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Post by drbill on Aug 6, 2020 18:35:10 GMT -6
Charlie answered some of my questions elsewhere, and I don't THINK he will mind me posting here, cause we all like to geek out over mic-pre's.....
Happy to answer great questions, bp!! ;-)
So, this history and topology of the 1108 is be surmised from this brief description taken from the manual of the later released UA 2108:
"The original 1108 was the “father of the 1176 limiter”. The classic sound of the legendary 1176 starts with the line amp/output transformer of the 1108. In fact, the 1176 was born as a result of Bill Putnam Senior's desire to create a remote-controlled pre amp."
So essentially what we have as far as our V108 is concerned is a true "two-stage" preamp, with a stepped Grayhill "GAIN" control as well as a fully variable "Output Fader" type control.
The circuit itself is not extremely complex but being that it IS a Putnam design, it's extremely clever and well done (duhhh hahaha)
To start, much like the 2108 - we added is a JFET design (which also sports a custom-wound input transformer) in order to give the operator a WIDE range of color, tone, saturation, harmonics, etc.
This input stage is then followed by the output stage of our 76A (1176 Output) which itself adds it's own unique vibe and flavor. We're using the same NOS Transistors found in our 76A/76F which is really cool - and of course this all goes to another beefy, custom-wound output transformer.
The preamp is VERY rock n' roll. Leaning much more to the Quad-Eight / N*ve style vibe but sonically, has it's own distinct vibe/flavor that is a bit hard to describe.
It's a SUPER FUN preamp to use - works amazingly well on a MYRIAD of sources and well - is something that just ISN'T being made by anyone else and as mentioned before, we thought it was a shame that this beautiful sounding circuit has flown under the radar for SO long.
As for the way it LOOKS (silkscreen, knobs, etc) we're going to tease a pic of it on our IG / FB sometime in the next few days me thinks... feels a little too early to post an easy to discern, CLEAN picture of it just yet...
Pricing we're still working out - it won't cost any more than the V3A and with any luck, we're aiming sell it for slightly less than the V3A.
Jury is still out on a 1RU, 2-channel rackmount version, but it is definitely possible thanks to Brad's amazing HyperMatter™ chassis & PSU.
Aesthetics ARE highly subjective but in the world of boutique analog hardware, as you very well know they are EXTREMELY important (whether one is conscious of this or not) so in typical AudioScape fashion, we agonized over knob selection, type of switch(es), etc etc... overall, you can TELL that it's a 500-series module made by US (if you've seen the V3A) as the two share similar colors in the main portions but both are distinctly OUR vision -
..me, (Charlie) being the person who created the graphics/silkscreen for the V3A AND the V108 - I think BOTH came out really cool but I very much dig how the final product of the V108 came out ;-)
STAY TUNED! ;-) 😜
And as ALWAYS - thank you ALL so much for your passion and enthusiasm. We hit 10K followers in Instagram last night!!! To anyone who helped us with this, WE THANK YOU SO HARD!!
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 6, 2020 20:36:11 GMT -6
Was there a pic?
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Post by drbill on Aug 6, 2020 20:40:51 GMT -6
Not yet. They mentioned soon. They might even be on the streets by end of month. |
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Post by Ward on Aug 7, 2020 6:15:24 GMT -6
This has been the hardest secret to keep for a long time. It's going to up the audioscape game considerably. and that's REALLY saying something! Plus, something else is coming . . . |
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 7, 2020 8:45:36 GMT -6
It’s almost like you have a vested interest with Audioscape
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Post by Ward on Aug 7, 2020 9:10:51 GMT -6
It’s almost like you have a vested interest with Audioscape Almost. |
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Post by audioscape on Aug 7, 2020 19:53:29 GMT -6
It’s almost like you have a vested interest with Audioscape 😂💕 ALMOST! Ward is our (no holds barred) evangelist.. There are a handful of products in the works to be totally honest - all of them at different stages of development / completion ;-) Thanks for this, drB!! <3 |
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Post by Ward on Aug 7, 2020 20:04:33 GMT -6
It’s almost like you have a vested interest with Audioscape 😂💕 ALMOST! Ward is our (no holds barred) evangelist.. There are a handful of products in the works to be totally honest - all of them at different stages of development / completion ;-) Thanks for this, drB!! <3 It's a labor of love, and belief and FAITH BABY!! I'm not on the payroll. |
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Post by audioscape on Aug 8, 2020 19:29:58 GMT -6
😂💕 ALMOST! Ward is our (no holds barred) evangelist.. There are a handful of products in the works to be totally honest - all of them at different stages of development / completion ;-) Thanks for this, drB!! <3 It's a labor of love, and belief and FAITH BABY!! I'm not on the payroll. Can CONFIRM! ;-) |
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Post by drbill on Aug 8, 2020 19:45:56 GMT -6
Quoted..... "We will be posting some teaser shots to our IG/FB tomorrow I'm thinking...... Been playing around running tracks (bass, vocals, etc) through the V108 most of the night.... crazy cool. You can really F*CK some stuff up in the BEST possible way " |
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Post by Vincent R. on Aug 11, 2020 4:02:37 GMT -6
Very cool.
