Preamps / Channel Strips

API’s 512 preamp design is a classic — and now there are even more reasons to love it!

Given the continually evolving and demanding pressures of the pro-audio industry, any product which remains available and largely unchanged for more than a decade must have arrived at a near-perfect combination of technical excellence, operational usability, reliability, and price.

Can this unique combination of software and hardware really recreate the sound of some of the most revered microphones in the world? We put the VMS up against the originals to find out!

Rather than just trying it out on a few sessions, the team at SOS decided that this review would be a great excuse to pitch the VMS against some of the actual microphones that it claims to model.

These new TAC modules bring the classic Amek console sound to your Lunchbox rack.

For those with respectable but not stellar microphone preamplifiers in either recorders, interfaces or mixers, high-gain...

With almost 30 separate processing modules available, McDSP’s 6050 promises to be the “ultimate channel strip”. Is it?

API invented the 500-series modular format and we check out their latest addition, the 535-LA line amplifier.

The latest preamp from Canadian company Sonic Farm is a classy and versatile affair, thanks to its wide range of tonal options.

On testing a vintage Telefunken preamp, Sonic Farm were so impressed they decided to recreate it — adding their own twist along the way...

This many-headed beast offers you the flavours of four classic ’60s London studio consoles.

These transformer–laden modules breathe new life into classic Neve and Avedis designs...

This preamp boasts huge bandwidth and input impedance. But are those features desirable?

This Nashville-built preamp offers a new take on a classic British console sound.

If you crave the vintage API sound but the budget is a little tight, this might be worth a look...

If you want the vintage Neve 1073 sound but the bank balance doesn’t allow it, this might be worth checking out...

If you crave the vintage API sound but the budget is a little tight, this might be worth a look...

Sporting both optical and variable–mu compressors and Pultec–inspired EQ, this German channel strip should make a great recording front end for the modern studio.

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