Tula microphone redefines clarity

By Mark Pavilons
Editor

An eye-catching design will have audiophiles wanting to try very cool new product.
The Tula microphone is a mighty piece of technology, packed into one small, incredible package.
According to company founder David Brown, their debut product, the Tula Mic, was designed to provide today's content creators and people working from home with an intuitive way of capturing studio-quality sound.
The Tula Mic is both a USB microphone and a mobile recorder. It features unique noise reduction technology from Klevgrand, a Swedish software company. And best of all, it fits in your pocket.
Tula was founded by Brown, one of the founders of Soyuz Microphones, a well respected pro audio brand used by many of the world's top engineers and artists.
To develop the Tula Mic, David teamed up with mechanical engineer Steven Nersesian and electronic and firmware engineer Stefan Burstrom, both known for their work with the iconic Swedish brand Teenage Engineering.
“I wanted the Tula to be portable and easily fit in a pocket or purse. In all of my designs, I utilize the Golden Ratio (1 x 1.618). I wanted the Tula to be a rectangle, which was perfect for the GR dimensions. I realized that a traditional cigarette pack was an exact Golden Ratio so I decided to copy their dimensions exactly as they had doubtlessly devoted substantial resources to determining the size of Golden Ratio that fits best in a human hand or pocket.
“I didn't want the Tula to have a screen as I find them distracting. I decided to use a series of buttons on the sides of the Tula that would provide all the needed functionality. Eventually, we're planning on creating a Tula App that will provide even more functionality and ease of use.”
There's even more to the clever design. Brown pointed out the Tula is snapped and screwed together in such a way that it can be easily repaired and eventually separated into its various materials for recycling once its life is over.
“E-waste is a huge problem and I didn't want the Tula to contribute to it,” he said.
Don't be fooled by its size.
The Tula has been compared to many of its larger rival USB mics and in most cases, people prefer the sound of the Tula.
“We used high end Burr Brown op amps to give the Tula a very low noise floor and spent a lot of time ensuring the Tula is tuned in a way that it produces the most pleasant sound possible,” Brown said.
Unlike its USB mic competitors, the Tula also functions as a mobile recorder. This is very useful for podcasters and musicians. What's more, the embedded noise reduction algorithm allows people to get studio-quality recordings in rooms that aren't acoustically treated.
The Tula works with your computer, phone or tablet as a high-quality USB microphone for podcasting, Zoom, YouTube and more.
With 8 gigs of internal memory and a long-lasting battery, the Tula is also a very capable mobile recorder providing up to 12 hours of recording time in high-quality wav format.
The mic's prowess is reflected in its popularity. Brown said the response has been overwhelmingly positive both from users and from the music press. The target audiences are content creators and people working from home.
It's very flexible, easy to use and just buy the feel of it, you know you have something special. The sound is impressive and switching from hand-held to boom is easy, thanks to the included adapter. What's more is that it even looks cool just resting among your equipment.
The company, Brown said, has a 5-year plan that includes webcams and desktop speakers as well as several more versions of the Tula Mic.
The company is also looking for investors in this “cool, young” hardware company.
The Tula Mic is available at several outlets in Canada, including Armour Pro, AV Shop, Cosmo Music, Diffusion Audio and Gear Music.
For more, visit www.tulamics.com