This Setting On The Lauten Clarion Sounds A Lot Like The Neumann U87ai

Obviously, as a voice over mic, it needs to be compared to the Neumann U87, and what I found surprised me. Turns out the Clarion in Figure-8 sounds a lot like my U87ai and it's really making me think that the Clarion is a far more versatile mic than I had first thought.
Huge thanks to ‪@LautenAudio‬ for sending over the Clarion for evaluation. I was under no obligation to review it.
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[@TheRecordist]

Holy crapola! Wow! The 87 sounds muffled and veiled in comparison. I'd choose the Clarion all day long! Insane in the figure 8 setting! WOOOOO

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

The 87's lack of clarity may have worked in the tape era from whence it was designed, but in the age of digital, the shortcomings of it's smeary FET are easily exposed. It's not a bad sound, just not necessarily the sound of today.

[@vocals07]

I think it sounds awesome ! The Lauten Audio is a killer company. I’d get that in a heartbeat

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Yeah, man. I'm really starting to think Lauten makes the best mics in the world.

[@vocals07]

@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff definitely Mark as I’ve said before you do a phenomenal shootout and I’ve had anywhere from high-end flea mics to the Upton 251 to the Telefunken C12 to the AKG C414 EB with a brass capsule and I’ve had vintage 87s and I’ll tell you you’re right on Lauten Audio makes some incredible mics no doubt

[@carl-magnusconsitt7389]

The Figure 8 on the Clarion sounds like the best sound on a mic no matter what! Sounds like a "moded u47 fet" with a paper thin mid... I love it !!!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Yeah, that fig-8 tone on the Clarion is some totally best-in-class outrageous.

[@BillBene67]

I'm loving the sound of the CLEARion..... Woah. Didn't see this coming

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Plot twist! Clear-ion indeed!

[@carminelombardi9575]

Wow the Clarion let's more transients in, but with comp and eq it would sound as warm and smooth as needed, but the transients is something I like, and it's a third the price. Great video.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks! And great point. You could smooth those transients out, if desired, but you can’t add more of that Clarion detail to the 87.

[@annavmusic6309]

and it sounds great as an outside kick drum mic too!!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

I’m starting to learn that the Clarion is one beast of a versatile mic.

[@Danny-Lightning-CSR]

i must say the clarion does sound better overall in cordioid and in the other mode it almost sounds the same..

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks Danny! The Clarion continues to reveal itself as a serious contender.

[@innercynic2784]

Damn! That's so similar.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

And I have to believe there is no way Lauten didn't realize this and kept it a secret for all these years, forcing me to buy Neumanns.

[@carl-magnusconsitt7389]

You must do a test between the Clarion and the brother Atlantis! Once again, very good review! Thanks

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

I would absolutely love to compare them. Keep your fingers x’d that it will happen someday.

[@TerryWyce]

Hi Mark, you stated that you did not have any EQ on the Clarion. What did you just do? Use some noise removal and compression?

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Hi Terry, I always use just a light kiss of fast 1.5:1 compression on the MT48 with a high threshold to tame any peaky transients going in, but I doubt it does much at all when I'm just speaking normally. Also, no noise removal, just the MT48's built in gate.

[@hackinghifi4247]

Man it sounds similar. If I was not active listening I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. Maybe just a bit more smoothness in the 87 and more articulation in the clarion in figure 8 mode.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Yup. The casual listener would never know, especially in a mix or on a music bed. The Clarion has a much cleaner sounding FET in it than the 87.

[@scottphillipsvo]

Speaking as somebody who works as a voice over and also as a producer, I'm much preferring the sound of the Clarion here. I think that if I were sent 2 files from the same VO without knowing which mics they used, I'd actually run with the Clarion recording.

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks for lending your ears, Scott! I've been thinking a lot about this lately and I believe the much cleaner choice of FET vs the 87's FET is a huge difference maker here. In the age of tape, the 87's smeared lower mid wouldn't have been as apparent as it is today and the more detailed Clarion just feels like a much better VO choice because of it.

[@terrellgrantviews]

I literally just became a subscriber yesterday. Do you have a videos comparing the Atlantis vs. U87?