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Post by audioscape on Aug 12, 2020 16:54:00 GMT -6
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 12, 2020 17:34:54 GMT -6
Nice! I like the knobs
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Post by m03 on Aug 12, 2020 19:37:13 GMT -6
Price for a pair?
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Post by LesC on Aug 12, 2020 20:07:52 GMT -6
Wow, those are works of art!
I'd love to see a single 19" rack unit consisting of:
- one pre
- one comp
- really good di
- separate mic and line-level XLR inputs (TRS on line-level would be acceptable)
- XLR and TRS outputs usable simultaneously (XLR balanced and TS unbalanced would be acceptable)
- separate ins and outs for the pre and comp would not be necessary, it's a recording strip
For me it would be an instant buy. I'm just assuming the pre will be up to Audioscape usual level.
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Post by Ward on Aug 13, 2020 7:01:25 GMT -6
Twice the price of a single unit. audioscape equipment is already cut to the bone, margin wise, so there aren't volume discounts. Consider this: The equipment is designed in FLA with consultations from two renowned engineers for peer review, it is flawless, it is guaranteed, it is priced like 'offshore' gear and most importantly OUTPERFORMS all comers!! You seen the prices? I mean, holy poopsicles, they should be DOUBLE what they are and they would still be underpriced. We're trying to expand to keep up with demand and not doing the usual greed-driven 'kick up the prices when demand is high' rotten game. I love this company. I can't help but put my shoulder to the plow here. |
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Post by 000 on Aug 13, 2020 8:31:44 GMT -6
Twice the price of a single unit. audioscape equipment is already cut to the bone, margin wise, so there aren't volume discounts. Consider this: The equipment is designed in FLA with consultations from two renowned engineers for peer review, it is flawless, it is guaranteed, it is priced like 'offshore' gear and most importantly OUTPERFORMS all comers!! You seen the prices? I mean, holy poopsicles, they should be DOUBLE what they are and they would still be underpriced. We're trying to expand to keep up with demand and not doing the usual greed-driven 'kick up the prices when demand is high' rotten game. I love this company. I can't help but put my shoulder to the plow here. Like..even if they were the literal return of Christ or something - this would still read as pretty weird to me. Between these and the new Stam 500 series stuff - I’m seriously contemplating buying ANOTHER lunchbox. I can’t stand empty slots on those things so it makes me question whether I want to go down that financial rabbit hole AGAIN. Does anyone here actually swap out modules as they go? It seems a bit cumbersome with the way everything is routed/labeled here. |
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Post by m03 on Aug 13, 2020 8:32:09 GMT -6
Twice the price of a single unit. audioscape equipment is already cut to the bone, margin wise, so there aren't volume discounts. Consider this: The equipment is designed in FLA with consultations from two renowned engineers for peer review, it is flawless, it is guaranteed, it is priced like 'offshore' gear and most importantly OUTPERFORMS all comers!! You seen the prices? I mean, holy poopsicles, they should be DOUBLE what they are and they would still be underpriced. We're trying to expand to keep up with demand and not doing the usual greed-driven 'kick up the prices when demand is high' rotten game. I love this company. I can't help but put my shoulder to the plow here.
Err...not sure what you're on about. My question was a shorter way of saying "How much are they each? I like to buy 500 series units in pairs and I know Audioscapes previous units have been small and sold out of their initial batches pretty quickly".
I know several people seem to have bought pairs of the 500 series 3A in the other thread, but they don't seem to have drawn the same comments on greed (? ? ?) that my question did, so I'm a little baffled here.
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Post by audioscape on Aug 13, 2020 10:09:50 GMT -6
Price per unit is still TBD, but we're aiming to come in at a bit less than V3A if at ALL possible!!
Ward is just evangelizing, haha. doing his thing. Don't read into it too much - he's enthusiastic!!! ;-)
Thanks so much for all the kind words y'all! SUPER proud of these V108's! Glad you dig how they look... I personally dig it but you know, we all like what we like, hahaha.
