Jooyoung Kim

Lewitt LCT 1040 Microphone Review

This post is a translation of a Korean blog post I wrote on February 27, 2022.

Hello, I’m Jooyoung Kim, a mixing engineer and music producer. I recently had the opportunity to review the new Lewitt LCT 1040 microphone, thanks to Sound & Music, Lewitt’s distributor in Korea. They provided me with a demo unit for a week, with no other compensation.

Since I was going to be busy soon, I conducted a quick two-day test as soon as I received the unit and wrote this review. Let’s dive in!

Unboxing and Appearance

I received a brand-new, unopened demo unit, which was a pleasant surprise. The package was quite heavy. The box design was unique, with tear-off strips to open it.

Inside the box, there were two pouches containing cables, manuals, and other documents. Below them were the microphone components.

*The photo was taken immediately upon delivery, and you can see some handprints, probably because it was cold.*

The pouches are attached magnetically and can be easily removed. The contents include manuals, a recall sheet, and a booklet detailing the development process of the LCT 1040.

They included the names of beta testers, and I was pleased to see my name included!

Underneath the microphone, there were power cables and adapters for different types of outlets. I found this modular system quite innovative.

The control unit is entirely metal and feels hefty. The knobs are both linear and stepped, providing a smooth and convenient experience.

Pressing the “LCT 1040” label in the center allows for the remote to be detached. The remote can then be connected to the microphone using an XLR connector. This is a pretty innovative feature!

Once everything is connected, the lights turn on as shown in the photo below.

The Operational indicator blinks when adjusting the Attenuation (Pad) and Pattern settings, indicating a brief processing time. However, adjustments to Circuit, Tube, and Filter settings are immediate. There’s also a button for switching the front and back diaphragms.

The microphone cable connector clicks securely into place when inserted correctly. The shock mount includes carbon material and features a unique, easy-to-use clamping mechanism.

The pop filter and the microphone’s grill both have double layers, which shows attention to detail. The pop filter, also made of carbon material, attaches magnetically, making it easy to use.

The bottom clamp for mounting the microphone is simple and effective.

The microphone, when powered, looks like this. I think this gives you a good overview of its appearance. Now, let’s move on to the sound test.

Recording Test

For the test, I recorded both vocals and guitar. For vocals, I used a reflection filter and recorded in Clear, Warm, Dark, and Saturated modes with Omnidirectional, Cardioid, and Figure-8 patterns, using three settings: FET, FET=5:5, and Tube.

(Note: FET 100% sounds consistent across Clear, Warm, Dark, and Saturated, so I grouped them under FET.)

Due to the number of recordings, I might have missed some distorted parts in the song. I hope you’ll understand. My voice was a bit worn out, too… 😢

I used a low cut at 80Hz and lightly reduced 148Hz and 179Hz where noted.

For the guitar, I couldn’t use a reflection filter, so I placed the mic in a standard holder. I recorded only in Cardioid, as Figure-8 and Omnidirectional were not necessary. I used a Guild D-150ce with new D’Addario XS Phosphor Bronze light gauge strings.

I applied a low cut at 80Hz and reduced the boominess at 138Hz and 179Hz for fingerstyle, while strumming did not require cuts. The recordings were captured directly into an Apollo x6 interface, with gain set around 53-55dB.

Impressions

FET, Clear

The high frequencies are pleasantly clear. However, the low-mid range feels slightly lacking, making the FET sound somewhat thin and sharp. Still, both the FET and Tube modes produce the expected quality sound.

Warm

The highs are a bit subdued compared to Clear, but they still maintain a presence.

Dark

The highs feel significantly reduced, which might highlight the mids and make the sound somewhat nasal. This could be useful for creating a distant or lo-fi effect.

Saturated

This was my favorite among Warm, Dark, and Saturated. It retains high-frequency clarity while boosting the lows, providing a pleasing sound without much EQ.

The frequency response graphs matched my impressions, which was quite satisfying.

Additionally, the Mix and FET can be recorded separately, which could be handy for saving FET as a backup.

Pros

The detachable remote makes it versatile for studios of all sizes. The dual-layered grill and pop filter demonstrate careful design.

The knobs provide a satisfying tactile response, and the build quality is excellent. They even included a recall sheet, which can likely be requested in PDF form.

