The Hazelrigg Industries VLC Preamp & Equalizer is a powerful and elegant All-Tube Preamp and EQ combination designed to address the sonic challenges faced by today’s audio professionals. The VLC is the audio Swiss Army Knife that you should not be without!
With backgrounds in live performance and production, brothers Geoff and George Hazelrigg approach the design and manufacturing of studio equipment from the perspective of the artists, with a deep understanding of the goals and challenges they face. While the Hazelrigg Brothers often work in beautifully outfitted studios (or truck racks of gear into less well-equipped venues), they found that many of their colleagues were facing very different obstacles. With changes in production methods, more and more tracks were being cut in bedrooms and hotel rooms, on headphones or unfamiliar monitor systems, with the resulting audio showing the marks of these inconsistencies.
The VLC brings order to this sonic chaos by delivering confidence. Confidence that the tracks captured with the VLC will hold their own in the mix and deliver the emotional impact of the original performance. Confidence that tracks recorded on other gear can be brought up to the level of quality that today’s engineers and producers demand. And confidence that this can all be done quickly, easily and – most importantly – by ear. The VLC is simply a solution: an elegant, high-performance Preamp/EQ combo that delivers world class sonics while still being able to fit into the overhead bin.
The VLC Preamp & Equalizer
The foundation of the VLC is the legendary Preamp and Power Supply design utilized in the VT series of Tube Microphone Preamplifiers from D.W. Fearn. Designed for sonic transparency and delivering incredible headroom, the VLC will produce stunning results with dynamic, condenser and ribbon microphones and will change the way that you approach your mic locker during a session. A rotary switch on the front panel will also select between Microphone, Instrument Input (DI) or the Balanced Line Level Input located on the back panel. The all tube DI path is ideal for acoustic instruments with pickups, electric bass, modular synths or any instrument that would enjoy a bit of D. W. Fearn magic, while the Line Level Input allows the VLC to be wired as an insert on your mixer or DAW for fast and easy “re-preamping” of tracks during production or mix down. This feature is the secret weapon of many VLC users and allows them to breathe new life into tracks received from remote clients or simply add a bit of extra mojo to a mix as needed. Moving beyond the input and gain sections, the VLC delivers powerful tone contouring in the form of a passive LC EQ. The bottom is handled by variable Low Cut and Low Boost controls while the top end is managed similarly with High Boost and High Cut dials. Each of these four controls features a two way High/Low Frequency Select switch for even more precise tone shaping. Beautifully musical - even at extreme settings - these controls encourage you to use your ears to dial in your tone while an EQ In/Out toggle is nearby to make it easy to check your work.
Hazelrigg Industries VLC Preamp & Equalizer Specificatins
- Microphone/Line/DI Preamplifier; LC Equalizer
- Amplifier and Power Supply Designed by D.W. Fearn
- Transformer Coupled Input and Output
- All-Tube Signal Path
- Passive EQ
- Low Cut - Low Boost/High Cut – High Boost
- 2-way Frequency Selector for Each
- Custom-wound Inductor
- Dedicated Balanced Line Input on Rear Panel (Selectable from the Front Panel)
- Rear Panel Microphone Input
- Front Panel Microphone/Instrument Input (Redundant Microphone Input on Rear Panel)
- Locking +48V Safety Switch
- -20 dB Switch
- Polarity Reversal Switch
- EQ Bypass Switch
- 5 Year Warranty (90 days for vacuum tubes)
- Hand Crafted in the USA
2 Reviews Hide Reviews Show Reviews
-
Hazelrigg Industries VLC - The New Gold Standard
Jul 27th 2023I have been so fortunate to have had access to the finest most revered studio equipment around the world working as a professional producer for 26 years. Every so often there's that one piece of gear that changes everything, this preamp is one of them. Its difficult to put in to words what this box is capable of, it just does so much so well and while doing so imparts sublime musical clarity and imaging on a level I have not experienced before. I don't know what kind of Voodoo they came up with in this circuit, but its magical. I am also very familiar with Doug’s VT1 preamp which this circuit is based on, but I have to say the VLC paired with this Pultec style EQ is in a league of its own sonically. The Hazelrigg VLC is quickly becoming the "Go to Preamp" for top mixing engineers and producers. I see them popping up everywhere! The Hazelrigg VLC is a modern classic, period said and done.
-
VLC
Oct 29th 2021High end tube gear with a ton of headroom. This piece of gear is easy to use and very transparent. Great for recording Vocals, guitar, ect.. Also great for recording bass and guitar through the Di in the front of the unit.
Write a Review
Sign Up for exclusive sales and offers!