The Retro Instruments 500Pre is a 500 Series mic preamp with three 12AT7 tubes and the same circuit topology as the legendary Sta-level. The Retro Instruments 500Pre delivers a huge tone akin to the Sta-Level with the same depth, detail and musicality. It offers minimal distortion and super low noise as well as balanced and neutral frequency response. The 500Pre simply provides up to 75dB of gain as well as a stunning sound and huge tone without ever sounding harsh or brittle. The 500Pre boasts no less than three new-production TAD 12AT7 tubes which are protected by a soft-start circuitry as well as ensuring rapid operation. No need to wait more than 60 seconds for the valves to heat up. In addition to giving a rich and warm tone, the 500Pre can also limit your input at +18dBu, adding fat-sounding compression full of rich harmonics. Like all Retro Instruments products, the build quality is second to none, with rugged, heavy-duty knobs and a durable steel chassis. Controls include two knobs for gain and output level as well as three heavy-duty switches to control Gain Select, Phantom Power and Polarity. The Gain select switch lets you choose between Low Gain which uses a two-stage amplifier topology and High Gain that uses a high gain three-stage topology.
