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Post by ninworks on Jul 10, 2024 15:00:08 GMT -6
These look like a nice mic. Warren Huart says it's his favorite mic, but we all know that can be marketing hype to make his sponsors happy. It's an attractive price point and according to the frequency plot it has it's peak high end boost in an area none of my other LDC's have. I am aware that frequency plots are subjective and should only be used for generalities. Even so, it might be a good addition to my locker. I already have a few LDC's. A U87Ai, Warm Audio Tube WA-47, AKG C414XLII, and a matched pair of Roswell Mini K47's.
Anybody have any experience and opinions on the Lewitt?
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 10, 2024 15:33:01 GMT -6
All their stuff is good as far as I've heard. I've got a pair of 840's and a 440. This one is based on the 640 which is a step up from the 440 and, honestly, even if it sounded exactly the same as the 440 but added the variable polarity system would be worth the price most likely.
I'm planning on getting one of these when they go on sale which is rare with Lewitt mics but does happen occasionally. Being able to throw up a mic and figure out the polarity later would be a huge efficiency gain for the type of recordings I often do (live the room, lots of spill).
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Post by svart on Jul 11, 2024 6:31:30 GMT -6
I have the 540 series Lewitt and another one (440 I think) and I like them a lot.
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Post by Dan on Jul 11, 2024 7:26:28 GMT -6
It’s a flavor of the month Chinese AKG style mic. Designed by ex AKG but made in China. If you’ve been around long enough, you know the deal with this type of equipment: avoid!
Why not just buy the Austrian Audio OC818 made by the ex AKG people? They are the true successor to AKG C414. Bright but you can just eq it unlike nasty Chinese condensers.
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Post by svart on Jul 11, 2024 7:42:56 GMT -6
It’s a flavor of the month Chinese AKG style mic. Designed by ex AKG but made in China. If you’ve been around long enough, you know the deal with this type of equipment: avoid! Why not just buy the Austrian Audio OC818 made by the ex AKG people? They are the true successor to AKG C414. Bright but you can just eq it unlike nasty Chinese condensers. I will 100% disagree on this. Lewitt quality is top tier. I can't stress that enough. I've been through mine and they are very much not the usual "chinese quality" at all. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 11, 2024 9:39:42 GMT -6
It’s a flavor of the month Chinese AKG style mic. Designed by ex AKG but made in China. If you’ve been around long enough, you know the deal with this type of equipment: avoid! Why not just buy the Austrian Audio OC818 made by the ex AKG people? They are the true successor to AKG C414. Bright but you can just eq it unlike nasty Chinese condensers. I will 100% disagree on this. Lewitt quality is top tier. I can't stress that enough. I've been through mine and they are very much not the usual "chinese quality" at all. Yeah, I gotta disagree here as well. The build quality on these is fantatic. The designs are original (as opposed to the generic housing that characterizes the types of mic's Dan is talking about here) and the factory is owned and run by Lewitt itself. I tend to steer clear of the Chinese knock offs (actually I literally don't think I own a single one... the only "knock offs" I own are two made by Chad at Signal Art) and Lewitt is definitely not that. Dan I generally agree with you on this type of stuff, but I think you may be holding Lewitt guilty by association. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 11, 2024 9:43:37 GMT -6
I will 100% disagree on this. Lewitt quality is top tier. I can't stress that enough. I've been through mine and they are very much not the usual "chinese quality" at all. Yeah, I gotta disagree here as well. The build quality on these is fantatic. The designs are original (as opposed to the generic housing that characterizes the types of mic's Dan is talking about here) and the factory is owned and run by Lewitt itself. I tend to steer clear of the Chinese knock offs (actually I literally don't think I own a single one... the only "knock offs" I own are two made by Chad at Signal Art) and Lewitt is definitely not that. Dan I generally agree with you on this type of stuff, but I think you may be holding Lewitt guilty by association. Also, I gotta note some irony here... Austrian Audio itself is a company of ex-AKG employees founded in 2017 making microphones manufactured in China. Just like Lewitt, they design and test their mics in Austria but off-shore the manufacturing. |
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Post by Dan on Jul 11, 2024 9:53:36 GMT -6
