AEA TRP Dual-Mono Ribbon Microphone Preamp at FrontEndAudio.com

AEA TRP Dual-Mono Ribbon Microphone Preamp Details

The AEA TRP Ribbon Mic Preamplifier is an ultra high-gain and impedance, minimal-path FET mic pre designed by Fred Forssell. This low-noise two-channel preamp is for ribbon, moving coil, and tube microphones that do not use or want phantom power. This allows for improvements in minimal path circuitry and also rids the unit of phantom-power blocking capacitors. Zener diodes on the input protect the input stage if external phantom power is applied.

First stage gain is set from +6 to +63 dB by a 12 position Grayhill switch. Another 20dB of gain is available after the output level potentiometer. Polarity reversal and high pass switches on the two channels are complimented by operating and overload LED metering.

AEA TRP Dual-Mono Ribbon Microphone Preamp Features

Switched Gain and Continuous Level Controls
Phase reverse and high-pass switches
Anodized gray and black matte finished aluminum
Laser engraved legends and single line schematic
External power supply for minimum noise

AEA TRP Dual-Mono Ribbon Microphone Preamp Specifications

Electrical Specifications

Gain is >83 dB at 1 kHz, balanced in to balanced out
Positive polarity is pin 2 on XLRs, tip on ¼ “ stereo jacks
Balanced outputs clip above +28 dBu, 100k load
Unbalanced XLR output load reduces max level by ~6 dB
Unbalanced ¼” TRS outputs clip at +22 dBu, 100k load
Frequency response: down 3 dB at 6 Hz and 300 kHz
THD at 1 kHz is .005% with 22 Hz to 22 kHz bandwidth
EIN, (weighted noise figure): -130 dBu, 150 Ohms; input
Balanced mic input impedance: >30,000 Ohms;
Microphone input electronics are DC coupled
Mic inputs are zener protected from external P48 DC
Mic inputs shut off while external DC is present
Green LED snaps on at ~ - 5 dBu
Yellow LED is variable brightness from ~ 0 to +20 dBu
Red LED snaps on at ~ +20 dBu
High-pass filter: 12 dB per octave and -3 dB at 100 Hz
Power supply provides two 17.25 VAC outputs
Power supply is 115V ONLY!!!

Physical Specifications

Gain switch: 12 position Grayhill series 71
Output level control detents at 12 noon
Polarity invert & high-pass pushbutton switches
External power supply (P.S.) for minimum noise
P.S. input & output cords are 6 feet long each
115 VAC P.S. uses male grounded Edison power plug
Chassis P.S. input is a female 7-pin circular DIN jack
Laser engraved legends & single line schematic
Power-on indication: front panel LED
Chassis: aluminum with rugged extruded endcaps
Size: half-rack wide, rack unit high 8.5” x 8.5” x 1.7”
Metric: chassis is 36.7 cm wide & deep, by 4.3 high
Weight: chassis: 2 pounds, P.S.: 1.5 pounds
Metric: chassis: 0.9 Kg, P.S.: 0.7 kg
Finish: tough, textured, black & gray powder coat
Dual TRP steel 1 RU rackshelf mounting option

The AEA TRP also comes bundled with AEA ribbon mics and stereo mic positioner in the following packages:

AEA TRP Dual-Mono Ribbon Microphone Preamp Downloads

AEA TRP Technical Onesheet (PDF)

What We Think - AEA TRP Review

"We feel that once you hear it in action, you will agree with us that the AEA TRP is absolutely CRITICAL and NECESSARY for recording with ribbon microphones. It truly does everything AEA says that it will; tons of clean gain without all the noise. The very high impedance allows ribbon mics to sound their very best.

Have you ever plugged in a ribbon mic into your 'legendary British mic-pre' and wondered what everyone was talking about when they swore up and down that a ribbon mic is the way to go on _______? You're experiencing an impedance problem when you feel that the bottom is muddy and bloated and without definition. You're also noticing that the ribbon sounds darker than you think it really even should, considering your knowing that a ribbon is going to be darker to begin with than a condenser. Enter the AEA TRP - It's 18kOhm impedance evens out the frequency response and opens up the top end to expose a depth that you couldn't have know was even there before. No more flat sound with that big wooly bottom.

The TRP is worth every penny for the studio using ribbon mics on all sources, but it really shines on particularly quiet and detailed sources where you don't want to raise noise levels to the point of being drowned in hiss. It's really nice to finally be able to use a preamp with a ribbon mic and not wish the preamp had more gain. AND, the TRP sounds great with dynamic and tube microphones. In fact, you might be really surprised just how much you like it with those mics as well as with your ribbons."

Alan Moon - Front End Audio

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