenz rarely gushed about gear!

Lewitt LCT 550
A powerful, flexible condenser mic that shines on many sources
Since then, we've had a chance to try
a variety of Lewitt mics, most recently the
DAW-friendly DGT 650 (October 2015).
The mic we are looking at this month is
a bit of a return to where we started-
the new LCT 550 is an update to the
LCT 540, and is essentially a cardioidonly version of the LCT 640.
Solid and sleek
I appreciate that Lewitt mics are not
Chinese "catalog" mics in generic offthe-shelf bodies. All Authentica mics
share a similar high-tech metal alloy
body (with some minor height variations
depending on the model and internal
components) finished in a combination
of gloss and matte black, rectangular in
shape for reduced resonance. The LCT
550 measures 6.22" x 2.04" x 1.42"
and weighs just under a pound.
The LCT 550 makes use of the same
silent 3-button switching controls found
on the rest of the line. The left button
switches between highpass filter settings
of Linear (off), 80 Hz, and 160 Hz. The
right button engages a 3-position output
pad with settings of Off, -6 dB, and
-12 dB. Since there are no patterns to
switch on this mic, the center button
functions as a key lock to prevent accidental changes while handling the mic.
44

RECORDING February 2016

The Lewitt logo above these buttons is
actually a function indicator that highlights
the microphone's additional functions.
When illuminated in white, the mic is in
normal mode, and if the logo is off, it indicates that key lock has been activated.
The logo will flash red as warning that the
mic is clipping. When lit in solid red, the
mic is in auto-attenuation mode designed
to avoid clipping, and when it flashes
white and red, that's an indication that
clipping has occurred in the recent past.
Inside
The LCT 550 features a 1" externally
biased dual-diaphragm cardioid capsule
that's a center-terminated K67-style design.
Its electronics are a modern PCB based
design and the mic is transformerless. The
LCT 550 comes in a small square aluminum briefcase with one of the company's custom LCT 40 SHx shock mounts, a
foam windscreen, and a vinyl pouch.
Some specs: frequency range 20
Hz-20 kHz, sensitivity 16 mV/Pa (-36
dBV), and dynamic range of 140 dBA.
The LCT 550 is flat and even across the
mids, with a slight but wide 2 dB lowend lift from 200 Hz down to 30 Hz
and a 3-4 dB high-mid lift from 2-5
kHz, then a slight dip at 6 kHz that rises
back up until 20 kHz.

The most notable spec, and the biggest
reason for the 540's upgrade to 550 status, is the self-noise. Low self-noise has
always been a hallmark of Lewitt mics, but
the LCT 550 claims an electronic self noise
of 0 dBA. Yes, that is a zero there. The
mic's total self-noise is 3 dBA, and that's
only because of Brownian motion... the
random bouncing of air molecules.
I was very curious about this claim, but
since I don't have an anechoic chamber,
all I could do was to plug the LCT 550 into
my Millennia HV3D (a famously clean mic
pre in its own right) and crank up the levels. All I heard was the sound of air and
noise in my room that is normally hidden
to the naked ear, as well as the sound of a
maxed out HV3D. Can I tell you that it
sounded like 3 dBA? Not with authority,
but yes, this mic is very, very quiet.
In use
I used the LCT 550 on lead and backing
vocals, acoustic guitars, conga, cajon, tambourine, shaker, front of drum kit, and as a
room mic. In every instance it was clean
and accurate, but despite its 0 dBA noise
claim, this is not a clinical measurement
mic like an Earthworks, or a clean slice-ofreality mic like you'd get from Schoeps or
DPA. It's also not so honest as to be overly
critical like my Brauner Phantom.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2016