HLabs Audio Pre169 is a single-channel microphone preamplifier in API-standard 500 series format. The input stage reproduces the Studer 169 console design, and the output carries the large Carnhill VT24499 transformer from Neve 51-series desks.
Gain headroom for microphones other preamps leave behind
More than 67 dB of gain at -125 dBu EIN is the range in which a passive ribbon or an old dynamic reaches working level without the gain control pinned. A standard lunchbox filled with 55–60 dB modules forces an extra booster into the chain in exactly that situation. The Neutrik NTM-4 input transformer is, meanwhile, effectively impossible to saturate from the input side.
Two characters in one module
The 0 to -30 dB output control governs how much signal passes through the output transformer. Low gain with the output wide open gives a neutral tone close to the original Studer desk; input wound up with the output pulled back moves the character towards a dense, old-Neve sound. Alongside that sit a discrete 12 dB/octave high-pass filter tunable from 20 to 315 Hz and a DI input.
KEY FEATURES
- Microphone preamplifier in 500 series format (API standard)
- Input stage reproducing the Studer 169 design
- Up to 67 dB of gain, -125 dBu EIN
- Neutrik NTM-4 input transformer, Carnhill VT24499 output transformer
- 0 to -30 dB output control governing transformer saturation
- Discrete 12 dB/oct high-pass filter, tunable 20–315 Hz
- DI input
- +48 V phantom power, polarity switch, -33 dB pad
- Designed and assembled in Saint-Vérand, France
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
- Format: API-style 500 series module
- Maximum gain: 67 dB, pad -33 dB, output level 0 to -30 dB
- EIN: -125 dBu at maximum gain (mic input)
- Mic input impedance: 1.2 kΩ; DI input impedance: above 1.0 MΩ
- Output impedance: below 20 Ω, transformer balanced
- Frequency response (1 kΩ load): ±1 dB from 6.2 Hz to 25 kHz
- High-pass filter: discrete, 12 dB/octave, 20–315 Hz
- Phantom power: +48 V
- Power consumption: 120 mA, 215 mA peak
