SPL GainStation 1 Mic & Instrument Preamp

The GainStation 1 is a single channel high-end preamplifier featuring a 60V audio rail.

This preamplifier combines Class-A Clean Gain with sound-shaping Tube Gain in a compact design that allows for free placing close to the microphone or on top of an amplifier.

GainStation 1

The GainStation 1 is the premium recording front end, ensuring that any microphone and instrument signal is pre-amplified with the highest quality.

The quality of your recordings has a major influence on the subsequent mixing process – good recordings require less processing in later stages. Improved transparence and understandability can be achieved with less equalization and compression if the signals are recorded optimally, often allowing individual signals to be mixed at lower levels without compromising their presence.

Sonic Excellence

This cutting-edge technology ensures that signals recorded with the GainStation 1 have more presence and substance and will easily cut through a mix even at lower levels.

Extremely low-frequency signals are tight and transparent with clear intonation. Percussive transients are interpreted more precisely, which leads to a clearer rhythmic content and in turn a more solid rhythmic performance and perception.

60V DC Audio Rail

The GainStation1 Class-A preamplifier stages are based on proprietary discrete op-amps operating on a 60V rail.

That doubles the voltage of traditional preamplifier designs, resulting in a superior 130dB dynamic range and an extraordinarily alive, detailed image.

Clean Gain

The first amplification stage is the Clean Gain stage, so-called because this is an extremely fast Class-A stage exclusively built with discrete 60V rail op-amps. This stage is designed to capture the pure sound as is.

Tube Gain

The GainStation 1 offers effective sound-shaping capabilities most notably via the tube stage, which can be completely bypassed or continuously added to the Class-A preamp circuit, allowing everything from subtle warmth to a noticeable tube saturation effect.

Peak & FET Limiters

The pre-output stage Peak and/or FET mode limiters can be used to protect an AD converter from clipping, or for example to add punch to drum tracks, which in turn reduces or in many cases even eliminates the need for subsequent compression.

Mic Input Impedances

The GainStation 1 offers three input impedances to perfectly match the preamplifier to the microphones. The mic impedances are 200 Ohms, 1,2 & 10 kOhms.

Options

Optionally the GainStation1 can be equipped with a Lundahl microphone input transformer and a 24/192 AD Converter.

For those who want to put their GainStation 1 into a 19" rack a special rackframe is available that houses up to four GainStation 1.