Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), a 37-station network based in St. Paul, Minn., has adopted Great River’s (AES booth #1136) MP-2NV as their “unofficial, official” mic preamp.
MPR switched broadcast consoles about five years ago, but somehow “it lost the sonic solidness,” says Scott Liebers, one of MPR’s broadcast recording engineers. In an effort to bring it back, they began to look for a way to replace the mic pre’s in the console, and decided on the MP-2NV from Minnesota-based Great River Electronics.
That both production and talent noticed the addition of size and authority gained by using the Class-A, discrete mic pre’s solidified the decision. “On Air hosts noticed an immediate difference,” says Liebers.
Great River MP-2NV preamps were added to all four of MPR’s production rooms for consistency. Next, MP-2NV mic pre’s and EQ-2NV equalizers were added to their classical location recording units for music broadcasts, including those for the Minnesota Orchestra.
MPR is now expanding their facilities to more than twice their current capacity with the addition of four new “on air” studios and the acquisition of an indie rock radio station, which will be used to broadcast that genre as well as being employed for in studio performances.
The new facility, which features an API Legacy and a Neve V Series desk, will also feature a rack containing more Great River MP-2NV preamps, EQ-2NV equalizers as well as a Crane Song STC-8 and Empirical Labs EL-8 compressors. When not in use for broadcast production purposes, this space also operates as a commercial recording studio.
Visit www.greatriverelectronics.com and www.minnesotapublicradio.org for more information.
