Ear Trumpet Labs Louise Large-Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Modern sound meets retro aesthetics

By Phil O'Keefe

Are you tired of using microphones on stage that look like what everyone else uses? Have you been looking for something that is visually a little more unique, with a sense of style, but don't want to give up on great sound quality? Do you want to stand out on stage visually as well as sonically? Are you looking for a bit of retro appeal? Then let me introduce you to Louise - an interesting new microphone from Ear Trumpet Labs that brings a sense of style and a touch of the coolness factor to microphones that instruments have long enjoyed, but that stage microphones rarely display. 

What You Need To Know

• The Ear Trumpet Labs Louise is a very distinctive looking cardioid condenser microphone that is visually reminiscent of some vintage 1930s era microphone designs, with a touch of Steampunk tossed in for good measure. Don't expect pristine and flawless cosmetics - here and there you'll find small nicks, dents, discoloration, and other minor imperfections that don't really come across as flaws as much as marks of character that add to the microphone's hand-crafted, old-school vibe.

• The Louise was designed, and is hand-built in Portland Oregon USA by Ear Trumpet Labs founder and "proprietor-bricoleur" Philip Graham.

• The Ear Trumpet Labs Louise uses a 26mm capsule that Ear Trumpet Labs (ETL) refer to as a medium-large diaphragm, although at 26mm, I feel it's at the small end of the large diaphragm range. The capsule is a Chinese-made electret condenser. Capsules are individually tested (with approximately 30% of all capsules being rejected for not meeting ETL's standards) and then modified by Ear Trumpet Labs with additional acoustic dampening.

• The capsule is housed in a spherical stainless steel mesh ball that looks suspiciously like a tea strainer. In fact, many of the parts used to build ETL microphones are sourced from common hardware items such as copper tubing, springs, brass fittings, bike chain sprockets, and the like.

• The spherical ball housing the capsule is suspended with four springs within a six inch stainless steel loop, which is attached to the body of the microphone with a pivoting joint, allowing the loop and ball to be rotated approximately 90 degrees in either direction relative to the microphone's copper body.

• Foam and silk are used inside the head basket for pop filtering, and rubber baffles are also used within the sphere for sound shaping, and also, I suspect, for helping to define the polar pattern. Sorbothane is also used inside the basket for vibration and mechanical shock dampening. For a condenser mike, Louise is unusually resistant to mechanical handling noise and stage vibration. I tried singing into the microphone without an external pop filter, and I was surprised and pleased with the lack of plosive and sibilance issues, even when singing very close to the microphone.

• Louise features transformerless FET electronics, along with high quality electronic components, including metal film resistors and polypropylene and and polystyrene capacitors. The JFET transistors are hand-tested, matched, and biased for optimal performance. Louise requires 48V phantom power. The balanced XLR output is located at the base of the microphone's copper body. Brass fittings at either end of the body add a bit of contrast and additional visual appeal.

• Sensitivity is rated at 12mv/Pa, and the output impedance is 150 ohms. While no self-noise information, polar pattern plot or frequency response graph is provided by the manufacturer, the noise level was not objectionable for either recording or live use. The electronics feature a modest bass roll-off to help control proximity effect. The proximity is definitely noticeable when the mic is used really close to the sound source, but once you get six to ten inches away from Louise, the proximity is not significant.

• Ear Trumpet Labs say they have tailored the high frequency EQ to help reduce harshness and keep feedback under control. It worked - the mic is quite smooth and natural sounding, with no trace of the brittle, exaggerated high frequency emphasis that some modern microphones exhibit. It's also more resistant to feedback than most large diaphragm condenser microphones.

• The one inch diameter body of the Louise fits perfectly into standard-sized mike clips, and one is included with the microphone. It can also fit into similarly-sized universal shock mounts, although the mechanical isolation is quite good, even without using one.

• The Louise is designed to be used at distances ranging from six inches to about four feet from the sound source(s), and is intended for use by vocalists, as well as small acoustical instrument ensembles. A small group of three to five musicians and / or vocalists can form a semi-circle around the microphone, and Louise performs very well when used for this kind of "single microphone / multiple musicians" application.

• In keeping with the "found items" approach to the microphone's build, the Louise ships in a metal "tool case" from Coastal Tool & Supply Corporation in W. Hartford Connecticut. Being unsure when I first saw the case, I checked online to see if such a company actually exists, and indeed it does. The case is fitted with foam, which appears to be hand-cut to hold the uniquely-shaped Louise microphone.

• Primarily designed as a live performance microphone, with its balanced and neutral sound quality, Louise is equally well suited for studio use too.

Limitations

• Due to the large size of Louise, close-in placement can be difficult in some circumstances. However, to be fair, this microphone is designed and optimized for more distant placement, so except when it is being used outside of what it was designed for (and there's absolutely no reason not to experiment with using it in this way), this is generally not going to be an issue for most owners.

• When using one mic for multiple musicians, the musicians will need to listen to each other carefully, and adjust their positioning, volume and playing dynamics accordingly in order to achieve the proper balance and blend. This is in no way a fault with the microphone, but something that you need to take into consideration in order to get the best results from it.

Conclusions

The Ear Trumpet Labs Louise is a very distinctive looking microphone, with classic design elements that give it a lot of retro appeal. That, along with its hand-built artistry combine to form a visually impressive mike that will fit right in onstage for folk, jazz, retro, and Americana stylists as well as musicians of any musical genre who are looking for something a bit more visually interesting than your typical stage microphones… but don't let her good looks and cool vibe fool you - hidden beneath Louise's unique exterior is a wonderful sounding microphone that, while optimized for live performance, can also serve you well for studio applications too. It has excellent feedback resistance for a large diaphragm condenser, a well-controlled cardioid polar pattern with solid off-axis rejection, and a neutral sonic character and smooth, natural sound quality that is well suited to a variety of acoustical instruments and vocalists. It's great to see a small company like Ear Trumpet Labs doing something a bit different than everyone else, and doing it so well. The world needs a microphone like Louise, and I suspect it will be very well received by a wide range of musicians, live sound techs and recording engineers.

Resources

Ear Trumpet Labs Louise product web page ($499.00 MSRP, available direct from the manufacturer)

Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.