Ear Trumpet Lab Wanda Condenser Microphone

Ear Trumpet Labs Wanda Condenser Microphone

By Barry Rudolph

Introduced at the 2025 NAMM Show, Wanda now makes a total eleven microphones in the Ear Trumpet Labs line of stylish condenser mics. All of Ear Trumpet Labs' microphones are designed for both live sound and studio recording. Ear Trumpet Labs gives their mics feminine names reminiscent of the early 20th century and a bygone era of elegant, classy chanteuses and gallant gentlemen.

Other microphones in this microphone sorority include: Edwina, Louise, Myrtle, Nadine, Delphina, Mabel, Josephine, Chantelle, Edna, Evelyn. Their design and look are strikingly distinctive and each mic is presented in an all-metal customized, foam-line travel case. Wanda features an end-address, cardioid pickup pattern and said to be tuned for the rejection of feedback in live sound applications.

All ETL mics are hand-made in Portland, Oregon from machined brass, copper and stainless steel. I liked the metal mesh screen with its internal pop filter. Wanda has a large diaphragm capsule measuring 26-mm (slightly more than an inch) with a sensitivity of -48.3 dB, a noise floor of 14 dBA and it requires +24 to +48 volts phantom power. A transformer-less FET capsule amplifier with matched transistors is used.

My First Date with Wanda

My first use for Wanda was for was my moderator's microphone on a Zoom call. I had it mounted on an articulated arm of a Shure stand so it could "hovered" over my desktop and computer keyboard. The first thing I noticed was that it was plosive-resistant even when tried hard to "pop it". I used a Retro Instruments Powerstrip mic pre-amp/EQ/compressor unit connected to my Pro Tools interface and then to my computer for Zoom and/or podcasting. Everyone on the call said I sounded good so I recorded a few sentences in to hear what they were talking about. I then tried Wanda on a studio lead vocal and it was excellent--it is directional so my singer had to stay right in front of it at all times. I obtained solid vocal recordings and performances; it was present, warm and up front but not overly bright.

Ear Trumpet Lab Wanda Travel Case

Acoustic & Electric Guitars

Next was an acoustic guitar track; I used the same setup to record a finger picking guitar part for a song I was working on. My musician plays very quietly and I needed the compressor in the PowerStrip to get enough level to record into Pro Tools. I had Wanda 5-inches away from the guitar at where the neck meets the body. This would be my Pop music set up and that sound always needs a high-pass filter around 40Hz (depending on how big the guitar's body is) and a slight cut at 100Hz. This is to offset the proximity effect when any cardioid mic is placed close to the source. During the first playback, my guitar player remarked that his guitar sounded "realistic and natural".

Next test was for recording electric guitar using my 5-watt guitar practice amp. Compared to my usual dynamic mic choice, Wanda had a richer tone with more transparency and clear transients and better than the dynamic. I was careful to place both mics in exactly in the same positions and distances in front of the speaker. Wanda had a brighter top end and a rounder low frequency while the dynamic sounded "nasally" by comparison. Using a condenser on a guitar amp is tricky because condensers can overload easily. No problem here--I quick look at the recorded waveform showed no "flat-topping" when an audio signal overloads and clips.

Snare Drum

My last test was for tracking a snare drum within a maple drum kit. Wanda required about 12dB less mic gain compared to the same dynamic mic I used for the guitar amp comparison test. On a 5 X 14 Classic maple snare drum and placed in the usual mic position, I got good isolation from hi-hat leakage and moderate bleed from the kick drum. Wanda produces a very consistent snare drum level (assuming your drummer plays well) but, again compared to the dynamic. The difference in sound was apparent when we switched to a 5 X 14 brass snare drum. And there was no need to EQ or do anything special to get a great snare drum sound--it was finished ready for mix!

Upon microscopic inspection of the recorded waveform in Pro Tools, (and this is not something I don't normally do) I noticed a very consistent level spike--particularly on fills. This is as if I used a compressor but the wave was not "flat-topping" (squared off peaks) and not distorted. This is just part of the sound of the mic. The dynamic mic we were comparing it to had uneven peaks contributing to its irregular level and sound.

Stylish, Good Sound and Value

Ear Trumpet Labs has a winner with Wanda! It sounds amazing for almost any source and looks cool working in the studio or on stage. You may have to convince a veteran live sound mixer that Wanda is not a movie prop or toy. But after listening to it, he'll know. Recommended!

Much more at: Ear Trumpet Labs Wanda sells for $525 MSRP.

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