I will 100% disagree on this. Lewitt quality is top tier. I can't stress that enough. I've been through mine and they are very much not the usual "chinese quality" at all. Yeah, I gotta disagree here as well. The build quality on these is fantatic. The designs are original (as opposed to the generic housing that characterizes the types of mic's Dan is talking about here) and the factory is owned and run by Lewitt itself. I tend to steer clear of the Chinese knock offs (actually I literally don't think I own a single one... the only "knock offs" I own are two made by Chad at Signal Art) and Lewitt is definitely not that. Dan I generally agree with you on this type of stuff, but I think you may be holding Lewitt guilty by association. Stop kidding yourself. It’s a Chinese mic factory (Takstar) with an ex AKG front end. Who do you think controls it or has the power? The Chinese guy whose family started the mic oem and used making junk audio gear and clone (I love how my phone autocorrects clone typos to clown) capsules to gtfo out of communist China. So should people who want good mics without gross k67 capsules with gross Chinese top end that they all try to cover up with muddy to irradiated Chinese low mids. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 11, 2024 10:01:15 GMT -6
Yeah, I gotta disagree here as well. The build quality on these is fantatic. The designs are original (as opposed to the generic housing that characterizes the types of mic's Dan is talking about here) and the factory is owned and run by Lewitt itself. I tend to steer clear of the Chinese knock offs (actually I literally don't think I own a single one... the only "knock offs" I own are two made by Chad at Signal Art) and Lewitt is definitely not that. Dan I generally agree with you on this type of stuff, but I think you may be holding Lewitt guilty by association. Stop kidding yourself. It’s a Chinese mic factory (Takstar) with an ex AKG front end. Who do you think controls it or has the power? The Chinese guy whose family started the mic oem and used making junk audio gear and clone (I love how my phone autocorrects clone typos to clown) capsules to gtfo out of communist China. So should people who want good mics without gross k67 capsules with gross Chinese top end that they all try to cover up with muddy to irradiated Chinese low mids. But you could also be describing Austrian Audio. Also ex AKG front end with mics made in China. |
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Post by Dan on Jul 11, 2024 10:03:00 GMT -6
Yeah, I gotta disagree here as well. The build quality on these is fantatic. The designs are original (as opposed to the generic housing that characterizes the types of mic's Dan is talking about here) and the factory is owned and run by Lewitt itself. I tend to steer clear of the Chinese knock offs (actually I literally don't think I own a single one... the only "knock offs" I own are two made by Chad at Signal Art) and Lewitt is definitely not that. Dan I generally agree with you on this type of stuff, but I think you may be holding Lewitt guilty by association. Also, I gotta note some irony here... Austrian Audio itself is a company of ex-AKG employees founded in 2017 making microphones manufactured in China. Just like Lewitt, they design and test their mics in Austria but off-shore the manufacturing. Austrian audio is made in Austria except for oc16 that is a cheaped out oc18 made with out of tolerance ckr6 capsules shipped from Austria to be contract manufactured in China. main offerings are all made in Austria. They couldn’t by any more different from a k67 clone capsule in Akg look alike housing made by Takstar. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 11, 2024 10:14:19 GMT -6
Also, I gotta note some irony here... Austrian Audio itself is a company of ex-AKG employees founded in 2017 making microphones manufactured in China. Just like Lewitt, they design and test their mics in Austria but off-shore the manufacturing. Austrian audio is made in Austria except for oc16 that is a cheaped out oc18 made with out of tolerance ckr6 capsules shipped from Austria to be contract manufactured in China. main offerings are all made in Austria. They couldn’t by any more different from a k67 clone capsule in Akg look alike housing made by Takstar. Some made in Austria, some in China. As far as Takstar or whatever, I've never bothered to dig that deep into Chinese manufacturing but everything I've ever read (and can still find in a VERY brief bit of googling just now) is that Lewitt owns its Chinese manufacturing. Main thing is, I don't think you've ever used a Lewitt mic if you think it sounds like typical brittle Chinese knock-offs. I know that sound and I can't stand it... Lewitt mics do not sound at all like that. This part is beyond dispute and doesn't need Googling, to my ears Lewitt mics sound absolutely nothing like the brittle Chinese crap that you're talking about unlike, say, sE which get love in some circles and sound like absolute crap on a stick to me. Even the entry level Lewitt's sound great. Anyway, to the OP I would suggest ordering from someplace with a good return policy and trying out the 640TS for yourself. Everyone's ears are different but I don't know anyone personally in the non-internet world that has had a bad thing to say about the Lewitt "sound." |
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Post by antipodesjosh on Jul 13, 2024 4:48:20 GMT -6
Probably similar to your XLS – do you need the dual outputs?
I ended up with the OC818 as it was cheaper than the lewitt, smaller form factor and isn’t quite as bright on top.
