Drawmer has announced the availability of the new 1972 Dual Mic/Line and Instrument Preamplifier. The 1U rack hardware unit is aimed at professional and home studios featuring a Select input source switch with six positions in order to cover all possible input levels. We have the details.

Given the unprecedented reputation of delivering creative, problem-solving, and bulletproof products to the studio/ live recording arena, Drawmer is introducing the all new 1972 Dual Mic/Line and Instrument Mic Preamplifier. The unit distinguishes itself with its flexibility, unique feature set and simple operation and is at home in both professional studio and live sound applications. As with all Drawmer products, the 1972 is hand-crafted in the UK with all steel chassis for bullet-proof reliability.

The 1972 Dual Mic/Line and Instrument Mic Preamplifier sports two identical channels of analogue pre-amplification in a 1U rack chassis. Key to the 1972's versatility is the Select input source switch. It has six switch positions to cover the 1/4-inch front panel Instrument input jack for guitars, basses or electronic keyboards and five more positions covering separate rear panel XLR input jacks for microphones with/without 48-volt phantom powering or Line level input sources. Other switch positions are provided to match microphones with 200, 600 or 2,400-ohm impedances. Low impedance passive ribbon microphones sound best when impedance-matched correctly.

Up to 66dB of ultra clean gain in 6dB steps is provided by THAT Corp Technology using a 12-position rotary Gain switch. The switch's detents make it easy to recall settings from previous sessions—perfect for rapid changeovers in live recordings—when there is no time to reset record levels. Input levels are monitored on a simple, five LED color-coded meter directly above the Input Gain control and a compact Sifam VU meter monitors the final Output level.

Controls

Front panel controls continue with a Phase reverse button and the switchable semi-parametric Lo and Hi Cut filter section that also works as a very smooth bandpass filter. The LoCut section is switchable in/out and is a 12db/octave filter with the ability to sweep any frequency between 15 to 350-Hz. Having a fully-adjustable LoCut filter means you may fine tune and negate just enough low frequency rumble, stage vibration—even traffic noise without affecting the natural, musical bass frequencies. The HiCut or low-pass half of this filter ranges from 1.5kHz to 20kHz and is also a 12dB/Octave design. It works great to remove system hiss or even sibilance. Either section can be used separately.

Unique to the 1972 is Lift a low-level, upward expander. When switched in, Lift adds gain to input signals below a level of -30dB and continues adding gain until a level of 0dB is reached. Furthermore, starting at -30dB, the amount of added gain is gradually reduced as the average level approaches 0dB. Lift is the ultimate, smooth automatic gain-riding tool; you will never have "under recorded" audio again with this natural sounding feature. Useful for: studio, TV sound, conferences, and public address system recordings. Off-mic and poor microphone techniques are all helped with Lift.

Another standout feature of 1972 is Shape, basically used as an instant sonic fixer. It is comprised of two separate fixed-frequency tilt or see saw equalizers both centered at 500Hz. Low Shape will provide up to a 2.5dB boost at 40Hz and, at the same time, attenuates -2.5dB at 10kHz. Conversely, Hi Shape reduces by 2.5dB at 40Hz and, at the same time, boosts up to 2.5dB at 10kHz. With both low and high Shape buttons engaged, a pleasant and very useful "scoop" centered at 500Hz is generated. Great for a harsh and "honky" sounding overall music mix.

Pricing

Pricing is the same as other 1U 70s series units (UK MRP £795 + VAT), and the unit is already in production, so is available to order now. Some dealers already have stock