British pro-audio electronics manufacturers Total Audio Control have introduced a pair of new 500-series modules designed by Graham Langley, the veteran electronics engineer and co-founder of Amek. The EQ One and Micpre One are designed to offer maximum flexibility in a compact package, with the promise of ultra-low noise and highly musical frequency shaping.
The Micpre One features a similar topology to the transformerless design used on the Amek M2500 and Angela consoles. A rotary switch provides up to 66dB of gain in 6dB increments, with a fader stage to fine tune the gain level, ranging from -16 to +4 dB. There are switches for phantom power, polarity reverse and a passive low-pass filter situated before the preamp, while the low-impedance switch drops the input impedance of both the mic input and the additional instrument input on the front panel. A ‘thru’ output, also on the front panel, can be switched to deliver either the direct instrument input signal or the main signal path for monitoring purposes.
Meanwhile, the EQ One is a four-band parametric EQ, again based on the designs found in a number of Amek desks. There are frequency, level and Q controls for each of the four variable bands, which are in fact each composed of a 6dB/octave high-pass filter and a 6dB/octave low-pass filter with different turnover frequencies, enabling a wide range of bandwidth adjustment. The high and low bands can also be switched between bell and shelf modes. On top of this, the EQ One features additional 12dB/octave swept high- and low-pass filters, and the filter and EQ sections can be switched in and out separately.
Both of these modules are available from distribuor Fairfield Audio Labs (+44 141 328 4308), priced £525 for the Micpre One and £575 for the EQ One not including tax and shipping, roughly equivalent to $743 and $814.
