Austrian microphone maker Lewitt have been showing off their latest flagship: the single-pattern large-diaphragm condenser LCT 540 SUBZERO.
The mic features a premium-quality capsule, together with some very clever circuit design, dropping the electrical self-noise —allegedly — to -1 dB (A) at a sensitivity of 41 mV/Pa, -28 dBV/Pa, increasing the dynamic range to 132 dB (A).
Head of Product Management Moritz Lochner explains: “Everybody thinks 0 dB SPL is the hearing threshold, but that’s in fact only true at 2 kHz. At this point, the LCT 540 SUBZERO actually has self-noise of below -7 dB SPL – hence the name. The acoustic self-noise of 4 dB (A) is caused by random molecules bouncing against the diaphragm. But that’s a cumulative value; if you look at self-noise across the full frequency spectrum, you’ll see that the LCT 540 SUBZERO is all the way below the hearing threshold. It’s literally better than your ears. Describing something frequency-dependent in one single value is nowhere near detailed enough at this level of engineering. We even went and redesigned our self-noise measuring equipment especially for this microphone. To make a long story short: if you want to capture everything without ANY compromise, you’ll need to get an LCT 540 SUBZERO – because ultimately, it’s the details that turn a good recording into something magical.”
The initial small batch of microphones will be available within the next couple of weeks, with final roll-out planned for January 2018. Lewitt is aiming for a very competitive price point, so a street price well below $1,000 is expected.
