Harrison: 32Cpre+ 500 Series Preamp

If you’re of a certain age (mid-40s/50s), you probably remember sifting through and being raised on the records of your parents and/or siblings. Such listening sessions probably included the likes of ABBA, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Queen – these are still all bands I love to listen to regularly – and yes, my Apple Music playlist would probably be construed as the equivalent of an old man shaking his fist up at the clouds. In listening to these bands, growing up with them, and having those sounds ingrained in my skull, I find the tones on those albums to often be equal parts amazing and unachievable. Has anyone yet to best any ABBA album mix? The commonality amongst all the bands above (besides their obvious greatness) was the frequent use of Harrison recording consoles.

In recent years, the name Harrison has usually (in circles I move in) been in reference to their intuitive and analog-sounding DAW, Mixbus, as well as their comprehensive suite of plug-ins. I have used both, and always found them to excel at what they do while sounding good doing it. Because of this, and the company's famed pedigree, I was excited to test the newly released 500 Series mic preamp, the 32Cpre+, based on their 32Classic studio console [Tape Op #159]. Finally, a chance to dip my toe into the acclaimed aural history of Harrison hardware!

I was pleasantly surprised that Harrison shipped me not one but four of the 32Cpre+ 500 Series for review! Physical inspection of each 32Cpre+ revealed a very clean-looking, seemingly low part count circuit that implements a Jensen JT-MB-CPCA input transformer. This bodes well, as the JT-MB-C series of transformers sound excellent, and have been used in many well-regarded mic preamp circuits over the years. After racking them all up in a Lindell 510 MkII [Tape Op #119] 500 Series rack, I could see that the 32Cpre+ units are loaded with the usual: 48v phantom power, polarity switch, and -20 dB pad, but also include the additional useful features of a front-mounted XLR combo jack for alternate mic or DI input with a Hi-Z impedance button, and an in/out switch for high-pass (25 Hz to 3.15 kHz) and low-pass filters (160 Hz to 20 kHz), both with 12 dB/octave slopes. Note: the frequency ranges of the filters overlap considerably, same as the original 32 Series consoles. The documentation also boasts a gain range from +20 to +70 dB, which is enough for most dynamic and ribbon mics.

Since I would be recording myself, I decided to rack everything up into my mobile rig. With the four 32Cpre+s racked in my 500 Series chassis and connected to an Apogee Ensemble Thunderbolt [Tape Op #105] interface, the whole setup next to me at the drums, and my trusty GK-Music UltraPhones [#29] headphones on, mic levels could be easily set.

The inclusion of four of the 32Cpre+ units meant I could get a decent mic setup going on drums. My current go-to recording drum set is a larger '70s Gretsch kit, with a 26-inch kick and an old Ludwig Supraphonic snare. Cymbals and hats are equally large; it’s all a big, resonant, washy setup, and can sound rather well in my large tracking space. I thought I’d go with an Electro-Voice RE20 on the kick's sealed resonant head, a Shure SM7B [Tape Op #36] on snare tucked in just under the hi-hats, and a pair of beyerdynamic M 160 [#60] ribbon mics as overheads in an X/Y configuration. Mic selection was based on what I think many people probably have experience using, but also to test the claimed +70 dB of gain of these pres.

With the mics set up and my laptop sitting atop my mobile rig, I employed some ham-fisted "meat 'n tater" drum skills with the help of a 150 BPM click track to keep me honest and on task. I really wanted to hear what the M 160 overheads sounded like through the 32Cpre+s, and the mid-tempo rock pace allowed for several brash, fun, over-the-top fills with a bevy of moderately okay rock-inspired triplets. With a bit of back-and-forth tweaking mic levels, some physical overhead mic height adjustment, I was finally off to the races. After some time warming up on the drums, I had some decent drum tracks to start listening to. I should note that none of the mics struggled for gain, proving to me that the Harrison pres have the goods on tap for gain-hungry ribbons or stubborn dynamics.