Cons

The unit is heavy, and there’s no volume control on the remote, which can be slightly inconvenient. However, this is common for tube microphones, so it’s hard to consider it a significant downside.

Conclusion

The sound quality and attention to detail are impressive, and the price seems justified. Although the absolute price is high, considering you effectively get five distinct tones—FET, Clear, Warm, Dark, Saturated—and can blend Tube with FET, it’s a compelling value.

Buying five high-quality microphones for the price of one LCT 1040 would be challenging. Given the rising cost of equipment, with AKG C414s nearing 2 million KRW, and considering the versatility and quality of this mic, I’d choose the LCT 1040 over a Neumann U87ai. It’s also an excellent option for those looking for a secondary mic.

While I haven’t used it long enough to comment on durability or long-term use, Sound & Music offers a 10-year warranty, which is reassuring.

I hope you enjoyed this review. See you in the next post!

I’m always open to reviewing hardware products! If you’d like me to review a product, please feel free to reach out at joe1346@naver.com.

Basics of Mixing – 7.1 What is Delay?

Hello! This is Jooyoung Kim, an mixing engineer and music producer. Today, I want to delve into the time effect known as delay.

Shall we get started?

So, what exactly is delay?

It’s simple, really. Delay is an effect that repeats the same sound with a time difference.

Why would we use this effect, though? There are several reasons, which can be summarized as follows:

Using only reverb can sometimes create unnatural reverb tails.
The feedback feature allows for the creation of very long reverb tails.
It can add an artificial groove to a source.
Special delay effects can be applied to instruments (especially common with electric guitars, and can also be used with short delays).

Effectively using delay can create a rich and natural reverb. If you’ve only been using reverb to add space to your mix, try incorporating delay as well.

I personally favor UAD’s Precision Delay because it lets you set the delay time in seconds rather than adjusting it via feedback. By setting the delay time similarly to RT60, which I’ll discuss in the reverb section, the sound can fade naturally.

Using a delay plugin to set the pre-delay instead of the reverb plugin’s pre-delay can also be effective. Especially if the reverb plugin doesn’t allow synchronization of the pre-delay time with the BPM, you can achieve a precise pre-delay using a delay plugin that does.

Setting a very short delay with minimal feedback and then filtering out high and low frequencies, while adjusting the volume, can create a subtle groove that wasn’t originally show in the source. This can add a sticky, rhythmic feel to percussion, which is particularly useful in genres like R&B and hip-hop.

Using historical replica delays can also help recreate the vintage sound of old-school or retro music.

There are countless crucial aspects of mixing, but I believe that handling reverb effectively is one of the key factors that define the quality of a sound. However, this is an area that’s hard to explain solely with words. You really have to experiment with various delay and reverb plugins to grasp it fully. It’s a challenging aspect, even for me.

Today, we’ll wrap up with this brief overview of delay. See you in the next post!

Introducing Sale! Excite Audio Bloom Vocal Edit Virtual Instrument (Vocal Chop, 39$ ~9/1)

Hello! This is Jooyoung Kim, an audio engineer and music producer.

Today, I’m excited to introduce a new virtual instrument specifically designed for vocal chops, now available at an attractive price. Like my previous posts on sales and new releases, I’ve received an NFR (Not for Resale) code from Plugin Boutique for this review.

Let’s dive right in!

The basic interface is quite similar to the Bloom Bass Impulse.

When I first reviewed a virtual instrument from this company, I thought it was a sophisticated sampler. It’s impressive that Excite Audio has now adapted it for vocal chops, a truly innovative idea.

Upon launching the interface, you can easily add effects like Glue (for compression and saturation), Fuzz, Metallic (short delay), and Doubler.

The lower section displays a keyboard. Pressing the white keys plays the sample assigned to that key, while the black keys offer functionalities like playing the sample at half or double speed, reverse playback, octave shifts, and sequential playback.

You can also assign samples randomly by pressing the dice icon.

The knobs allow you to adjust effects such as Delay, Bitcrush, Reverb, Lo-Cut, and Hi-Cut.

Clicking the key indicator on the lower left automatically adjusts each vocal sample to match the chosen key.

Next to the key indicator, the “Bank” button reveals a collection of 112 samples, offering a rich variety.

Clicking the “Edit” button in the preset window allows you to edit the samples assigned to the white keys and choose how they play back when pressing the black keys (options A, B, C, D, E, etc.).