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Post by ninworks on Jul 13, 2024 5:49:24 GMT -6
Probably similar to your XLS – do you need the dual outputs? I ended up with the OC818 as it was cheaper than the lewitt, smaller form factor and isn’t quite as bright on top. I don'T "NEED" anything,  but the dual outputs is a cool option. Looking at the frequency plots for the Lewitt and the XLII, they are similar. I dunno. I've been having G.A.S. spasms lately. I should probably just save up and replace my monitors. That would be the smart move, but sometimes I feel like I need to do something stupid. |
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Post by drumsound on Jul 13, 2024 11:02:40 GMT -6
It’s a flavor of the month Chinese AKG style mic. Designed by ex AKG but made in China. If you’ve been around long enough, you know the deal with this type of equipment: avoid! Why not just buy the Austrian Audio OC818 made by the ex AKG people? They are the true successor to AKG C414. Bright but you can just eq it unlike nasty Chinese condensers. It’s a flavor of the month Chinese AKG style mic. Designed by ex AKG but made in China. If you’ve been around long enough, you know the deal with this type of equipment: avoid! Why not just buy the Austrian Audio OC818 made by the ex AKG people? They are the true successor to AKG C414. Bright but you can just eq it unlike nasty Chinese condensers. I will 100% disagree on this. Lewitt quality is top tier. I can't stress that enough. I've been through mine and they are very much not the usual "chinese quality" at all. I will 100% disagree on this. Lewitt quality is top tier. I can't stress that enough. I've been through mine and they are very much not the usual "chinese quality" at all. Yeah, I gotta disagree here as well. The build quality on these is fantatic. The designs are original (as opposed to the generic housing that characterizes the types of mic's Dan is talking about here) and the factory is owned and run by Lewitt itself. I tend to steer clear of the Chinese knock offs (actually I literally don't think I own a single one... the only "knock offs" I own are two made by Chad at Signal Art) and Lewitt is definitely not that. Dan I generally agree with you on this type of stuff, but I think you may be holding Lewitt guilty by association. The thing about Chinese manufacturing is that they will make anything to any spec. So not all products can be lumped into the same "China=bad" assumption. A friend used to work for sE. They relied on Chinese production, but they have (had?) very specific specs and QC. Thus you get really good sounding affordable mics. |
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Post by Dan on Jul 13, 2024 13:44:43 GMT -6
It’s a flavor of the month Chinese AKG style mic. Designed by ex AKG but made in China. If you’ve been around long enough, you know the deal with this type of equipment: avoid! Why not just buy the Austrian Audio OC818 made by the ex AKG people? They are the true successor to AKG C414. Bright but you can just eq it unlike nasty Chinese condensers. I will 100% disagree on this. Lewitt quality is top tier. I can't stress that enough. I've been through mine and they are very much not the usual "chinese quality" at all. Yeah, I gotta disagree here as well. The build quality on these is fantatic. The designs are original (as opposed to the generic housing that characterizes the types of mic's Dan is talking about here) and the factory is owned and run by Lewitt itself. I tend to steer clear of the Chinese knock offs (actually I literally don't think I own a single one... the only "knock offs" I own are two made by Chad at Signal Art) and Lewitt is definitely not that. Dan I generally agree with you on this type of stuff, but I think you may be holding Lewitt guilty by association. The thing about Chinese manufacturing is that they will make anything to any spec. So not all products can be lumped into the same "China=bad" assumption. A friend used to work for sE. They relied on Chinese production, but they have (had?) very specific specs and QC. Thus you get really good sounding affordable mics. Most western manufacturers go to china to cheap stuff out and find out the hard way that only labor is cheaper and it has to be a big enough savings to ship it across the ocean. 32 channels of UAD Apollo X will cost you more than Lynx and won’t sound as good. The same with RME if you get a UFX and one of their high count multichannel converters. The oems and board houses will often substitute parts and small manufacturers will use knockoff parts because many legitimate parts are hard to get in small quantities there. The QC is what you pay for but high end pro audio stuff generally is not made in china. There are some bang for buck mic manufacturers and good small batch hifi and pro gear and instruments but a lot of it isn’t cheap at all. SE I disagree on the quality on but their stuff is consistent and can be because they have their own factory. Unlike say Alctron or the horrors that are Behringer and Warm Audio. Lewitt just makes k67 capsule mics with AKG bodies. |
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Post by chessparov on Jul 13, 2024 16:58:25 GMT -6
FWIW I have an OG U195 (David Bock era  ) Chinesium capsule but QC'd with Senor Bock at the Helm. Excellent vocal mic. Like all "his" U195's. SE was smart to come out with the T1 BTW. I do personally have a taste lean though (usually) towards more Hand Made/Hand Made-ish stuff though. Ala... Beesneez/Heiserman/Chandler/Josephson. AKA among the Usual Condenser Suspects. Chris P.S. Only the Lewitt Tube LDC's "work" on me. All the FET's were a bit bright on my bright-ish voice. Haven't tried the new Pure one. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jul 13, 2024 20:29:12 GMT -6
OK let’s interject a tiny bit of reality here; both AA and Lewitt started out as designed in Germany built in China. Let’s see they were both founded by former AKG / Harman Alims, not just engineers and designers, so why wouldn’t they follow that model? They knew their big target was the 414, they had to hit that price point, no way you could start a large scale factory in Germany and hit it.
