New vs Vintage Preamps
Sound engineers can get obsessive about classic mics, so it’s no surprise they can get pretty geeky about classic mic preamps, too. But what is it that made those early designs so enduring? Huw Price has previous...
During the 1950s and 60s, large record companies such as EMI, Decca and Columbia owned their own recording studios. In addition to ‘balance engineers’, these studios employed full-time technicians who maintained and repaired the equipment and even devised custom modifications. Some of these studios even designed and built their own equipment, some built entire mixing desks.
EMI, in particular, became known for the desks their engineers constructed from Telefunken/Seimens mic and line amp modules. Desks were also built from scratch, and by the early 1970s some in-house designs were eventually manufactured commercially under brand names such as EMI, Trident and Helios. Smaller independent studios were often owned and run by boffins who could knock up their own gear too. The legendary Pathway Studios had a 16-track mixing desk that was built in 1974 by engineer Barry Farmer from an article written for Studio Sounds magazine by Dave Robinson. It was an all-discrete design with inductor-based equalisation and transformer coupling that sounded pretty damn good.
Meanwhile, Vic Keary, who’s now the driving force behind Thermionic Culture, was busy building valve mixing desks at Maximum Sound and Chalk Farm. At the same time some specialist independent mixing desk manufacturers were emerging to supply the professional audio market. These companies included Neve, Sound Techniques and API.
The rise of the standalone preamp
Studio technology moved on considerably during the 70s and 80s, when studios started installing bigger and more sophisticated desks that were primarily designed for mixing rather than recording. Producers demanded advanced features such as complex signal routing, multi-band parametric EQ and automation.
Valves are bulky enough, but transformers and discrete solid-state components take up a lot of room as well. Since there is a practical limit to the usable size of a mixing desk channel, mixer electronics had to be miniaturised to accommodate all these new features. The inevitable trade-off was that the signal path in some of these hugely expensive automated desks left a lot to be desired by comparison to many of the smaller and simpler mixing desks they replaced.
By the late 1980s, the acronym for desk manufacturer Solid State Logic had evolved into a verb – much like ‘Pro Tools’ today. A&R oiks would frequently express the opinion that an album project would always turn out best if they could ‘SSL it’. Meanwhile, more discerning engineers made every possible attempt to ensure that they could at least record the band through a Neve, Amek, Harrison (or frankly just about any other decent make of mixing console) even if they appreciated what SSL automation could do for their mixes.
With 80s producers sync’ing-up multiple 24-track tape machines, most of the older mixing desks had become obsolete by that time anyway. After all, 48 (or 46, if you subtract the SMPTE timecode tracks) into 16 just won’t go. Consequently, a lot of great-sounding old mixing desks were simply broken up and subsequently scrapped.
No doubt some world-class kit ended up in landfill sites – indeed, one high-profile British preamp manufacturer admits to scavenging audio gear from skips outside EMI facilities to salvage transformers and valves. But fortunately, some audio pros were savvy enough to start buying and selling this funky old audio junk. Engineers soon realised that just because you couldn’t use the whole desk any more, you didn’t have to stop using the microphone preamps and maybe the equalisers as well.
Salvaged desk preamp modules started being racked-up with their own dedicated power supplies. These standalone preamps allowed engineers to completely bypass any studio’s mixing desk during the recording process. The irony is that record companies were paying for studios with SSL desks that their ‘big-name’ engineers weren’t even using. Instead, they’d plug a microphone straight into a standalone preamp and plug the preamp’s output straight into the back of the tape machine.
The only electronics between the output of the microphone and the tape machine might be a couple of transformers, a handful of resistors and capacitors, plus maybe two or three valve or transistor gain stages. As signal paths go, that’s about as pure as you can get – and many believe that’s why some vintage preamps sound so good.
Essentially, transformer input and output stages and discrete electronics are the defining characteristics of all classic preamps. It’s also interesting to note that both transistor and valve preamps enjoy equal status – unlike in the world of classic microphones. In fact, many of the sonic characteristics commonly attributed to valves are actually more evident in transistor-based preamps, while many of the valve designs sound cleaner and more transparent.
Sadly, the harvesting of desk modules also explains why so few vintage desks survive intact – vintage-gear dealers can make more money by stripping them down and selling off the component parts. On the other hand, it means that much of this old gear continues to be used in contemporary music production rather than gathering dust in studio storerooms or audio engineering museums. On balance, we think this is a happy outcome.
