Lauten LT-381 Oceanus

It’s easy to throw good money after bad when chasing down the affordable studio mic these days. An endless supply of imported LDC’s sees to that. The Lauten Oceanus proves an exception to rule of affordable mics being brittle and flimsy. The first impression, mentioned in all reviews, is the size. It is huge. You will definitely need a heavy duty stand to support it. The external heat-sink is said to keep heat from travelling to the capsule. It feels great to hold and comes with all of the accessories that we all expect: Heavy-duty flight case, shock-mount, power supply and high quality cable.

Now, the good part. This microphone just sounds great. Lots of us search for a mythical quality in a tube mic. We read constant references to so-and-so being recorded with a German U-something and expect a tube mic to drip with maple syrup gooeyness. This is not that mic (check out the Lauten Horizon for that). The Oceanus is a crystal clear, detailed, up –front, comforting sounding mic. My experience, with a range of singers, has been that the Oceanus flatters singers in a way that keeps the natural sound of their voice while sitting in the mix with a “hi-fi” kind of sheen. The top end is just the cure for the typical harshness of many cheaper LDC’s. In addition to voices, I’ve had great luck with steel string acoustic, paired with a smaller mic on the neck. There’s not much more to say about the Oceanus. It’s plain and simple, a great sounding mic with just the right blend of girth and glow.

Though the price is a bit higher than many others, it’s a bargain to the last penny. You would not ever regret having this mic in your cabinet.