Daking Mic Pre One 500

Daking Mic Pre One 500: Geoff Daking, a designer of audio gear in the tradition of the greats; Neve, API, and Trident, has turned his considerable expertise on both sides of the control-room glass into a premier line of preamps, compressors, and custom consoles used by engineers and producers the likes of Joe Chiccarelli and Butch Vig. His latest creation is the Mic Pre One 500, a modular 500-series* preamp based on his popular Mic Pre One. The Mic Pre One 500 features switchable phase, 20dB mic input pad, +48V phantom power, and a selectable 1/4" line/Hi-Z instrument input.

Like the Mic-Pre One, the Mic Pre 500 shares the gain structure and Class A, fully-discrete transistor circuitry design of Daking's popular Mic Pre IV. The front panel controls include a variable high-pass filter (with a range of 10-200Hz @ 12db per octave) as well as continuously variable input gain. It also includes an eight-segment tri-color LED meter with simultaneous VU and Peak. In addition, because the home recordist faces challenges that the professional studio owner does not, the Mic-Pre One 500 features a powerful continuously variable high-pass filter with a range of 10-200Hz @ 12db per octave

The Mic Pre One 500 gives you both the punchy and exciting sound of its prime inspiration, the Trident A Range console (considered to be the best sounding console for rock by Daking himself, and numerous platinum producers), and the convenience of a 500-series module, which gives you the ability to add more great Daking channels as your budget allows.

*Note: In order to operate, 500-series units require a VPR**-compliant power suppy, or "lunchbox" such as the Radial Workhorse (#H74107), A Designs Audio 500HR Rackmount Frame (#241582), or Empirical Labs EL 500 (#H72812).


** What is the VPR Alliance?
Initiated by API Audio, the VPR Alliance is a program of standardization and consistency guidelines for manufacturers wishing to make products designed to fit into API's 500 series rack format. The program provides complete design specifications for manufacturers interested in producing third party products that physically fit and electronically conform to API's rack specifications.

The creation of the VPR Alliance has been encouraged by the overwhelming popularity of API's 500 series racks, including the ten-space 500VPR and the six-space lunchbox, which has led to a proliferation of third party modules to fit the API format. Typically installed into API racks, these third party modules have raised issues of warranty and interaction with API-manufactured modules in the same rack.

Because of the variables related to those third party modules, API has previously been forced to declare that including third-party modules into a 500VPR or lunchbox simply voids the warranty of the API rack. Through the VPR Alliance, API is able to eliminate confusion as to which third party products void the API warranty and which do not. This straightforward resolution saves the company both time and money, and promotes goodwill to customers.

Customers benefit from the VPR Alliance through the elimination of any confusion as to which products are endorsed for placement in API racks. Customers also benefit from a wider range of module choices for their racks, safety in the knowledge that the specification of the third party unit is correct, and that there is no risk of damage occurring.