HLabs CS169

Having studied the sturdy Studer 169 console, French company HLabs decided its classy combination of mic pre and EQ deserved a place in modern studios.

In the world of pro audio hardware, the classic analogue circuits of yesteryear continue to hold appeal, and it seems barely a month goes by where one recreation or another isn’t announced. But while countless products inspired by revered classics have made their way to me for review, I don’t think that I’d ever seen one based on the Studer 169 until HLabs’ latest creation arrived in my studio toward the end of last year. Having used it for a couple of months now, I have to say that I have no idea why that should be the case — because this CS169 is a very appealing and classy sounding device, and one that offers a different character from the various Neve‑ and API‑inspired designs that seem to have dominated this market in recent years.

Overview

The CS169 is based on the preamp and EQ section of the 169 console, made by the now‑legendary Swiss manufacturers Studer. First made in 1976, the 169 mixer was more compact and portable than the large‑format x89 consoles that had come before it, and it was an incredibly robust design. Reportedly, several thousand units were sold, and it saw use right around the world for location, broadcast and post‑production sound. In music production circles it soon gained a strong reputation for its open and detailed sound, and smooth, ‘musical’ EQ section, and that meant it found a home in many a small‑but‑serious studio.

HLabs’ interpretation of the 169 input channel is housed in a 1U rackmount chassis, with a white‑painted front panel providing the backdrop to dark‑blue, black and yellow legends and controls. On the rear, you’ll find four XLR sockets, with an input and output each for the preamp and EQ sections, and both those outputs have their own ground‑lift button. A short XLR patch cable joins the two sections but can be removed should you wish to access them separately or insert another device between them. The only other feature on the rear is the ubiquitous IEC C14 mains power inlet that accepts 10‑240 Volts and 50/60 Hz AC.

The preamp and EQ sections each have their own balanced XLR I/O and, as shipped, the preamp’s output is routed to the EQ’s input through a short patch cable.

On the left of the front panel, you’ll find controls for the transformer‑balanced preamp section; the input transformer is a Neutrik NTM‑4 and the output one a Carnhill VT24499. These controls comprise a large‑ish continuous gain control that’s marked with two gain ranges, switched using an adjacent Hi button. The ranges are given as +18 to +42 dB, and +40 to +65 dB, respectively, though HLabs say there’s actually a touch over 67dB available. There’s also a smaller output attenuator knob (‑30 to 0 dB) that allows you choose whether you want a cleaner sound (low gain, high output) or to drive the preamp hard in search of transformer...