With 80dB of gain and a fully discrete Carnhill Transformer balanced signal path, there’s no recording, mixing or engineering task that the WA73-EQ can’t handle.
If there’s one style of preamp that professional engineers would unanimously agree has defined the tone of pop/rock records for decades, it would most definitely be the venerable '73-style of mic pre. '73-style preamps have been massively used in recording and live applications for many years and are still considered to be the “Holy Grail” of preamp choices today. The Warm Audio “WA73 Family” consists of single and dual channel '73-style preamps (with & w/out EQ), that each pay careful homage to British audio history.
When we at Warm Audio decided to release the WA73-EQ it was imperative that it met vintage expectation in both design and performance. The tone and sweet character that vintage '73-style mic preamps impart is so unique and familiar, that we had only the pure desire to release sonically accurate reproductions. After years of R&D, careful reverse-engineering, and countless hours of auditioning, the WA73-EQ has been born!
The WA73-EQ is a “Desert Island” boutique preamp, but it can also be classified as a studio and live work-horse. Classic '73-style preamps are known for being versatile tools that work with all kinds of microphones from Condenser, to Dynamic, to Ribbon. The WA73-EQ equally shines on all types of microphones and sources including; vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, bass, drums, percussion, orchestras, keyboards, and even as a tone shaping tool to run partial or complete mixes through.
Warm Audio WA73-EQ Features
- Single channel, Class A, '73-style British microphone preamp with EQ
- UK-made Carnhill transformers
- UK-made Blore Edwards EQ dual-concentric switch potentiometers
- Hand-wired, hand-assembled
- 80 dB of gain, resistor-stepped gain switch
- Fully discrete
- Polarity switch
- 48V phantom power
- Inductor-based 3-band EQ
- Additional high-band frequency EQ points added (compared to vintage 1073)
- XLR mic inputs (front and back)
- Line level TRS input
- TS send/receive insert jacks
- XLR & TRS line level outputs
- Direct in, instrument input
- Output control
- LED level indication
- 19" rack-mountable
- Internal IEC 115V/230V power inlet
- WA73-EQ Single Channel British Mic Pre + EQ1
- Tone buttonChanges input transformer impedance for varying tone
- Low band boost/cut35, 60, 110, 220 Hz
- Mid band boost/cut360, 700, 1600, 3200, 4800, 7200 Hz
- High band boost/cut10, 12, 16 kHz
- 4-position inductor-based high pass filter50, 80, 160, 300 Hz
- Frequency response20HZ - 20KHZ +/-.5 dB
