7602 MKII/ 7602 MKII X-MOD Microphone Preamp with EQ
"...a versatile preamp with a vintage sound for well under a thousand bucks." Rich Wells, EMusician
Chameleon Labs 7602 Mic Pre + EQ input channel was our first product in 2005 that started it all. The 7602 MkII is designed to deliver the "desert island preamp" sound you expect from English console inputs of the 70's along with 3 band EQ. We incorporated a few, important functions like switchable input impedance to optimize the unit for ribbons/dynamics vs condensers, a 4 LED input meter, a nice 4 frequency HP filter at 50, 80, 160 and 300 Hz to get rid of the low end junk clogging up your digital recordings and an adjustable high frequency section. It makes use of a high end 20 position solid gold gain switch manufactured and imported from Switzerland. This switch is designed for long term use and is typically found in very high end US or Euro units costing a lot more. For the DI input, where there is a lot of rough plugging and unplugging of a ¼ inch jack, we chose a US made Switchcraft DI input jack to greatly improve reliability over jacks that look the same but don't last. Expensive old school US made tantalum capacitors are now incorporated on the main output board because they sound significantly better in this design than our previously used electrolytic capacitors. That's how the original console input was made and we can hear why! We use only outboard power supplies for lowest noise.
Our famous "X Mod" option offers British input and output transformers from Carnhill/Saint Ives Company, the source of vintage transformers used in the original console. In our view, the "X Mod" is the only way to go but we even without them the 7602 is remarkable bargain. The 7602 full and warm bottom end and smooth, gentle top is perfect for tracking and a pair ideal for mixing.
| Equalizer Section (Selectable 3 band design with a flexible filter section) |
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Model 7602 MKII Also Features |
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Electronics
By employing classic circuit design, polystyrene capacitors, a gold contact ELMA gain selector and custom wound transformers, Chameleon Labs ensures that the Model 7602 MKII will exhibit classic audio sound.
The Model 7602 MKII has a transformer balanced input with a range between 20dB and 80 dB of gain. The separate line input is transformer balanced and accepts input levels from -20 to +10dB.
Power
24VAC Adapter: Each Model 7602 MKII ships with a mid-line power supply, type-dependent on country of operation. This is not a traditional "wall-wart" but simply an outboard AC transformer. DC filtering and regulation is accomplished inside the 7602 MKII itself.
Model 7602 MKII Specifications
- Input impedance: Microphone - 300 & 1,200 ohms
Line - 10,000 ohms
D.I. - 100,000 ohms - Sensitivity: Microphone - -80dBm to -20 dBm in 5dB steps for 0 dBm output.
Line - -20 dBm to +10 dBm in 5 dB steps for 0 dBm output. - Noise: Measured at 80 db of gain with 200 ohm input termination, without 20Hz to 20kHz to assist in filtering out noise.
-49dbu with final output stage at 50% EIN -129 dbu;
-46dbu with final output stage at unity EIN -126 dbu;
-56dbu without final output stage EIN -136 dbu.
Controls either "flat" or switched out. - Output: Balanced and floating to feed a 600 ohm load.
Maximum output +26 dBm into 600 ohms, or +20dBm into 150 ohms. - Output impedance: 600 ohms, balanced (source impedance 75 ohms).
- Frequency Response: 11 Hz - 77.65 kHz - 3 dB.
Level variation is less than 0.2%. - Distortion: 1k Hz = 0.0245%