The Focusrite Red 1 500 Series Mic Pre houses the same circuit topology and components as the original 2U Focusrite Red microphone preamplifier. This unit is designed for the 500 Series “Lunchbox” racks, which have become so popular today in pro and project studios alike.
This single space unit has the same Lundahl LL1538 input transformer, a custom Carnhill output transformer and uses the same components and circuitry as the original design. The Red 1 500 Series Mic Pre has switchable phantom power, polarity invert and the cutest illuminated VU meter ever. It uses a stepped-gain rotary control in 6dB steps from -6 to +60dB for a total of 66dB of gain. It has a carefully chosen input impedance of 1,200-ohms that makes it a great choice for any microphone—ribbon, dynamic or condenser.
The Focusrite Red 1 500 Series Mic Pre sells for $999 MSRP. http://focusrite.com
By Barry Rudolph
miniBio: Barry Rudolph is a recording engineer/mixer with over 30 gold and platinum RIAA awards to his credit. He has recorded and/or mixed: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs and Robbie Nevil. Barry has his own futuristic music mixing facility and also teaches recording engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. http://www.barryrudolph.
