Vanguard Audio Labs – Latest News (28th October 2022)

Carlton Music Presents Joe Gavin

Joe Gavin of Carlton Music Center gives us a couple of lovely guitar performances. The first features the new Taylor Guitars 512ce Urban Ironbark, capturing it with our Vanguard V4 gen2 FET Condenser Microphone!

The second piece features Taylor’s new Grand Theater body shape, which is larger than their GS Mini but smaller than the Grand Concert. Figured Big Leaf maple back & sides pair with a spruce top and C-Class bracing for an unexpectedly robust low-end response balanced by crisp trebles and a transparent quality that highlights each player’s individual style. Recorded using Vanguard Audio Labs’ V1 Pencil Condenser paired with the V4 FET Condenser for a crisp and clear sound.

There’s something about a virtuoso fingerpicking guitar performance that give me the chills when executed righteously. It’s the combination of precision and beauty with the extra added attraction of complex harmony. Like the early-music fingerpickers from the Renaissance, the style incorporates the entire tonality of the instrument, the naturally occurring harmonic resonances are as much a part of the sound as the picked notes.

Thanks Joe and Carlton Music! Engage with Carlton:

Vanguard Audio Labs welcome Shane Savala to the family!

We are supper happy to welcome guitarist/songwriter/producer Shane Savala (Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. [5th Dimension], Neil Sedaka, Roger Kellaway) to the Vanguard Audio Labs family!

From Stereofox: Shane Savala is a guitarist, songwriter, and producer based in Los Angeles. His focus is on instrumental, jazz and lo-fi beats and has been collaborating with friends and artists like Jfab. Shane’s effortless approach to music gives the illusion of simplicity, but stands out as something unique and sophisticated.

Known for his stylistic versatility, relentless creativity, and ability to make others sound their absolute best, Shane is in high demand for studio (Read more…)

From Shane: “I’ve been searching for the best way to record guitars, specifically acoustic guitars. My search has ended. The V13 and V1 are that perfect combo and for the price they can’t be beat! The blend between the two makes for a huge stereo image that perks your ears as well as having strong individual capabilities for quicker, tighter parts in those larger mixes.”

Savala can often be found playing in the company of a couple of other great musicians that also happen to be big Vanguard Audio fans, Brian Ward and Jason Fabus. These guys constitute the best of Los Angeles’ studio musicians…the 21st century wrecking crew…

We appreciate the support, and the chance to be part of Shane’s craft!

Explore the world of Shane Savala:

Listen to the Vanguard V44S On SoundCloud

Let’s go deep on V44S listening today. This best-in-class mic features a pair of coincident twin custom-voiced multi-pattern capsules, and you can utilize X/Y, Mid-Side, Blumlein, and other less conventional stereo microphone techniques in a single microphone. You can even run parallel signal paths on a single source, like a vocal, to compare or blend the two discrete signal chains. The V44S opens up a world of innovative recording possibilities.

Here’s some of the reactions we’ve gotten on the V44S gen2:

“Vanguard has done it again, the new V44S is not only up there with these legends [Neumann SM2 or SM69], it’s the new legend, the new #1.” – José Diogo Neves, msonic Baltic

“The new extreme stereo widths now possible were a big request from gen1 owners, for ORTF recordings that are usually done at 110-degree angles. The V44S gen2 is the only single microphone capable of achieving this super-wide stereo pickup. The Vanguard Labs V44s gen2 is a good all around workhorse of a stereo condenser microphone that will see more use for new, original recordings/productions made for the Atmos-spacial-immersive formats.  This is a good mic to add to your collection!” – Barry Rudolph, “Mix Magazine” – September 2021 Issue

“The V44S is stunning. They’ve really though about this, just like the V13 before it. Incredible value for what is a beautifully crafted, really though-about stereo microphone. What is there not to love? A beautiful piece of engineering, and one that I do not want to send back (but I shall be getting another one…that’s how much I like this thing.)” – James Ivey, The Studio Rats

• You can check the notes on each track on the SoundCloud page for preamp, placement, etc. when we have them. Unless noted, each track is raw – no EQ, no compression.
• I know SoundCloud’s streaming rate isn’t amazing, which is why all of these tracks are also available in their original WAV format on our Dropbox. You can also access the Dropbox files via each individual product page.
• If you’ve got some clips you think might belong on there, send them on in to bonjour@vanguardaudiolabs.com! We’re always looking for well-recorded raw files, 15-30 seconds long, with a few things:
• Preamp & placement notes.
• Processing should be limited to a hi-pass filter if there is any, and the filter corner frequency should be noted.
• Microphone control notes – if the pad/rolloff was engaged, the pattern, etc.
• Credits (and release) from the artist, as well as yourself, with links we can include in the track notes.
• (Lastly, thanks to a rather prominent gear clone brand, whose idea for hosting things on Soundcloud I totally copped, the irony of which is not lost on me.)

Get your mid-side on here!