Soyuz Announce the Launcher, Designed to Add Vintage Spice to Workhorse Mics

If you’re a performing vocalist, your microphones are your babies. When it comes to taking your babies on the road, many err on the side of caution and leave the prized high-end mics at home, opting to take a more industry standard workhorse mic or use whatever the venue has on hand. It’s a compromise on sound quality that’s often an accepted reality for vocalists. Russian boutique mic manufacturer Soyuz, have just announced a product they’re hoping will change that, the Launcher.

 The hand-wired analogue circuitry of the launcher is designed to boost your mic’s signal, lower the noise artifacts and colour it with Soyuz’s classic vintage character. The box itself is just a box with an input and output, no attenuation or control is available, so there’s no tricks or sweet spots in its tonal character — it just is what it is, take it or leave it.

The idea is that a standard dynamic mic will sound like its running through a vintage console, regardless of whether it’s a PA or audio interface. So you can potentially have this little box stashed somewhere safe, side of stage or such, with a workhorse mic like a Shure SM57 or AKG D5 plugged into it for the vocalist, who can then safely get up to whatever stage shenanigans they please without worrying about a delicate and expensive microphone.

Soyuz also recently announced a collaboration with Townsend Labs and their Sphere microphone modelling system, making their well-regarded 017 TUBE microphone available as a modelling option in the Sphere software. This gives users the ability to combine Soyuz’s modern take on vintage character with the flexibility of a digital environment. More info about the collab here. 

Preorders for the Launcher are online now, check out the full details via the manufacturer here.