On playback, my first impression was that the drums sounded extremely clean and clear but without being clinical. The 32Cpre+ reproduced the drum kit's abundant size with accuracy and tremendous low-end punch. The kick and overhead mics all sounded awesome and full. The beyerdynamics reproduced excellent focus on the rack and two floor toms, the cymbals sounded bright but never too harsh, and the 15-inch hi-hats really popped – a combination (I’m sure) of the drum's size and sound, and the super focused hyper-cardioid pattern of the M 160s. However, I thought the SM7B on the snare sounded a bit thick and a bit too meaty. Transients were very good, but I like to hear the bright and papery sound of this snare, and I wasn’t getting all of it. Nonetheless, there is a little bit of extra mojo going on with these 32Cpre+ mic pres.

Now that I was familiar with their stock sound, I wanted to start experimenting with the 32Cpre+'s on-board filters. I couldn’t play drums and adjust filters simultaneously, so I reconfigured my DAW session into a mix setup. I was able to use the high-pass filter to eliminate all the unwanted muddiness from the snare that I had previously thought was a bit too tubby. This simple move brought out the wonderful midrange aluminum thwack I love about this snare. I was also able to use the low-pass filter on the snare to greatly reduce some cymbal bleed, and a decent amount of high-hat bleed. I could see the 32Cpre+'s filters being extremely useful for both tracking and mixing. I got similar results using the filters on the kick and overheads – deemphasizing high frequency cymbals and some snare bleed from the kick, and tapering down both the ultra-low and ultra-high from the overheads to help bring more focus and evenness to their sound. Color me impressed by these filters!

Next, I tracked some bass with the 32Cpre+. I simply plugged an instrument cable into the front-mount XLR combo jack, engaged the Hi-Z switch, and voilà! The front-mount jacks are a real time saver for this usage. Right off the bat this unit is killer for DI bass! I plugged in my trusty Gibson L9-S Ripper, set the bass' Varitone switch to get the deepest low frequency tones, and started in. It sounded huge! Tons of bottom end but not tubby or farty. My monitors can handle the low end, and they were letting me know both my bass and this preamp have it in spades! However, I let my better judgment take over from my aural enjoyment and decided I’d give the woofers a break by using the high-pass filter appropriately. With these little filter moves, and by giving the pre a little more gain, I now had a killer bass tone, very much akin to that of running a clean but slightly grindy Ampeg SVT bass amp sound; big and beefy with good midrange definition and cut. In fact, when doing a quick mix on these tracks after this review, I threw my favorite amp/cab simulation plug-in on this track, which I often use to aid with DI or re-amped tracks, and it worked well for that purpose. For bass players looking to DI their bass on a regular basis, I would dare say the tone alone of the Harrison 32Cpre+ makes it worth the price of admission.

I decided that the track I recorded could use some guitar. It was late in the day and I was running out of steam, wanting to avoid dragging out a guitar cabinet and going through a full mic setup. In situations like this, or if studio volume and isolation are key, I have an older Friedman Power Load unit. It allows me to use an amp, but its variable reactive load means I don’t need a cab to record. For what I had going on in the track with the rhythm, I thought a Tele and a Fargen Mini Plex Mk1 amp head would probably sound pretty good on top. One thing I’ve found with external-based cab sims, be they in some type of guitar pedal or load box format, is that the mic pre you track them with can have a profound effect on the overall clarity and accuracy they project. This is where I conjured up some of that classic Harrison heritage and '70s mojo. By juggling the gain staging cascading from the Fargen amp to the Friedman and into the 32Cpre+, it became very apparent how interactive these controls were together, but also how very much the Harrison 32Cpre+ was adding to the sound and character. It added body and weight where typically a Fender Telecaster using the bridge pickup into a ‘Marshall’ style amp would not have much of any. It also did a bang-up job of making the guitar/amp/cabinet-simulated tone sit perfectly in the mix. Engaging and playing with the 32Cpre+'s filters only helped to further dial in midrange focus on these tracks. Whatever is going on in the circuit of this device, it does one hell of a job at helping to capture a mix-ready track that requires less futzing with than would be typical of a lesser-designed mic pre.

The 32Cpre+ seems to harness the tonal greatness and history of Harrison consoles, and in all instances of their use here it made the end results of my labor head and shoulders better sounding, and easier to mix. Beyond that, they have a sound. Is it the sound Harrison is known for? In my limited use, I’d have to say yes, with its hi-fi clarity and great added character. I hate to use the cliché “radio-ready,” but that is certainly on par with the results I was hearing. All said and done, I would really enjoy tracking an entire album with a 500 Series rack full of these preamps, and I look forward to seeing what hardware plans Harrison has for the future.