Here's a budget offering from the well respected Black Lion Audio company. A standalone American designed & Chinese made single channel XLR Mic Preamp with additional Hi-Z input on the front panel, as well as the usual switchable 48v phantom power, phase reverse & pad switches. At the time of adding this product to Dancetech it only seems to be appearing in some US shops at a price of US$ 259.00, but interestingly one dealership product pages states: "This item ships directly to you from the manufacturer", so if this goes for all stores then perhaps Black Lion Audio is having them shipped to order direct from China to save an additional stage of goods transit & warehousing costs to help keep costs down further; whatever, this unit should carry the usual quality expected from Black Lion Audio but on a keen budget.
Console vibe for your desktop.
The Auteur DT is a versatile preamp/DI box ready to suit all of your single-channel recording needs. Thanks to 60 dB of Chicago console-style gain and 1/4” and XLR inputs, Auteur DT will accurately capture and enhance anything you throw at it: the crackling snap of a well-tuned snare — or the thunder, resonance, and decay of a ‘70s acrylic kick drum getting hit hard. Add heat and texture to synths and mix-penetrating presence to vocals. Rest assured — anything you plug into the Auteur DT will sound better coming out of it.
Auteur DT exists to capture every bit of sweat equity that goes into your recordings… in fact, bringing out the fully polished potential of your final product is the inspiration for everything Black Lion Audio makes.
More than just a preamp…
Electric whatever: guitar, bass, baritone, or viola — the Auteur DT doesn’t care what you play: it cares how you sound. Auteur DT makes anything you plug into it sound weighty, detailed, harmonically rich, and above all — clean. There’s simply not a better single-channel direct box in its price class… and certainly not one that doesn’t look like it was component-sourced via a dumpster dive behind an antique radio museum. Auteur DT will dutifully respect every ingredient of your tonal recipe — your technique, string gauge, fingerboard choice, and especially those pickups you paid too much for.
Sublime quality — inside and out.
With a tough-as-nails brushed black aluminum chassis bookended by organic, vintage-style varnished maple side panels, the Auteur DT is sturdily built for comfort, usability, and lasting performance — while also looking like it should cost about twice what it does. Of course, it’s what’s on the inside that counts — and Auteur DT features a robust USA-made transformer and cherry-picked Nichicon and Vishay capacitors, ensuring premium sound quality, long life, and low noise.
The Black Lion difference.
Before offering their own brand of unique audio design solutions, Black Lion Audio grew its reputation as Chicago’s top audio mod-shop. Their years of experience spent elbow-deep in audio circuits goes into every Black Lion Audio offering: judicious component selection; robust build quality… and a heavy dose of Chicago-style hands-on, can-do, will-do attitude.
Features
• Vintage-vibe desktop preamp that’s perfect for capturing all of your performance details
• Modern IC-based front-end for fast and transparent sound
• Vintage-inspired transformer-coupled output-stage with USA made transformer for massive, colorful sound
• XLR mic and 1/4” Hi-Z (Instrument) inputs; 1/4 TRS Out
• Positive locking led indicator buttons: phantom power, phase inversion, pad, and Hi-Z toggle
• 60dB of gain
• Backlit classic style VU meter
• Balanced TRS line output
• Brushed black aluminum chassis, framed with vintage-style translucent maple side panels
Solid State
1
-10dB
1 x XLR (back) 1 x 1/4″ TRS (front)
1 x 1/4″ TRS
10Hz-30kHz bandwidth
None (desktop format)
24V AC, 500mA power supply
2“
6“
6“
2.5 lbs.
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