Vanguard Audio Labs V1S+LOLLI gen 2 — A Mix Real-World Review

New York, NY (October 29, 2025)—I first encountered Vanguard’s V1S+LOLLI kit in a review for Pro Sound News back in 2019. I’ve since been using the pencil FET condensers as my first-grab for small-diaphragm condenser duties, with the large-diaphragm, 34mm LOLLI (lollipop) condenser capsules also getting frequent use. With hypercardioid, cardioid, wide-cardioid and omni capsules, my stereo needs have been mostly covered.

Now Vanguard has updated the V1S kit with “generation 2” versions. These updates focus on improved components (better resistors, dual monolithic JFETs) and incrementally improved design details. No worries—all the things you loved about gen1 are still here, including those exceptionally sturdy VSSM shockmounts, wide stereo bar, carrying case (now aluminum, not wooden), cryogenic treatment of electrical components, screw-on capsules and the 10-capsule array. The most obvious difference, however, is the new black finish coupled with black capsules, replacing gen1’s pinot noir.

I opted to merge the V1S kit right into my workflow, so I first tackled setar and tar, which are small, traditional Iranian classical stringed instruments. A wide-cardioid and a cardioid grabbed the intricate detail of both instruments with incredible accuracy and detail. What little bottom end the instruments had was translated neutrally by the V1S and pleased this extremely picky client, who had been critical of their previous studio efforts to get such balanced sounds.

Further work with drum overheads, acoustic guitar, tambourine, organ (via Leslie cabinet), handclaps and fiddle all proved the new V1S to be capable, accurate, flexible and versatile with all the various capsules doing just what I needed. Frankly, I heard only a slight improvement over gen1, just a touch more realism and accuracy, even as I was frequently getting “no EQ needed” results.

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That prompted some formal comparisons. Sideby- side tests with gen1 and gen2 bodies and their cardioid capsules, amplified with well-matched channels of AMS-Neve 4081 mic preamp, proved to me there are small, yet consistent differences.

A test with tambourine found both mics capable of translation without distortion, with equal output levels (with only 25 dB of gain), excellent transient detail and similar frequency response (with gen2 seeming flatter through the mids, even though more extended with deep bass and very high treble). A test with acoustic guitar (and 45 dB of gain) found slightly prominent mid-mids on the gen1 with no other prominent differences. Both tests found the gen2 to have the quieter noise floor, quite noticeably better at +45 dB; although my metering showed no measurable difference, the audible improvement is substantial.

I only had a single LOLLI capsule for review, so I was limited in the tests I could do. That said, I did find the new LOLLI (with the new prominent V logo built into the windscreen) to sound quite a bit like the gen1. It still has only cardioid or omni patterns—no figure-8—although that omni pattern has proven to be quite useful.

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The tone leans more creamy than crisp, so I got nice results where the LOLLI has helped me tame unruly high-end, as found on squeaky singers, hand percussion and thin sources that need a massaging, not a reference re-creation.

All things considered, the V1S+LOLLI kit is eminently versatile, simply exceptional in quality, and on par or better than any stereo mic kit, regardless of price.