YOU ALL..... ROCK!!!! <3
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Post by drbill on Aug 13, 2020 12:32:51 GMT -6
Charlie - not seeing a mic / line switch. Is that the "pad" switch? I generally don't like pads and more than even odds I don't like what they do to the sound - so I generally avoid using them. And if the mic/line is in fact the pad switch, how many dB is it padding down? Thx. |
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Post by audioscape on Aug 13, 2020 15:39:48 GMT -6
Charlie - not seeing a mic / line switch. Is that the "pad" switch? I generally don't like pads and more than even odds I don't like what they do to the sound - so I generally avoid using them. And if the mic/line is in fact the pad switch, how many dB is it padding down? Thx. The nomenclature can be a bit confusing here for sure - but we figured since it's a mic pre that the usual "PAD" labeling would make more universal sense to people. But your hunch is correct, enabling the PAD switch essentially but you into "line" mode when a line level signal is plugged into the unit. The PAD switch is padding down the input signal by approximately -30dB if I recall correctly... I've had no issues running line level signals into the V108 while engaging the PAD switch and haven't noticed any drastic tonal change like you would when engaging the PAD on many API-style pre's - this circuit is VERY different from that "API" thing but as always, YMMV and I definitely respect your thoughts on that! The V108 module itself runs at +24V internally - which is definitely something of note ;-) |
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Post by Quint on Aug 13, 2020 15:50:21 GMT -6
Damnit. I do NOT need any more preamps... But I totally want a pair of these.
A rackmount with two or four of these in it would be pretty sweet.
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Post by drbill on Aug 13, 2020 15:56:44 GMT -6
Charlie - not seeing a mic / line switch. Is that the "pad" switch? I generally don't like pads and more than even odds I don't like what they do to the sound - so I generally avoid using them. And if the mic/line is in fact the pad switch, how many dB is it padding down? Thx. The nomenclature can be a bit confusing here for sure - but we figured since it's a mic pre that the usual "PAD" labeling would make more universal sense to people. But your hunch is correct, enabling the PAD switch essentially but you into "line" mode when a line level signal is plugged into the unit. The PAD switch is padding down the input signal by approximately -30dB if I recall correctly... I've had no issues running line level signals into the V108 while engaging the PAD switch and haven't noticed any drastic tonal change like you would when engaging the PAD on many API-style pre's - this circuit is VERY different from that "API" thing but as always, YMMV and I definitely respect your thoughts on that! The V108 module itself runs at +24V internally - which is definitely something of note ;-) Excellent - thanks Charlie! Yeah, 30dB is pretty excessive for a mic pre pad, but perfect for line level. You might want to think of a nomenclature change if you haven't locked down graphics already. Something like Line/Pad or the like. At any rate, yeah, I'll definitely take it as different than the typical API (sucking air) pad topology. Look forward to a pair sometime. Oh, btw, did you still want me to compare V3a to Serpents still? |
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Post by audioscape on Aug 14, 2020 8:44:07 GMT -6
The nomenclature can be a bit confusing here for sure - but we figured since it's a mic pre that the usual "PAD" labeling would make more universal sense to people. But your hunch is correct, enabling the PAD switch essentially but you into "line" mode when a line level signal is plugged into the unit. The PAD switch is padding down the input signal by approximately -30dB if I recall correctly... I've had no issues running line level signals into the V108 while engaging the PAD switch and haven't noticed any drastic tonal change like you would when engaging the PAD on many API-style pre's - this circuit is VERY different from that "API" thing but as always, YMMV and I definitely respect your thoughts on that! The V108 module itself runs at +24V internally - which is definitely something of note ;-) Excellent - thanks Charlie! Yeah, 30dB is pretty excessive for a mic pre pad, but perfect for line level. You might want to think of a nomenclature change if you haven't locked down graphics already. Something like Line/Pad or the like. At any rate, yeah, I'll definitely take it as different than the typical API (sucking air) pad topology. Look forward to a pair sometime. Oh, btw, did you still want me to compare V3a to Serpents still? Front panels and cases have already been ordered and are locked down - perhaps in a future revision we'll change this ;-) And YES! Would love for you to compare the V3A to your Serpents - we're announcing the OFFICIAL RELEASE of the V3A on Sunday - so after that batch, I'll get in touch with you via IG and we will go from there <3 Appreciate it drB, as always!! <3 xoxoxo |
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Post by dvdpaulin on Sept 10, 2020 16:08:47 GMT -6
Super excited to learn about the V108's! I've been looking for a 2108 for months! These look super cool, can't wait for them to be released!
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