TAMPA
is a professional microphone/instrument preamp unlike any other. That's
because our design team set out to discover just why expensive tube
technology sounds so good, and devise a way to land that sound at
affordable solid state prices. The result is far beyond tube modeling.
It's a whole new technology called Temporal Harmonic
Alignment&trade. TAMPA even comes with direct digital output and
world-class dual optical servo compressor built-in.
Temporal Harmonic Alignment - the secret behind the sound
In
natural sound sources such as strings, drum heads and vocal chords,
harmonics share a characteristic temporal (phase) relationship to the
fundamental. Our ears exhibit the same qualities. Solid state
electronics induce distortion in the form of additional harmonics that
are out of phase with the original source. Tube-based devices strike
the ear as having such a "warm" sound because
the added harmonics have the same temporal relationship as natural
mechanisms (although predominantly in the midrange). This results in a
sweet spot that makes vocals, guitars and other midrange-rich content
sound especially pleasing. TAMPA's revolutionary new Temporal Harmonic
Alignment technology produces that same phase relationship found in
both tubes and nature. And unlike tubes, TAMPA's sweet spot spans the
full spectrum of your sound.
Dual optical servo compressor
TAMPA
also includes a dual optical servo compressor that is worth the price
alone. Three fundamental problems plague engineers in designing
compressors - distortion, noise and accuracy. The VCA technology used
in inexpensive compressors exhibits less than professional specs on all
three counts. Simple optical servo technology is much more quiet and
accurate, yet has its own issues with distortion. The dual optical
servo technology we use in TAMPA yields low noise, consistent accuracy,
low distortion and exceptional transparency - and it comes built-in to
a great mic preamp.
- Professional mic/instrument preamp with Temporal Harmonic Alignment
- Built-in dual optical servo compressor
- Balanced phantom-powered XLR mic input with variable impedance for optimized performance with vintage mics
- Balanced TRS instrument input
- Digital S/PDIF and AES/EBU output for direct connection to your digital recording gear
- 20dB gain switch with an amazing maximum system gain of 66dB
- 20dB passive output pad switch
- Low-cut switch to eliminate rumble
- Class A circuitry throughout
- True VU meters for output and compression gain
- Clip indicator
Preamp Specs:
- Mic input: XLR with variable impedance loading (2400/1200/600/300 ohms)
- Instrument input (TRS): 200K balanced / 100K unbalanced
- Digital outputs: AES/EBU and S/PDIF 24-bit mono (44.1/48/88.2/96kHz)
- Continuously variable gain: 34dB
- Low-cut switch: -12dB / octave below 80Hz
- System gain (balanced in/out): 12dB to 46dB (20dB gain switch off 32dB to 66dB (20dB gain switch on)
- Maximum analog output at soft clip: +30dBu (balanced) +24dBu (unbalanced)
- Output impedance: 600 ohms
- Digital clip level: +30.5dBu
- Class A circuitry throughout
- Frequency response: 20Hz to 40KHz (+/- 0.25dB)
- Distortion: Increases with level until soft-clip occurs (0.5% max)
- Signal-to-noise: 110dB &ldquoA&rdquo weighted (gain set to minimum)
- EIA noise rating: -127dBm 600 ohms (gain set to maximum)
- VU meter: Registers 0 VU at +26dBu
- Clip indicator: Lights at 4dBu below digital clip
Analog Compressor Specs:
- Compression type: Dual passive optical attenuator servo controlled, peak responding
- Gain reduction: 20dB minimum
- Threshold: Continuously adjustable from &ndash20dBu to +20dBu
- Compression ratio: Continuously adjustable from 1.1 / 1 to 10 / 1
- Attack time: Continuously adjustable from 1ms to 11ms
- Release time: Continuously adjustable from 250ms to 5 seconds
- Headroom: 30dB (20dB gain switch on) 24dB (20dB gain switch off)
- VU meter: Registers 0 VU at zero gain reduction