Six of the best: vintage mic preamp-makers
Neve
Neve are the big boys of classic consoles: the company’s preamp/EQ modules are without doubt the most revered and imitated of all the old-school manufacturers. Rupert Neve established the company during the early 1960s, and although he long ago moved on to other enterprises, the company that bears his name is still going strong.
Making sense of Neve preamps isn’t easy because there were simply so many of them. His earliest designs employed valve electronics, but Neve’s most revered preamp/EQ modules were all transistor-based. The earliest of these featured germanium transistors, with the 1053 and 1055 modules characterised by black panels. The RAF-blue-fronted Neve 80 series followed; really collectable modules include the 1066, 1073 and 1081. Neve’s earlier 80 series preamps had single-ended Class-A output stages, which engineers seem to prefer to the later push-pull emitter-follower Class-AB output stages.
The current Neve company has gone to extraordinary lengths to re-create the 1073 and it’s available in various formats. The designs of the hand-wound transformers are a big selling point – and one which Neve keeps a closely guarded secret. When we reviewed the 1073, Neve sent along an original unit for comparison. The only difference we could discern was that the reissue had a lower noise floor – other than that they looked and sounded identical.
Universal Audio
Studio owner, recording engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and occasional singer Bill Putnam began designing his own Universal Audio-branded recording equipment during the 1950s. Putnam’s 610 preamp was revolutionary because it was modular. Although we take this approach for granted now, it was quite something in the 1950s, when sessions could grind to a halt if part of the console stopped working.
With a room full of session musicians working on Union rates, equipment failures could be catastrophic. However, Putnam’s design allowed faulty modules to be quickly removed and replaced with minimal disruption. Universal Audio consoles attracted interest and ultimately around 25 were made. Although that might not sound like a huge quantity these days, remember that there were relatively few top studios in the 1950s and 60s, so the number of legendary recordings that were made with 610 preamps is astounding. The list is a Who’s Who of top American artists: Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys (who recorded Pet Sounds through a Universal Audio desk), CSN&Y and rock acts like The Doors and Van Halen.
Bill Putnam (senior) died in 1989, but his sons Bill Jr and Jim revived Universal Audio in 1999. Although they started out making slavishly accurate re-creations of LA-2A and 1176 compressors, Universal Audio has also moved into plug-in effects and digital converters. Fortunately, the 610 preamp is alive and well and comes in various formats. For more information see www.uaudio.com
Telefunken/Siemens/TAB
The North West German Radio (NWDR) designed the V72 as a microphone preamp. Early units were built around EF40 valves, but the sonically superior EF804 and EF804S soon replaced them, and various companies manufactured them.
The V72 has a relatively low fixed gain level of 34dB, although the V72s had an extra 8dB and lower input impedance. The self-contained power supply makes them easy to rack up but a gain control will need to be added (this is a relatively simple modification).
A large family of other preamps was developed around the V72 circuit, but the best examples for recording music were the V76, V77 and V78. The V76 was essentially two V72 modules cascaded in series for 76dB of gain. A 12-position input pad set the gain in 6dB steps and there was either an 80Hz or 120Hz shelf. Some users find the V76’s treble frequencies muffled by comparison to a V72, but they’re often preferred for their controllability and impressive bass.
The V77 was a beefed-up V72 that produced 80dB of gain while maintaining the V72’s signature sound. The V78 was a general-purpose preamp with adjustable gain up to 70dB. The signal-to-noise ratio and sonic character are different from a V72, but the extra gain makes them particularly suitable for ribbon microphones.
EMI was probably the most famous consumer of V-series preamp modules, incorporating them into its own ‘REDD Series’ mixing desks. These often-modified modules were used at Abbey Road to record The Beatles, Pink Floyd and every other band who passed through the doors, so you should have some idea of what they sound like.
API
Since API (Automated Processes Inc) was started by Saul Walker around 1966/67, the company has been at the forefront of professional audio equipment manufacture in the USA. Their mixing consoles are legendary, but API always followed Bill Putnam’s lead by taking a modular approach. API preamp and equaliser modules were often fitted in custom consoles, and API is also responsible for the now ubiquitous ‘Lunchbox’.
Many of API’s original engineering team previously worked at Melcor (which also built modular audio equipment) and API’s famous 2520 preamp was actually a revamped Melcor design. API shut down in 1978 after building a staggering 700 consoles.