Most of these guys were not from from the Brass Capsule era, though they will both try to infer otherwise, these guys know how to build mics the way AkG has since the late 90’s that means China! Not saying they are not talented, not saying that both are not improvements of Modern AKG. Yes over time AA has moved a lot back to Europe, but I’m betting if you were to really dig deep you find most would be considered “ assembled in Germany “ not manufactured in Germany.
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Post by Dan on Jul 13, 2024 21:31:17 GMT -6
OK let’s interject a tiny bit of reality here; both AA and Lewitt started out as designed in Germany built in China. Let’s see they were both founded by former AKG / Harman Alims, not just engineers and designers, so why wouldn’t they follow that model? They knew their big target was the 414, they had to hit that price point, no way you could start a large scale factory in Germany and hit it. Most of these guys were not from from the Brass Capsule era, though they will both try to infer otherwise, these guys know how to build mics the way AkG has since the late 90’s that means China! Not saying they are not talented, not saying that both are not improvements of Modern AKG. Yes over time AA has moved a lot back to Europe, but I’m betting if you were to really dig deep you find most would be considered “ assembled in Germany “ not manufactured in Germany. AA is the same people who were building Harman AKG in Austria before Samsung closed it. First mic was made in Austria OC818 with a new capsule design. |
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Post by ab101 on Jul 13, 2024 22:53:41 GMT -6
I remember in the late 60s when people made fun of Japanese manufactured cars. Not too long after that, Japan had the last laugh and the U.S. had a trade imbalance. The U.S. auto industry had some real competition and had to get their act together. I suspect the same is going to happen with China's electronics. In the mandolin world, Northfield has done a great job partnering with a shop in China. I have one of those mandolins that is outstanding. I also have a U.S. made one that cost three times as much. So, I guess my point is that I would caution against generlizations about items made in China in terms of quality, especially as it may be more of an issue of how good the non-China partners are at working with them, QC, etc. And eventually, I suspect that the people in China will be great at these crafts without the need for these partners.
Now China labor practices and business practices, that is another story as it is not a free country like Japan or South Korea. Those issues do concern me.
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jul 14, 2024 0:46:09 GMT -6
I remember in the late 60s when people made fun of Japanese manufactured cars. Not too long after that, Japan had the last laugh and the U.S. had a trade imbalance. The U.S. auto industry had some real competition and had to get their act together. I suspect the same is going to happen with China's electronics. In the mandolin world, Northfield has done a great job partnering with a shop in China. I have one of those mandolins that is outstanding. I also have a U.S. made one that cost three times as much. So, I guess my point is that I would caution against generlizations about items made in China in terms of quality, especially as it may be more of an issue of how good the non-China partners are at working with them, QC, etc. And eventually, I suspect that the people in China will be great at these crafts without the need for these partners. Now China labor practices and business practices, that is another story as it is not a free country like Japan or South Korea. Those issues do concern me. Epiphone Masterbilt bench made in China are incredible. $700 gets you a $1800 guitar basically. Plus real tone woods since China don't give a f*** about pillaging their natural resources. |
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Post by chessparov on Jul 14, 2024 8:25:04 GMT -6
They just came out with their Chinese version, of the American Express Card.
Only difference is you can't leave home.
