Features:

• Marinair transformer balanced mic & line level inputs
• 3-Band inductor based EQ (switchable in or out of circuit) with +/- 15dB gain per band
• High Frequency band selectable at 3.3k, 4.7k, 6.8k, 10k, & 15kHz; switchable out of circuit
• Mid Frequency band selectable at 270Hz, 390Hz, 560Hz, 820Hz, 1.2k, 1.8k, 2.7k, 3.9k, 5.6k, & 8.2kHz; switchable out of circuit
• High Frequency band selectable at 33Hz, 56Hz, 100Hz, 180Hz, & 330Hz; switchable out of circuit
• Low Pass Filter selectable at 18k, 12k, 8.2k, 5.6k, & 3.9kHz; switchable out of circuit
• High pass filter selectable at 27Hz, 47Hz, 82Hz, 150Hz, & 270Hz; switchable out of circuit.
• Polarity reversal
• XLR mic & line level inputs, XLR +4 dB outputs, 1/4" jack instrument level DI's, 20 dB Pad, & Sowter transformer balanced outputs with output attenuators in a 2-space rack are standard
• One year rack component warranty and six-month module warranty
• Fourteen-day satisfaction guarantee
  
  

Many engineers don't realize that in the 70's and 80's, Audix, located in the village of Wendens Ambo near Saffron Walden in Great Britain, made absolutely brilliant consoles that were generally commissioned by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). Audix employed several Neve engineering designers in the 70's and 80's, including David Rees, Mike Stapleton, Robin Ireland, and Geoff Tanner! Basically, in the 1970's, when Neve couldn't complete orders fast enough to meet a growing demand from not only the BBC, but the rest of the world, the BBC commissioned Audix to build broadcast consoles for them. Most were built to the same specs as Neve, and generally had a very similar architecture. These modules are based on the Neve (3)3114 and (3)3115 modules generally found in the Neve Melbourn and other Neve consoles of the mid 70's and also come with very nice 3-band inductor based EQ. All features and frequencies on the modules are the same as the aforementioned Neve's and the specs and are quite similar. These come stock with Marinair Radar input transformers, the same company that supplied many of the transformers for Neve consoles in the 60's and 70's. Marinair were based in Harlow, Essex, located approx. 20 miles South of Cambridge.

These are some absolutely incredible sounding micpre/EQ's. Their sound meets somewhere in the middle between an API 312 and a Neve 33114. The low end is tighter and punchier than Neve and more in the direction of API, while the highs are much more in the direction of Neve than API mic preamps. Not quite as airy as the Neve's are, yet all the while very open. That said, the high-end is still very nice and silky on these. The EQ section on these is absolutely beautiful. When doing additive equalization, it adds that certain sort of smooth "harmonic fuzz" to the tone that older Neve EQ tends to do. The bandwidth on the EQ is very similar if not the same as the 33114, also helping give it a similar EQ tone and presence. It’s absolutely lethal on guitars and drums, especially with the output attenuators. You can play around with distorting the input transformers to varying degrees and then attenuate the output a bit to Pro Tools. The EQ is also very effective when used in a more moderate manner. The sound quality of the preamps is excellent and they have a very large and warm presence with all the headroom you could want. Again, these are a real steal considering what you will pay for other comparable preamp/EQ's racks.