After a sneak-peek introduction at the April NAMM Show, Vanguard Audio Labs has announced that the much-anticipated V24 Tube Stereo Condenser Microphone is now available and ready to record.
The mics incorporate a matched set of Australian-made BeesNeez CK12 capsules—based on one of the most revered capsule designs in recording history—set within the company’s “tour-proof” V44S platform, with open-weave headbaskets for low internal reflections and a natural sound. The top headbasket rotates up to 120 degrees, with detents every 15 degrees for repeatability of settings.
The dual Cinemag transformers emulate the properties of the famed “T14” transformer found in vintage Austrian microphones, but use a larger core to obtain better low end response along with higher-quality alloys and precision windings.
Aesthetically, the precision-machined stainless steel body is polished to a #4 grained finish.
Both historically accurate CK12 capsules are independently switchable via the power supply between nine different patterns, allowing X/Y, Mid-Side, and Blumlein stereo miking within one microphone, as well as less conventional stereo techniques.
The rear of the microphone includes two switches. The original Austrian microphone was neither a pair of “12s” nor a pair of “251s,” but was an amalgamation of the two. It utilized the “251 rolloff,” a capacitor which gives the famous Telefunken model its signature top end. Vanguard made this capacitor switchable per capsule, allowing for a “12” or “251”–style response for each channel.
READ MORE: Vanguard Audio Labs V13 gen2 Microphone — A Real-World Review.
The power supply was designed from the ground up to provide clean, consistent power with no drift. The power supply output gives the engineer an additional phase-reversed top capsule output, which is perfect for less-than-ideal recording conditions, such as concert taping. This allows mid-side recording with no additional mixer patching.
The company says that it did not set out to make a “clone,” “homage” or “tribute” to one of the most hallowed stereo microphones of all time. Rather, designers used the basic circuit topology and improved upon it in as many ways as possible, including:
- A modernized power supply with extra filtering stages and integrated polar pattern switching
- Vastly reducing the crosstalk between the two circuits that was inherent to the original design, leading to superior stereo imaging
- Improved noise filtering along the capsule and power paths
- Extended low frequency response with a better transformer design and component value changes
- Modernized components, including US-made audiophile-grade low-noise resistors, high-end capacitors, dual Cinemag transformers, sealed microphone switches, and deep-cycle cryogenic treatment of the majority of the componentry
- Switchable low-pass filtering per channel, for “12” or “251”-style high end.
- And of course, our tried-and-tested “tank turret” V44S capsule-rotating metalwork that is the most durable rotating stereo microphone design conceived, using punched stainless steel and ball bearings for stage-worthy recallable settings
The V24 is designed and built in the United States, and undergoes final assembly in Southern California. Every unit is assembled by hand, and every single piece in a microphone kit undergoes a series of stringent audio and visual tests before being hand-packed. The package includes a five-year limited waarranty.
