Sontronics Sonora

We first saw the Sontronics Sonora in Frankfurt at Musikmesse 2008, alongside the Chimera, another Sontronics mic preamplifier. Back then the Sonora was still in development, and we only had very few details about it. Now, however, it’s in the shops, so let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

Sonora is a two-channel, solid-state preamp that can take mic, line and instrument signals. Input connections are on the front panel of the device, with outputs on the rear in XLR and quarter-inch jack formats. Each channel is capable of supplying up to 60dB of gain, and there are switches for engaging phantom power, a 20dB pad and a high-pass filter, which rolls off low-frequency information below 75Hz. Simple signal and clip LEDs provide basic metering.

Sontronics say that the Sonora is “a perfect solution for just about everything”, thanks to a fast transient-response time and flat frequency response (apparently it varies by just ±0.1dB in the band between 20Hz and 20kHz). It costs £399 including VAT in the UK and $699 in the USA.

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