Jesus Martinez at Decibel Studios LA is no stranger to Vanguard Audio Labs microphones. He first picked up the Vanguard V13 in 2019, after hearing it at Vintage King’s showroom against microphones 4 times its price! Since then, his Vanguard V13 Tube Condenser has been the frequent lead vocal mic on his YouTube channel recordings, including Lupita Infante, Chrisol, Las Caliope, and more.

We recently sent Jesus some microphones to record a video for his Breakfast Table sessions. Jesus is an excellent engineer and musician who specializes in capturing traditional Latin acoustic instruments. The Vanguard V13 gen2 Tube Condenser, Vanguard V44S gen2 Stereo FET Condenser, Vanguard V1S+LOLLI Pencil Condenser, and V4 gen2 FET Condenser captured his live, in-the-room recording session of Mary Alfaro Velasco, which you can view below:

Jesus took this a step further for us and broke down his use of each microphone in the above video. Jesus solos each track without any processing, then includes the processing, and then puts it in the mix to show you how each microphone excels.

The V44S gen2 Stereo FET Condenser being used on harp sounds absolutely delightful, and the stereo spread is magical as the playing runs up and down the harp. I also really enjoyed the bongos being recorded by the LOLLIs in stereo, and the way the LOLLIs perfectly captured the snap and resonance of the bongos.

“Vanguard is an exceptional microphone companies with 2 great qualities. 1) They create extremely high-quality microphones with excellent components; and 2) Their prices are AMAZING for what you get!”

So many thanks to Jesus, Mary Alfaro Velasco, and the incredibly talented session musicians!