PreSonus TubePre V2 Mono Tube Mic Preamplifier

Compact and affordable, the ever-popular TubePre V2 professional tube preamplifier employs our popular XMAX Class A solid-state preamp, followed in the signal path by a 12AX7 vacuum-tube stage. A dual-servo (no capacitors) gain stage lets you boost the signal to smoking hot levels without significantly increasing noise. Discrete components and high-voltage operation offer dynamic range and detail not found in other single-channel tube preamps in its class. Built tough enough for serious gigging, the TubePre V2 is a great choice for guitars and microphones alike.

We start with a great microphone preamplifier. The job of a microphone preamplifier in a digital mixer is to boost a microphone-level signal to line level before conversion to the digital domain. A good preamp boosts the level to almost 400 times that of the original signal, making the preamp one of the most important stages in an interface. A cheap, off-the-shelf, op-amp-type mic preamp delivers thin, noisy, harsh results. But with XMAX preamps, the sonic quality is limited only by the microphone you plug into it.

XMAX preamplifiers are built with three key elements:

• Class A. Class A circuits have no crossover distortion and deliver purer, clearer, and more musical results than the Class AB designs that are found in many preamps.
• High Voltage. The XMAX preamplifier runs on power rails of 30V. Most off-the-shelf, op-amp-based designs run on power rails of 10V to 18V. Higher-voltage power rails deliver more headroom, deeper lows, smoother highs, and a richer overall sound.
• Discrete components—not op-amps. We only use genuine transistors, resistors, and capacitors. Op-amps add noise, coloration, and harshness to a signal. Our discrete design delivers ultra-low noise and transparency.

The net result of the XMAX preamp design is high headroom, low noise, wide dynamic range, extended frequency response, and—most important—musicality and transparency.