Pocopson, PA (November 17, 2010)–D.W. Fearn has introduced its VT-12 vacuum-tube 70 dB microphone preamplifier, designed to accommodate the low output level of ribbon and dynamic microphones.
It can also be used with condenser microphones (the VT-1 and VT-2 preamplifiers are optimized for condensers). The VT-12 is essentially a VT-2 with higher gain. Instead of 6072A tubes, it uses ECC81/12AT7 tubes for 70 dB of gain (the VT- 2 has 53 dB of gain). The same custom Jensen transformers and the same basic circuit as the VT-2 are used, optimized for higher gain.
Since many engineers are concerned about possible damage to ribbon mics if phantom power is accidently applied, there is a rear-panel switch that disables all possibility of applying phantom power. The front-panel “+48” switches are inoperative in this mode, and a dual red/green indicator displays the status (green for disabled phantom power, off when phantom power is available but not turned on; and red when phantom power is turned on).
D.W. Fearn
www.dwfearn.com
