Chief Engineer of Stations West Studio’s in Nashville, Kyle Manner, has been focusing on artist development projects for publishing, major labels and artist management. Demo projects are a great opportunity for engineers to experiment with gear in ways they might not when working with established artists. It’s not always about using the same old, same old signal chain as the last record; there wasn’t a last record.
Such was the case when Manner received a pair of Vanguard Audio Labs’ V1S + LOLLI microphone systems. The V1 is a FET pencil condenser microphone that comes with four interchangeable 22mm capsules (cardioid, wide-cardioid, hyper-cardioid and omni). Also available as an option for the V1 is the LOLLI Multi-Pattern Large-Diaphragm Capsule Head.
“I love my V1S+LOLLI pair,” Manner said. “I needed a pair of utility LDCs (large-diaphragm condenser) and when I tried these out I found that they’re not your typical ‘utility mics’ that sound good on most sound sources, but they sounded great on everything I mic’d, which included male and female vocals, piano, drums, percussion, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, violin, even as room mics.”
The LOLLI houses an extra-large 34mm edge-terminated, gold-sputtered 3µm
Mylar dual-capsule assembly which is custom-voiced with a proprietary hand-tuning process. Open-weave mesh, a carefully radiused interior, and precision-machined venting prevent standing reflections and allow for an open-air voicing, an attribute not lost on Manner.
He concluded: “Lots of detail with nice smooth mid-range and top, not harsh, and good lows and lower mids without getting muddy or boomy. As a bonus, they’re also a really great pair of SDCs (small-diaphragm condenser), two mics in one.”
