ART Digital MPA II Professional 2-Channel Mic Preamp w/ Digital Out DMPAII

ART Digital MPA II A new dual preamp from ART combines imaginative valve circuitry with more digital output options than you can shake a stick at! ART have been in the business of making affordable, effective signal processors and effects units since the mid-'80s, but in the early days their large overlapping product range and ever-changing cosmetic design may have hindered rather than helped their sales effort. Today, their styling has settled down a little, and their manufacturing has been moved to China in order to keep the retail prices low. This combination of American design and low Chinese manufacturing costs has enabled them to bring some quite sophisticated products to the project studio market at very attractive UK prices. One such is the Digital MPA mic preamp under review here, which combines discrete Class-A input circuitry with valve gain stages, variable input impedance, and comprehensive digital output options at up to 192kHz. Variable Input Impedance Presented in a smart and ergonomically friendly 2U format, the Digital MPA comprises two identical channels of microphone preamplifier with digital outputs fitted as standard. Over the past few years, the idea of variable input impedance has gained favour as a means of more optimally matching specific microphones to the preamplifier, though most users simply adjust for what sounds most musical, rather than what is technically correct. This somewhat esoteric feature is provided here as a continuously variable control that adjusts the input impedance from 140Ω to 3kΩ. Most mics are happy working into around 600Ω, but increasing the impedance will often increase the gain slightly and also impart a sense of warmth. By contrast, a lower impedance tends to produce a slightly thinner, tighter tone. The unit has a curiously semi-retro look, with large metal knobs and mechanical VU meters on the one hand providing a counterpoint to modernistic LED illuminated perspex buttons and LED bar graphs. Class-A input stages are popular in mic preamps, because they don't suffer from crossover distortion and they don't use huge amounts of

ART Digital MPA II Professional 2-Channel Mic Preamp w/ Digital Out DMPAII