Lewitt Audio Pure Tube

Lewitt’s vocal‑oriented Pure Tube promises valve tone without the noise.

From their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Lewitt Audio have built up a formidable reputation for innovation in microphone design, culminating in last year’s flagship LCT 1040: a mic that offers an extensive selection of sonic options around the theme of blending between valve and FET signal paths (reviewed SOS March 2022). The impressive features of the 1040 come at a cost, however, and Lewitt have sensibly borrowed some of the R&D that went into that product to produce a more affordable option for engineers who require a valve mic of similar quality but who don’t need all the bells and whistles. The result is the Lewitt Pure Tube, a cardioid‑only valve capacitor microphone.

First Impressions

Lewitt offer the Pure Tube as part of two different bundles. The Essential Set comes with a minimal set of accessories, including a basic mic mount and an even more basic case for keeping the mic dust‑free. I was sent the Studio Set, which features a robust Peli‑style case housing the mic, the compact power supply and a very large shockmount, which also serves as a neat way of attaching the custom pop filter. I like this idea of offering both a minimal set and a more fully featured package, and it is perhaps a better option than cutting corners by supplying lower‑quality cases and mounts to all buyers regardless of whether they’re needed.

The mic itself looks very similar to the flagship 1040, with a simple, functional form factor that makes no attempt whatsoever to mimic any of the vintage designs we are so accustomed to. I often like to ask clients coming through my studio what they think of a review mic’s appearance and, for what it’s worth, I recall hearing the words ‘fancy’ and ‘modern’ more than once. I won’t dwell too much on aesthetics, but the design choice of having the valve visible — housed like a trophy in a miniature cabinet — serves no practical purpose and will perhaps spilt opinion. It can look nice in a moody low‑light recording session, thanks to a small LED that creates the impression of the valve glowing, but it could also be described as an unnecessary gimmick. Overall, though, I was very impressed with how solid everything looked and felt in use and this, combined with its impressive 10 year...