Review LCT 441 FLEX by Andrea Rocca on Gearspace

The LCT 441 FLEX is based on the design of LEWITT’s record-breakingly quiet LCT 540 S (which I reviewed a few months ago). Though it doesn’t feature that microphone’s ultra-low self-noise, which would be impossible at this cost and probably not possible at all given the multiple patterns, the specs are very good: 144 dBSPL means that the fact that there isn’t a pad will not practically matter, and a signal to noise ratio of 87 dB is more than good enough for most real-world application. The self-noise figure of 7 dB (A) is very respectable. The diaphragm is a one inch 3-micron gold sputtered Mylar thing.

The LCT 441 FLEX comes in a cardboard box, rather than the super solid military grade case that accompanies the more expensive models, but you get that excellent semi-circular shock mount (why don’t they all design them like this?) and a very portable magnetic popper stopper.

There are also some familiar LEWITT extra functions: the logo turns red when the microphone clips (which with that 144 dB SPL tolerance means that everyone should run for cover because something very bad is happening) and there is a Key-lock function activated when holding any of the buttons for two seconds: the logo becomes non illuminated and the buttons become inactive until you deactivate the Key-lock by pressing again for 2 seconds.
If you mainly record yourself and you don’t have any self-destructive, evil multiple personalities, you probably won’t need to use the Key-lock. It could, on the other hand, come in very handy in larger sessions involving compulsive random button pushers - I’ve been there.
Speaking about the buttons, they feel positive and not at all spongy, with a nice firm click. It’s good that they have included two rather than just a single one, because with so many choices of patterns having to constantly go “the full circle” could easily become tedious, particularly if you mistakenly overshoot.

This microphone sounds very good, regardless of the relatively low cost. 
I’ve tested it on a session with Maggie Casey and Johnny Be, London folk musicians extraordinaire who play, amongst other ensembles, in the very popular group The No Frills Band. Maggie and Johnny will record an album as a duo in my little audio boudoir during the winter and they graciously accepted to record a demo of their track Fire Thief (originally a Karine Polwart song) by overdubbing with a single mic rather than playing together as they normally would. 

The first thing that comes across is that the LCT 441 FLEX makes for an excellent vocal microphone. Maggie’s voice is a quintessentially English folk, very rich and melodic mezzo-soprano and the mic handled it beautifully.

The LCT 441 FLEX has the familiar LEWITT voice, big and clear without sounding artificially toppy. 

The instruments we recorded were Johnny’s Appalachian dulcimer plus a very nice Hokema Kalimba (never heard such a good sounding thumb piano, even though in this case we ended up using for some very understated embellishments), a shruti box and a tin whistle, both played by Maggie.

Another thing that was immediately clear is how well defined the polar patterns are. The Omni pattern, in particular, is a joy to use, which is not always the case with large diaphragm condensers. LDCs achieve omni directionality by using two electrically connected diaphragms, which in lesser designs can lead to an uneven sensitivity in different areas of the pattern. 
I have found the same excellent definition in my other Lewitt multi pattern LDCs, the LCT 940 and the LCT 640 TS, so whatever their designers do to achieve this - they are doing it right.

I used the omni pattern on every instrument because it sounded so natural in my very well dumped instrumental booth. What I was hearing from the monitors in the control room was very much what I was hearing in the booth - just perfect.

On Maggie’s lead vocal I went for the cardioid pattern for some proximity effect, and for Johnny’s backing vocal I decided to try the reverse cardioid, to see where it would take us. It worked well for backing vocals and Johnny was very amused to hear such a roomy sound whilst still singing to the front of the microphone.
 

About the Author: Andrea Rocca is a composer who is specialized in film and contemporary dance theatre music. From 2004 to 2010 he composed extensively for UK television, with works for Channel4, BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 5. In 2010 he scored Luigi Lo Cascio’s award-winning theatre production La Caccia and the contemporary dance production Frames for Toronto based company Zata Omm Dance Projects. To date, his feature film work includes the British feature The Hurting, Francesco Martinotti’s Branchie, Marco Risi’s L’Ultimo Capodanno and Tre Mogli, and Gianluca Tavarelli’s Liberi (Break Free), which run at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. His score for Luigi Lo Cascio’s La Città Ideale (The Ideal City), which was premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival – where it won the Arca Cinema award received widespread critical acclaim.