Chris
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jul 14, 2024 8:34:52 GMT -6
I remember in the late 60s when people made fun of Japanese manufactured cars. Not too long after that, Japan had the last laugh and the U.S. had a trade imbalance. The U.S. auto industry had some real competition and had to get their act together. I suspect the same is going to happen with China's electronics. In the mandolin world, Northfield has done a great job partnering with a shop in China. I have one of those mandolins that is outstanding. I also have a U.S. made one that cost three times as much. So, I guess my point is that I would caution against generlizations about items made in China in terms of quality, especially as it may be more of an issue of how good the non-China partners are at working with them, QC, etc. And eventually, I suspect that the people in China will be great at these crafts without the need for these partners. Now China labor practices and business practices, that is another story as it is not a free country like Japan or South Korea. Those issues do concern me. The major differences. 1 Japan always has had an economic culture that embraces boutique manufacturers, they also had a long term goal of equaling/ beating everyone else’s quality. Japan never really made exact clones of others, their engineers certainly learned from the rest of the world, but had to much honor to just copy it. |
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Post by Dan on Jul 14, 2024 11:08:57 GMT -6
I remember in the late 60s when people made fun of Japanese manufactured cars. Not too long after that, Japan had the last laugh and the U.S. had a trade imbalance. The U.S. auto industry had some real competition and had to get their act together. I suspect the same is going to happen with China's electronics. In the mandolin world, Northfield has done a great job partnering with a shop in China. I have one of those mandolins that is outstanding. I also have a U.S. made one that cost three times as much. So, I guess my point is that I would caution against generlizations about items made in China in terms of quality, especially as it may be more of an issue of how good the non-China partners are at working with them, QC, etc. And eventually, I suspect that the people in China will be great at these crafts without the need for these partners. Now China labor practices and business practices, that is another story as it is not a free country like Japan or South Korea. Those issues do concern me. The major differences. 1 Japan always has had an economic culture that embraces boutique manufacturers, they also had a long term goal of equaling/ beating everyone else’s quality. Japan never really made exact clones of others, their engineers certainly learned from the rest of the world, but had to much honor to just copy it. Japan also never had communism. Their dirigisme has got end them into an economic morass as his China’s neomercantilism and America’s off shoring, debt spending, laissez faire policies, and encouraging wealth stratification. The difference is China had decades of communism and culturally chabuduo and communism just took that and made it necessary for survival in Maoist China. There isn’t much difference so they don’t give a shit and get on with it. China is like Florida and crazy shit happens there because it’s China but unlike Florida, it’s all half-assed. Half-assed electronics and SSL (ahem digico ahem audiotonix) makin portable small boards with pcb mounted pots and faders are nothing compared to the construction practices. Look up the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake scandal that killed at least 5000 Chinese children in Sichuan. For all the Chinese construction practice and total lack of enforced building codes, the state built schools were worse built than private residents, collapsed, and killed everyone during the school day. It’s like Eastern Europe but worse. |
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Post by ab101 on Jul 14, 2024 12:21:23 GMT -6
I agree with many of the negatives about China. I am not sure it is fair to say that there are not any great products made in China, especially with the design and QC by international partners. I also wonder if China is learning from the historic attitude of Japan to learn from others and enhance? The ethics of the whole thing is of concern though, as it relates to the treatment of people within China and as it relates to business practices, environmental abuse, disregard for intellectual property rights, and the overall goals of the Chinese communist government.
As to the topic of Lewitt, I would be hesitant to single them out for any relationship they may have with China manufacturing. And who knows if all the international collaborations may also have more of a positive impact than an isolationist approach. This seems to be a very complex issue.
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Post by copperx on Jul 14, 2024 14:16:59 GMT -6
Lewitt mics sound wonderful, but I'm concerned because Dan mentions the Lewitt (or is it all Chinese?) capsules are irradiated because that might indicate fungal or insect contamination. I'm not sure if the irradiation process itself poses risks to the capsule's performance. Given that microphone capsules often contain organic components like Mylar diaphragms or specialized adhesives, I wonder how the radiation might affect these materials over time. Could it cause subtle degradation in the polymer chains, potentially altering the capsule's frequency response or sensitivity?
This reminds me of the infamous "Capacitor Plague" in the early 2000s, where faulty electrolytic capacitors caused widespread failures in electronics. While that was due to a manufacturing issue, not irradiation, it shows how seemingly minor changes in components can have far-reaching consequences.
While the irradiation is surely meant to sterilize, I can't help but worry about potential long-term effects on the capsule's acoustic properties. What if the process introduces minute structural changes that accumulate over years of use? And how might this impact the mic's sound?
Hey Dan, where did you hear about this irradiation process for the capsules? Is it something Lewitt has confirmed? I'd love to know more about the source.
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but the dual outputs is a cool option. Looking at the frequency plots for the Lewitt and the XLII, they are similar. I dunno. I've been having G.A.S. spasms lately. I should probably just save up and replace my monitors. That would be the smart move, but sometimes I feel like I need to do something stupid.
)
