{"id":140,"date":"2019-11-24T23:03:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T23:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/blog\/?p=140"},"modified":"2024-01-05T02:01:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T02:01:55","slug":"barry-rudolphs-review-of-new-retro-500pre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/barry-rudolphs-review-of-new-retro-500pre\/","title":{"rendered":"MIX Online: Barry Rudolph’s Review Retro 500PRE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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The 500PRE is Retro’s third 500 Series module, joining the original DoubleWide I<\/a> and the updated DoubleWide II<\/a>–both dual-slot, single-channel tube compressors. The 500PRE incorporates the same basic double-balanced Class-A circuit topology as in the company’s Sta-Level limiter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 500PRE works both as microphone preamp and line-level amplifier; it has an input operating range of -72 dB to +12 dBu. The output clips at +18 dBu, with maximum output at +24 dBu. The 500PRE has two switchable gain ranges: high gain at 75 dB using all three of its TAD 12AT7 tubes, or low gain at 48 dB using just two of the tube stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SOME TECHNICAL DETAILS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total slot current drain for the 500PRE is 160 mA. This exceeds the allowable current drain in the API Audio VPR Alliance specification of 130 mA for a single-slot module. A check in a tube manual shows that the 12AT7 requires 150 mA filament current each, and there are three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking an idea from old ’50s tube television sets, the three tube filaments are wired in series and powered directly from the 500 rack’s +\/-16-volt rails, or 32 volts total–that’s nearly 11 volts DC for each tube. The tubes’ plate voltage is supplied by the 48-volt phantom power supply, and the current drain is just 3 mA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your Lunchbox or rack does not have phantom power, the 500PRE will still work, albeit with reduced headroom as the plate voltage will automatically switch over to the +\/-16-volt rails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ran the 500PRE in an API 8P High Current 500 rack (250mA per slot) and..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finish reading this detailed review @ Barry Rudolph’s website: https:\/\/www.barryrudolph.com\/mix\/retro_500pre.html<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The 500PRE is Retro’s third 500 Series module, joining the original DoubleWide I and the updated DoubleWide II–both dual-slot, single-channel tube compressors. The 500PRE incorporates the same basic double-balanced Class-A circuit topology as in the company’s Sta-Level limiter. WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? The 500PRE works both as microphone preamp and line-level amplifier; it … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “MIX Online: Barry Rudolph’s Review Retro 500PRE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,2],"tags":[21,13,8,12],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-500pre","category-gear","tag-500pre","tag-barry-rudolph","tag-retro-instruments","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278,"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retroinstruments.com\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}