Datatronix licensed the rights to API then designed and built the 550A preamp before selling the company to one of its own employees, Paul Wolff, in 1985. The company was sold again in 1999, but Paul Wolff maintains his role as a consultant and API continues to build full-size recording consoles and modules.
API modules were also used by CBS for its in-house-designed consoles and another console with API modules did service at Fox Sound Stages in Los Angeles and Ocean Way in Nashville. API consoles were also installed at various Record Plant facilities and uber-producer Daniel Lanois had one in his studio in New Orleans. The biggest vintage API of all is actually here in the UK – at RAK Studios in London – and API desks are credited by many for the sound of American music during the 1970s.
Helios
During the latter part of the 1960s, the late Dick Swettenham was an employee of Olympic Studios in Barnes. He managed to convince Olympic’s management that, if they allowed him to order the parts, he could build a better mixing desk than anything else that was available at the time. Sure enough, the desk was a huge success, and artists who recorded through it included Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, The Who and countless others.
Chris Blackwell, of Island Records, regularly booked his artists into Olympic, but, being an astute businessman, he soon realised that Island could save a lot of money by building its own studio. Naturally, he wanted one of Dick Swettenham’s consoles, but since Dick was an employee of Olympic Studios he wasn’t at liberty to supply consoles to potential competitors. So Blackwell put up the money for Dick to establish his own console-manufacturing business and Helios was born.
Helios consoles came in many colours: The Rolling Stones had a silver one in their mobile studio; The Beatles had two green ones at Apple; 10cc had a red one at Strawberry Studios. Several consoles were sold in the US and a Helios console formed the centrepiece of Hansa Studios in Berlin when Bowie recorded Low.
Helios Electronics eventually folded in 1979, but Tony Arnold, who had been servicing Helios consoles for many years, bought the company name and now produces clones of the Type 69, which was the most highly regarded of Helios’ four microphone preamp/EQ channel designs (see www.helios-electronics.com for more info).
Trident
Trident mixing consoles were named after the Soho studio where they were first designed and built. The studio was initially equipped with a couple of Sound Techniques consoles, but multitrack tape machines were evolving rapidly from four, to eight, then 16 tracks. Trident needed a desk with 16 channels and space for an extra eight further down the line. Unfortunately, however, the proposed location was next to a lift housing, so it couldn’t be any wider than one-and-a-half metres.
After unsatisfactory discussions with various mixing desk manufacturers, the success of a 6:2 mixer that was built for the tape copying room by the in-house engineers in 1971 persuaded Trident to design and build their own desk. A year of design, experimentation and listening tests soon followed in a room at the top of the building.
Trident’s manager, Malcolm Toft, recalls how “that sound was created through painstaking listening tests by the engineers at Trident. People like Ken Scott, Roy Thomas Baker, Barry Sheffield and myself would get together and literally change components until we got sounds we were happy with. It was something you couldn’t possibly quantify technically and, quite honestly, if we’d been able to measure things accurately we probably would never have got these kinds of results”.
The resulting Trident A Range desk was a great success, and many landmark recordings were made on that console. In 1972, musician and producer John Congas ordered another and Chipping Norton Studios followed suit. Before long, a separate console manufacturing company, Trident Audio Developments (TRIAD) was established.
A more compact series of mixers was then developed, which became known as the B Range. Both the A and B Range consoles have the same microphone preamp, equalisation, buffer amps, sum amps and line amp circuits. However, the B Range has fewer steps in the mic gain control and a narrower range of selectable frequencies in the EQ section.
Relatively few A and B Range consoles were actually manufactured, but engineers rate them as among the finest ever made. Consequently, A and B Range preamp/EQ modules are rare and highly sought-after. They’re also pretty sizeable, so they’re not that easy to rack-up.
Analogue future?
The word on the street (as Huggy Bear used to say) is that groovy, sensibly proportioned analogue consoles are making a bit of a comeback. Prices for Calrec consoles have skyrocketed because they’re small enough to use in a bedroom; Neve recently introduced the Custom Series 75, and there are even rumours of a new Helios desk in the pipeline.
After all, you can easily handle automation and grouping tasks in an even relatively modest DAW these days, so compact, non-automated analogue desks are a practical option once again. But does this mean that the mega mixing desks built during the 1980s will now be broken up and turned into modules, as their predecessors were? Well, there’s always a (hopefully slim) chance that sterile, flimsy sounds will come back into vogue once again, so you never know… MTM
This feature first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 101
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