Lauten Audio LA-220 review

We’re living through a golden age of microphones. Sure, the classics are the classics, and they’re still available for those who want them. But thanks to evolving technology and the reduction of component prices, there are tons of microphones on the market that both sound excellent, and steer clear of multi-thousands-dollar price tags. Case in point? The new Lauten Audio LA-220.

Unlike many other modern low-cost microphones, the LA-220 isn’t built as an emulation or homage. Instead, it’s its own thing, built for versatility and excellent audio in a package that happens to look good too.

How does the Lauten Audio LA-220 perform? Is it the modern workhorse? I’ve been using the microphone to find out.

Lauten Audio LA-220 review

Lauten Audio LA-220

The Lauten Audio LA-220 offers a solid design and excellent audio quality, plus it’s incredibly versatile thanks to two frequency switches on the front.

Design

9

Sound

9

Value

9.5

Pros

Great design

Very versatile

Good audio quality

Cons

Cardioid only

9.2

BUY FROM

Amazon

Guitar Center

Reverb

Lauten Audio LA-220 design

The LA-220 is built with a Neumann U87 shape, albeit slightly smaller than Neumann’s classic. It has a metal body, with a black lower two-thirds and a solver grille on the top. On the front, it’s adorned with the Lauten Audio logo.

Of course, perhaps the best thing about the microphone is that it’s so versatile, On the front you’ll also get two switches — one for a low cut and one for a high cut. There’s no pattern switch here — it’s a cardioid-only microphone.

Apart from the microphone itself, in the box, you’ll get a spider shock mount that seems specifically built to keep that Lauten Audio logo in full view. It looks and feels like a high-quality mount, and definitely helps prevent unwanted vibrations.

Generally, the Lauten Audio LA-220 looks and feels great. Despite its moderate price tag, it looks premium, and while I recommend still being careful with it like any microphone, it should be able to stand up to most day-to-day studio abuse.

Lauten Audio LA-220 features

The Lauten Audio LA-220 is built for versatility, and as mentioned, it offers two switches to aid in that quest.

The low cut filter, on the left, is built to cut down on the amount of warmth on offer by the microphone. It cuts at 120Hz, making it perfect for things like rhythm guitars and background vocals — situations in which you don’t want any muddiness whatsoever, and could stand to lose some of the bass in the recording too.

The high cut filter, on the right, is built to cut out some of the brightness. The high cut filter cuts at 12kHz.

Lauten Audio LA-220 sound

Of course, ultimately, the most important consideration is how the microphone sounds — and it sounds great. That seems to be true no matter what kind of instrument it’s used on. In particular, however, I really liked how the microphone sounded on instruments where that extra bit of warmth is appreciated.

On an acoustic guitar, the microphone picked up good body, while still retaining some of the detail that I love from my Martin guitar. On a vocal, the microphone delivered a nice vintage tone to it, again, while retaining the clarity and detail that most want from a vocal going into a mix. There’s good presence too.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a cellist or violinist to test the microphone with, but I imagine that’s where the tone of this microphone will really shine.

Generally, the LA-220 was able to deliver a great sound across all instruments I tested it on. While I certainly wouldn’t reach for it for a snare drum or kick, I would for overheads or for a room microphone.

Conclusions

The Lauten Audio LA-220 offers excellent value. It’s quite versatile given the frequency switches on the front, but even with neither of the cuts engaged, the microphone delivers a classic tone that can be used on almost anything. If you’re looking for a workhorse microphone that you can rely on, the Lauten Audio LA-220 is absolutely worth considering.