Chandler’s Jekyll and Hyde approach to mic design reaches a new market with their most affordable model yet.
Chandler are a well‑respected American pro audio company known for their preamps and other high‑end studio outboard offerings, like the Curvebender EQ and the Zener Limiter. They have a close association with Abbey Road Studios and EMI, and have reissued a number of iconic designs from the world’s most famous studio. Chandler’s first microphone, released in 2017, was the EMI REDD 47, which combined a high‑end U47‑style valve mic with an integrated valve preamp. You can read more about the technical background and history of the EMI era at Abbey Road in Hugh Robjohns’ linked review of this mic.
Chandler released a second mic in 2019. The solid‑state TG microphone is intended as a high‑quality studio all‑rounder, and features an innovative Tape Equaliser as well as two distinct voicing options. Both mics have been very well received but, as with most things in life, quality and innovation comes at a cost that is out of reach for many. So, with their third microphone, Chandler have targeted a more affordable price level. Chandler say that the TG Type L inherits the core circuitry and capsule of its larger and significantly more expensive TG sibling, whilst having its own distinct sound. Featuring a cardioid‑only polar pattern and a much simpler feature set than its predecessors, the Type L is neverthless intended as a high‑quality, versatile studio workhorse. Like the original TG, it also comes with two selectable voicings intended to give the engineer a choice as to how any given source should be captured.
First Impressions
The first thing that struck me about the TG Type L was just how small and light it is. This matters not from a sonic perspective, of course, but it did seem a little lightweight when I first got my hands on it. I was enthused to hear a Chandler mic in action in my studio, though, and I was also intrigued by the potential of having two different characters available in a single mic. Users can switch between System A — described as more “mid‑forward and harmonically rich” — or System B, which has a “ribbon‑like quality and is more pristine by contrast” using a small switch on the rear of the mic. That, and the ‑10dB pad switch, are the only user controls. The TG Type L ships in a nice‑looking bamboo box that has room for the small swivel mount, which screws to the bottom of the mic.
The published specifications are minimal, but Chandler emphasise that the Type L is designed to excel in high‑SPL scenarios, such as close‑miking a guitar cabinet. I had a bunch of re‑amping to do for a project where the client had tracked guitars at home, so this seemed a great first test. I put the Type L in my preferred starting position for guitar recording: slightly away from the centre of one of the cones of my Orange 4x12 cabinet, which was paired with a Fender Supersonic amplifier. Re‑amping gives you a great opportunity to really dial in your tone and generally evaluate any differences you make to your recording chain, and with the cabinet blasting away in my live room at a very healthy volume, I was immediately impressed with the sound coming back through my monitors. I started off in the System A setting, and I had a sense of the mic appearing to saturate slightly as I increased the volume going to the amp. Also of note was how it generally felt like the TG Type L was delivering a natural reproduction of the way the cabinet sounded, despite being placed in a very unnatural position so close to the speaker! Switching to System B, the difference was very much as described — the mic sounded a little cleaner, with less emphasis on the high mids, and more of the low midrange coming to the fore. With the added bonus that I had to stretch my legs to change the setting on the mic, I could immediately see how useful these two different voicings could be in my studio.
Kit Parade
After my successful guitar session, I felt pretty confident I was going to like the Type L on drums, and I’m happy to report that it didn’t disappoint. One of the biggest decisions I make around miking a drum kit is whether to use a pair of ribbon mics or something like an AKG C414 for overhead duties, and I was intrigued to hear how the TG Type L’s different voicings might work in that context. I didn’t have a pair of them to try, unfortunately, but using it as a mono overhead revealed obvious differences in how the two voicings presented cymbals. My ears seem particularly sensitive to a harsh hi‑hat, and System B seemed to do a little of that ribbon thing of rolling off some of the higher frequencies. Interestingly, though, it retained enough detail and didn’t sound too dull or ‘woody’, like a ribbon mic sometimes can.
It made me nervous placing it in range of a stray drum stick, but the Type L also sounded superb as a close snare mic, where it offered a pleasing sense of saturation whilst bringing out a nice sense of the ‘crack’ from my Ludwig 402 snare drum. As a last test on drums, I was keen to hear how the Type L sounded as an ‘outside kick’ mic on my 22‑inch Rogers kick drum, and this again proved to be very revealing about the differences between the two voicings. With the ‑10dB pad engaged, both settings provided a generous amount of low end, but System A was audibly cleaner sounding when compared to the ‘furry edges’ of the more saturated sound captured by System B. This is seemingly a mic that can excel in pretty much every role around recording an acoustic drum kit.
A True All‑Rounder?
After the joyous racket of guitar re‑amping and drum recording, it felt time to see if the Type L had more of a tender side, and it did an excellent job recording a quiet fingerpicked acoustic guitar for a folk artist I was working with. It was noticeable that the differences in the voicing options seemed much more subtle in this quieter setting, and I felt like I was splitting hairs before eventually choosing the System A option.
The Type L sounded superb, providing detail and presence with just a hint of saturation and character...
Recording female vocals during the same folk session, the Type L sounded superb, providing detail and presence with just a hint of saturation and character — like you might get from a good vintage mic. It’s worth mentioning that the small switch that controls the voicing options can be switched without any audible ‘thump’ being sent to your speakers. This means that it’s fairly easy to get an artist you’re working with to flip between them to audition which option you like best. Also worth mentioning is that the System B setting seems to be 2‑3 dB less sensitive than System A, which is no problem in practice but worth bearing in mind when judging your preferred voicing!
Summing Up
I’ve put a lot of emphasis on the differences between the two voicings of the TG Type L, but it’s worth making clear that aside from this well‑conceived feature, this is a great‑sounding little mic. If I’m asked for my Swiss Army or desert island mic I always plump for an older AKG C414, but the TG Type L would fill the same role very nicely. It’s great on vocals and detailed when that is needed, whilst also being very comfortable in front of loud guitar cabinets and drums — what’s not to like?
LG Type L Audio Examples
I have recorded some audio examples to accompany my review and you will find these here:
www.soundonsound.com/reviews/chandler-tg-type-l-audio-examples
Pros
- More affordable than other Chandler mics.
- A proper studio all‑rounder.
- Voicing options make it even more versatile.
- Compact size.
Cons
- Perhaps lacks a little visual gravitas!
Summary
With a smaller size and price tag than its predecessors, Chandler Limited’s TG Type L mic is a great‑sounding all‑around studio capacitor mic with the added bonus of two subtly but meaningfully different voicing options.
Information
£899 including VAT.
The Groovebox +44 (0)20 300 44716.
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