Black Lion Audio Auteur Quad² Four Channel Mic Preamp

About: Black Lion Audio Auteur Quad² Four Channel Mic Preamp

Auteur Quad² is a four-channel rackmount edition of our lauded Auteur mic preamp. Auteur preamps are known for their snappy, transparent, American-style IC-based input stage while also providing a fat, colorful British-style output stage via US-made Cinemag transformers.

• 4-channel preamp with ultra-high-speed input stage and Cinemag output transformers
• 4 Instrument / Line DI jacks
• 66 dB of gain handles any type of microphone, including power-hungry dynamic and ribbon mics
• Analog VU metering on all 4 channels
• Per-channel phantom power, polarity reverse, and pad

This hybrid implementation of vintage and modern designs makes Auteur astonishingly versatile. While it sounds great on everything, it particularly shines on sources that require detail but also benefit from some added weight, such as drums or vocals.

Workhorse studio preamp features

With the Auteur Quad², you’ll track up to four inputs simultaneously. You get independent +48v on every input, as well as polarity reverse and a -10 dB pad. All channels have dedicated Instrument-level inputs on the front for DI recording, while the rear panel sports XLR inputs and XLR and TRS outs.

The Auteur Quad² has several improvements over the original. In addition to increased gain, you also get all-new analog VU meters, and all ¼” inputs offer instrument- and line-level connections. The Auteur Quad²’s combination of channel count, signal quality, and feature set makes it one of the best bang-for-your-buck preamps around.

Versatile, Chicago-Style Auteur mic preamp design

With the Auteur Quad², you get the snappy, transparent input stage of an American-style preamp with the option for the colorful output of a British-style. As such it’s an excellent jack-of-all-trades preamp suitable for guitar cabs, vocals, drums, and more.

You may have heard of American- and British-style preamp designs… but what the heck is “Chicago-style?”

“Chicago-style” is Black Lion Audio marketing-speak for “our own preamp design,” because Black Lion Audio is in, and loves, Chicago. Represented in our Auteur-series, we feel our Chicago-style Auteur preamps offer the best of both worlds. You get the fast attack of an American preamp with the option of British warmth and color; just crank the gain a bit.

Sublime quality — inside and out.

With a tough-as-nails brushed black aluminum chassis, the Auteur Quad² is sturdily built for usability and lasting performance. Of course, it’s what’s on the inside that counts — and Auteur Quad² features robust Cinemag transformers and cherry-picked Nichicon and Vishay capacitors, ensuring premium sound quality, long life, and low noise.

Specifications

• Performance
  • Preamps/Microphone Inputs
    • Type: XLR Female/Balanced
    • Circuit topology: Solid state
    • Mic Gain: +10dB to +66dB
    • Line Gain: +6dB to +50dB
    • Phantom power: +48 VDC
    • Frequency response: -3dB
    • SNR: -92dB
    • Max Input Level: +18dBu
    • Max Output Level: +28dBu
    • Noise: 20khz unweighted
  • Preamp Instrument/Line Inputs
    • Type: ¼ TRS Female, balanced, mono
  • Line Outputs – XLR
    • Type: XLR Male, balanced
  • Line Outputs – TRS
    • Type: ¼ TRS, Balanced
• Technical
  • Preamp Type / Circuit topology: Solid State
  • Input gain range: +10 dB to +66 dB
  • Maximum input level: +19 dBu
  • Maximum output level: +29 dBu
  • Output type: XLR and TRS
  • Noise 20 kHz unweighted: -92 dBu
  • Distortion THD, IMD: Min THD+Noise @ +4 dBU – .003%
  • Frequency response -3dB: 20Hz to 20kHz -/+ .003 dBu
• Dimensions (WxHxL): 19 x 1.7 x 7 inch (483 x 44 x 178mm)
• Weight
  • Auteur Quad²: 8 lbs
  • Auteur Quad² + PSU: 9.2 lbs