Lewitt LCT 640 TS Dual-Output Multi-Pattern Condenser Microphone, Black

Lewitt LCT 640 TS: The Twin-System Condenser That Lets You Choose the Pattern After the Take

The Lewitt LCT 640 TS is a large-diaphragm multi-pattern condenser microphone, built around a 1-inch (25.4 mm) dual-diaphragm capsule and a transformerless Twin System that outputs the front and rear diaphragms as two fully independent signals. In everyday use it is a superb five-pattern studio condenser; switch on its Twin System and it becomes something no ordinary microphone can be — a mic that records both halves of its capsule separately so you can set, and even continuously vary, the polar pattern after the performance is over. It is the answer to every take you wish you had miked differently: record now, decide the pattern later.

Standard Mode: Five Classic Patterns on the Body

Used conventionally, the LCT 640 TS is a first-class multi-pattern condenser with five polar patterns selectable right on the mic: omnidirectional for the most open, natural, room-inclusive sound; wide cardioid for openness with gentle front focus; cardioid, the workhorse that favors the source and rejects the rear; supercardioid for the tightest focus and highest side rejection in busy or untreated rooms; and figure-8 for mid-side stereo and two-singers-on-one-mic setups. Each pattern changes not just directionality but the sense of space in the take, and all five are available instantly from a single control — no plug-in, no computer required.

The Twin System: Two Diaphragms, Two Separate Outputs

The feature that defines the LCT 640 TS is its dual output. The capsule's two diaphragms — a 1-inch (25.4 mm) front and a 33 mm rear, mounted back to back — are normally combined inside the mic to form a pattern. In Twin mode, the microphone instead sends each diaphragm out on its own connector: the front diaphragm leaves on the barrel's 3-pin XLR, and the rear diaphragm leaves on a separate side-mounted mini-XLR, via the included adapter cable. Recorded to two channels of your interface, you now have the raw front and back signals of the capsule preserved independently — the two ingredients from which any polar pattern is built.

How Two Diaphragm Signals Become Any Pattern — After Recording

This is the physics that makes it work. A dual-diaphragm capsule creates its patterns by mixing the front and rear membrane signals in a particular ratio and polarity: sum them equally and you get omni; use the front alone and you get cardioid; combine them in opposite polarity and you get figure-8. Because the LCT 640 TS hands you both signals untouched, that mix can be done afterward, in software. Lewitt's free Polarizer plug-in takes your two recorded channels and lets you sweep continuously through every pattern — omni to cardioid to figure-8 and everywhere between — long after the musician has gone home. A vocal take that turned out to need more room, or less, is fixed by turning a knob, not by re-recording.

One Microphone, Full Mid-Side Stereo

Mid-side (M/S) is a classic stereo technique that captures a center-facing "mid" signal and a sideways-facing figure-8 "side" signal, then combines them to produce an adjustable stereo image with perfect mono compatibility. Normally it takes two carefully aligned microphones. Because the LCT 640 TS delivers two coincident diaphragm signals from one capsule, a single mic captures a complete M/S recording — and the Polarizer plug-in lets you widen or narrow the stereo image after the fact. For solo acoustic instruments, ambience, and room capture, it is a genuine one-microphone stereo rig that packs down to a single stand.

Why the Twin System Stays Perfectly Mono-Compatible

Multi-mic stereo setups can suffer phase problems: when two spaced microphones hear the same source at slightly different times, folding the mix to mono can cause hollow, comb-filtered cancellation. The LCT 640 TS sidesteps this entirely because its two diaphragms sit back to back at the same point in space — they are coincident, capturing the source at the same instant. There is no time offset to cause cancellation, so any pattern you synthesize and any stereo image you create collapses to mono cleanly, with no phase surprises. It is stereo flexibility with none of the usual mono risk, which matters the moment a track has to play on a phone speaker or a club PA.

The Capsule, the Controls, and the Safety Net

Beneath the flexibility is a serious studio microphone. The gold-sputtered dual-diaphragm capsule delivers a detailed, natural sound with a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz and a sensitivity of roughly 31 mV/Pa in cardioid, while self-noise stays low at 10.5 dB(A) and maximum SPL reaches 132 dB. A four-step attenuation pad (0/-6/-12/-18 dB) and a three-stage low-cut filter (40/80/160 Hz) shape the signal at the source. A clipping-history memory lights the logo red if the take ever overloaded — even briefly — so you never miss a hidden clip, and Perfect Match sensitivity trimming lets you tune a pair of LCT 640 TS mics to identical output for flawless stereo and Twin-mode work.

Where the LCT 640 TS Earns Its Place

On lead vocals, record in Twin mode and commit to a great performance without committing to a pattern — dial the exact directionality later to suit the final mix. On acoustic guitar, strings, and piano, capture full mid-side stereo from one stand. Set it as a room or ambience mic and choose, after the session, how much space to keep. It shines on drum overheads and guitar cabinets, and it is tailor-made for the "record now, choose the pattern later" workflow that saves takes you would otherwise lose. Whether you use it as a straightforward five-pattern condenser or exploit its dual output to the fullest, it rewards you with options that a conventional microphone simply cannot offer.

Who the Lewitt LCT 640 TS Is For

The LCT 640 TS is for the engineer, producer, or studio that wants maximum flexibility and hates leaving a great take hostage to a pattern decision made in the moment. It is for the songwriter capturing solo performances who wants true one-mic stereo, the mixer who values a printed pure-front safety alongside a characterful blend, and anyone building matched pairs for overheads and rooms. It ships as a complete kit — the microphone, LCT 40 SHx flat-front shockmount, LCT 50 PSx magnetic pop filter, LCT 40 Wx windscreen, the LCT 40 TS mini-XLR-to-XLR cable, a DTP 40 Lb bag, and a hard case — so everything the Twin System needs is in the box. Record the performance; choose the microphone later.