The parameters visible in the main UI, like Bitcrush, Delay, and Global Reverb, are also adjustable.

The Sample Edit function offers extensive control, including Snap, Attack and Release Time adjustments, speed and BPM Warp functionality, and more.

Most of the other features are straightforward. If you’re unsure about anything, just click the “i” (information) icon next to the preset search bar for a helpful explanation of each feature.

Until now, I’ve used Kontakt or basic DAW samplers for vocal chops, but this new instrument is really impressive.

It comes with pre-calculated pitch adjustments and offers a wide range of sample options, not just short one-shot samples.

A minor drawback is that you can’t import your own samples, but for vocal chops used as ad-libs or fills, this instrument offers plenty of potential to create great sounds.

You can check out the sound demos in the video made by Plugin Boutique.

The current price is $39, which is a 33% discount. With such a clean and intuitive UI, I highly recommend this instrument, especially if you don’t already have a dedicated vocal chop tool.

Buy Excite Audio Bloom Vocal Edit at plugin boutique

(By purchasing through the link above, you’ll support my blog, as I receive a small commission. Thank you so much for your continued support!)

If you buy from Plugin Boutique today, you can also get Audio Thing’s Frostbite 2 or Newfangled Audio’s EQuivocate for free. Plugin Boutique often offers a free plugin with purchases, though I’m not sure what they’ll offer in August.

Once the freebie for August is announced, I’ll update this post accordingly.

See you in the next post!

Types and connections of patchbays, configuration of the system

This article was written on July 17, 2023. It is different from my current audio system, but I translated it and wrote it because I thought it would be helpful in planning the patch bay. Good luck!

Hello, I’m Jooyoung Kim, an engineer and music producer.

As musicians and engineers accumulate more hardware equipment, they often consider adding a patch bay to their setup. Today, I’d like to discuss patch bays and their usage. Let’s dive in!

Types of Patch Bays

There are various standards for patch bays, primarily categorized based on connector types:

TRS
XLR
Bantam (TT)

You’re likely familiar with TRS and XLR connectors, but Bantam might be new to you. Due to its smaller size, Bantam connectors are commonly used in 1U patch bays, which can accommodate up to 96 holes.

However, TRS patch bays can have up to 48 holes and XLR patch bays can have up to 16 holes.

TRS and Bantam patch bays are further categorized based on internal connection methods:

Normal (Full-Normal)
Half-Normal
De-Normal (Non-Normal/Thru)

Once you understand these, it becomes straightforward:

Normal (Full-Normal): The rear signal is connected without plugging in a cable at the front. Plugging in a front cable disconnects the rear connection.

Half-Normal: Like Full-Normal, but plugging in a front cable splits the signal for parallel processing.

De-Normal (Non-Normal/Thru): I opted for a patch bay that supports all three modes, even though I primarily use Full-Normal.

I bought Samson S-Patch: It supports all three modes, but labeling can be tricky due to the narrow spacing.

Configuring Your Patch Bay

Knowing the types of patch bays, the next step is planning your setup. Begin by listing the In/Out of your equipment. Here’s an example with my gear:

*Equipment*	In	*Out*
Orion Studio Synergy Core	12	Line Out 16 / Monitor Out 4
Dangerous 2Bus	16	Main Out 2 / Monitor Out 2
Heritage Audio HA73EQ (Mic Pre)	0 (Mic In not considered)	1
OZ design OZ-2200 (Mic Pre)	0 (Mic In not considered)	2
Bus Compressor	Line In 2 / Side Chain 1	2

Prioritize your connections:

Out on top, In on the bottom for signal flow from top to bottom in Full and Half-Normal patch bays.
Begin with the equipment with the most Ins and Outs.

Although there are some limitations, like not fully utilizing some of Antelope’s Ins and the mic preamps’ Line Ins, this setup is efficient without wasting patch bay channels. For mic preamp Line Ins, external cable connections can be made as needed.

And label your patch bay accurately. You can find companies that print labels, but they may charge high shipping fees. Alternatively, you can cut paper strips for labeling.

I purchased an 8-pack TRS patch cable bundle from Hosa, available at an affordable price on Amazon.

With this setup, your patch bay-based system configuration is complete. While my setup focuses on mixing hardware, those using hardware synthesizers can also benefit from a patch bay to enhance their workflow and creativity.

I hope this information is helpful to all music enthusiasts. See you in the next post!

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