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Hi Terrell! Welcome aboard. Currently, I do not have an Atlantis, but should that situation change, you bet there will be a head-to-head with the 87. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@vladimirpetrovic4771]

Wow, I have to admit, the sound is indeed very close on both microphones, especially when you switch the LC to figure 8. You can really feel that small difference in the creamy soft sound that the U87 transformer brings. But I would probably get lost in a blind A/B test trying to tell which microphone is which :) Mark, are the microphones on any specific external preamp or on the MT48 preamps? By the way, you sound great on both microphones!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Thanks Vlad! Both mics are just going into the MT-48, using its gorgeous on-board preamps. And I agree that it really takes critical listening to notice the subtleties that divide them. Enough so that I’m convinced the average consumer end-user listener would never tell if you dubbed one in for the other.

[@vladimirpetrovic4771]

@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff Totally agree, Mark!

[@mixedbyrg5481]

Hey Mark, is The Clarion good for rap vocals?

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

I would imagine very much so. Especially on the +10 db boost setting.

[@curtishustace]

Lauten Clarion Vs. LS208?! :)

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

Hi Curtis! For sure! Coming up, probably in a couple days or so, on the Microphone Playboy podcast.

[@garyembar4774]

Wow!!! Well Mark, given your voice, rig and the environment, the u87 has clearly lost to Clarion in more ways than one. Evidently, the u87 did exaggerate, exacerbate and overtly accentuated the nasally tone (probably around 600-1k) when compared to the clarion which stayed relatively balanced, crisp and clean....effortlessly oozing clarity!!! Besides, the Lauten Clarion is undoubtedly the strongest contender in the running for the title "KING of Clarity", while the u87 is merely continuing to bask in the glory of laurels from yester-decades, being blind and clueless of the world around. Now, let's get to the pricing; if anything, the u87 is worth no more than half its listed price or may be even less! ....Why? See what a Clarion just delivered here, and at a price less than half of that of a u87....You tell me! The u87 has no business charging 4k+ while being unable to standup against a 1k+ Lauten. Think about it; Any of us could get an EDEN+ATLANTIS+CLARION for the price of just one U87! Just think about it!! In-fact Mark, in all fairness and giving credit where its due; if we exclude the music industry and focus explicitly on the VO World, going forward, the "Lauten" should be the benchmark microphones ...and the Neumann's should be tested in comparison..not the other way around. The Neumanns have enjoyed spotlight, premium status and Price for decades and they have no sheen left to shine, nor the power to claim supremacy over the pedestal they were put on!

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

100 percent agree with all of it. Very well said, Gary! That is a revolutionary manifesto! I had a teacher in college tell us that a client will sometimes pick the most expensive option so that just in case the job falls flat, they can tell their boss they used the best available. And I think it’s an archaic mindset that continues to fuel the idea Neumann’s are worth their price tag. The 87 became a standard because back before home studios were a thing, almost all studios had an 87 as a general purpose mic that rarely sounds bad on anything. But today, as the audio world faces an evolution, it’s time to look at the mics that are delivering what the VO market wants.

[@garyembar4774]

@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff The story of u87 (Neumann in general) is akin to that of NOKIA/Blackberry/Palm…while Lauten has the storyline of Apple.

[@curtishustace]

@@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff coming from the photography world, is similar. In high-end commercial work, you are expected to use high-end brands for cameras (Phase One, Hasselblad, etc), lights (Profoto, Broncolor), etc. The fact is you can get the same results with a cheaper camera (Fuji), and cheaper lights (Godox, etc., after all, light is light, there is no difference in the light coming from a $10k power pack and a $1k power pack the physics of light doesn't change because of the brand). But it's "what's expected" and there is a perception of success and quality with the higher-end brands. Always drove me nuts, it's the destination that counts, not the route you take to get there. :)

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

@@curtishustace Exactly! That is a great example. Ultimately, 99.999 percent of all the people who go to the Louvre to look at the Mona Lisa don't ask themselves, "What brush did DaVinci use?"

[@TheRecordist]

Wow. That's incredibly well said!

[@ripdocholiday9650]

the clarion sounds was smoother and better, I hate u87 that transformer smear is annoying

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

For sure! That smear is hard to ignore once you hear it against something like the Clarion. You can’t unhear it.

[@YTHalilo]

Is it a sin if I state that the Clarion sounds better to me? haha

[@MarkYoshimotoNemcoff]

You wouldn’t be alone in thinking that.