Inward Connections from Los Angeles has been quietly producing ultra-high-end tube and solid-state mic preamps, compressors, EQs, and summing amps for about 20 years. The now legendary Vac Rac modular...
Long before the 500-series format craze, Seventh Circle Audio (SCA) was helping ambitious engineers build phenomenal preamps (Tape Op #54). Continuing my DIY quest, I was very excited to learn of the...
In a trend of 500-series this-and-that, many manufactures have responded to the question, “Can we get a tube module?” with, “Due to power supply requirements, it can’t be...
Universal Audio just keeps on coming up with great products for both the pro and home studio. Their latest entry is the 4-710d microphone preamp. It’s basically four channels of UA’s 710...
Somebody likes the Portico II. I had to wait a week for RND to cook up a fresh batch when the review unit they were supposed to send was bought instead of returned. It arrived welcomed, if late....
Doubtless the most famous microphone preamplifier in history, the Neve 1073 has spawned countless imitations — from cheap knockoffs to component-precise replicas. The sincerest flattery has been...
Retro Instruments made a splash about five years ago with its replica of the classic Gates Sta-Level compressor (Tape Op #55), and then again in recent years with products based on the Universal Audio...
While the Saffire PRO 40 is billed as a computer audio interface and the OctoPre MkII Dynamic is marketed as an 8-channel mic preamp/converter with compressors, they share a lot of the same elements...
I’ve said it before; I really like being in audio production right now. There is a seemingly endless supply of small manufacturers that are bringing innovative products to the market. This is...
If you've mastered the skills necessary to build something like a Seventh Circle Audio preamp (Tape Op #35, #54), you might want to move to something a little more challenging. Eisen Audio has just...
The new m103 is anchored by the m101’s (Tape Op #68) transformerless preamp design, which offers an honest and transparent, yet deep character — with loads of headroom and 75 dB of gain. I...
With the number of preamps available on the market today, it’s really easy to get confused, so let’s get some confusion out of the way. UK’s Phoenix Audio does three things that give...
