WELL CARED FOR UNIT. FULLY FUNCTIONAL. USED IN A HOME STUDIO WITH ONLY 1 OWNER. MINOR BLEMISHES (RACK MOUNT SCRATCHES) THAT DO NO AFFECT THE FUNCTION GENERAL DESCRIPTION The Frontliner has everything to record voices and instruments in perfect quality: Positioned even above the already legendary Channel One, the Frontliner combines preamp, de-esser, EQ and compressor, tube saturation, which can be used individually or in combination. Discrete Tube Preamp The Frontliner is a hybrid preamplifier consisting of a discrete semiconductor stage and a tube stage. The hybrid construction of the preamplifier combines the advantages of semiconductors (high dynamics with low distortion, low noise) with the musical qualities of tube sound (pleasant high/overtone spectrum, beautiful three-dimensionality). The microphone preamplifier is completely discretely constructed from single transistors. It features 48 V phantom power, polarity inversion, padding and an LF cut filter. The line input has a precision balancing stage for connecting additional studio equipment. The also discrete and low-noise instrument input is easily accessible on the front panel. De-Esser The De-Esser removes annoying S sounds without affecting the natural sound. In contrast to conventional compressor techniques, the S-frequencies are detected and phase-cancelled in a very narrow band, whereby the S-sounds are deleted very unobtrusively. The De-Esser works in the Auto-Threshold mode. This ensures constant processing even if the distance to the microphone fluctuates. Operation is reduced to just one knob that sets the desired S-reduction. Compressor / Limiter The special feature of the compressor is our Double-VCA-Drive circuitry that achieves outstanding noise and distortion characteristics. By splitting the compressor activity on two VCA’s compression itself has a lesser tendency to side effects like pumping. The attack and release controls can be automated depending on the signal. The control activity is thus permanently and precisely adjusted to musical requirements. However, it is still possible to manually influence the characteristics of the automatic control, so that the boundaries between purely manual and automated control merge seamlessly. Equalizer & Tube Saturation The EQ section provides two semi-parametric filters for low and mid band as well as an Air-Band filter delivering a silky and smooth top end. The EQ especially optimized to process vocals, acoustic and electronic instruments allowing for both corrective adjustments and sound design. The sound effects from saturating a tube can be used to fatten an audio signal or make it better cut through the mix. The sound results resemble tape saturation effects and increase the density and perceived energy in a very pleasant way.
