Recording - October 2011 - 26

B Y M I K E M E T L AY

Grace Design m103
The famed Grace preamp adds some very musical extras
Grace Design’s preamps, headphone moment), and a 12 dB/octave highpass Balanced Main Out (TRS) and Unbalanced Mic Pre Out and Unbalanced Main Out amplifiers, and converters have been a filter with a 75 Hz corner frequency. staple of well-equipped studios for many The eq section is next. The Low and (TS). The Link In jack (with Link/Sidechain years. While the company’s earliest High bands at left and right each have a switch) is a 1/4" TRS that takes a TS plug designs were large and upscale multi- Gain control (±12 dB, detented at 0), a for sidechain use or a TRS for stereo linked channel units, readers in small studios Frequency control (20–750 Hz for the operation. The m103 takes a standard IEC rejoiced at the release of the Model 101, Low, 3–20 kHz for the High), and a peak- power cable for its internal power supply. The m103 can operate as an integrata very affordable single-channel preamp ing/shelf switch. The Mid has ±12 dB with all of the company’s well-respected Gain (detented at 0), Frequency control ed channel strip or as two separate sonic signature intact. (500 Hz to 4 kHz), and Q control (0.5 to devices: a mic preamp that’s equivalent The Model 101 has been updated as 5). There’s a Peak LED above the Eq In to the m101, and a line-level eq/comthe m101 half-rack preamp (reviewed switch, and a switch to control whether pressor with reversible signal order. For April 2009), and released as a 500- the eq comes before or after the com- the latter operating mode, plugging into either of the Mic Pre Outs severs the conSeries module, the m501 (reviewed July pressor in the signal chain. nection between the preamp 2010). Now it’s time for a handsand the rest of the unit, effecon trial of the new m103, a 1U tively turning it into two boxes rack channel strip that combines There’s a special magic about with separate I/O. the m101 preamp with a 3-band the idea of getting a really good eq and an optical compressor. Generalities channel strip to supplement what’s Outside and in The eq is uncomplicated but in your console or audio interface. very musical; it gives you the The m103, like all Grace prodsort of control you’d have on a ucts, sports a solidly-machined typical mid-level console in the metal faceplate, silky-smooth pots and positive stepped controls with The compressor offers controls for old analog days. At its highest Q setting rubber O-rings for a firm grip, front-panel Threshold (+15 dB to –15 dB), Attack of 5, the Mid is tight but not what I’d call switches controlling gold-contact relays in (3–200 msec), Release (30 msec–3 sec- “surgical”; it lets you find and notch the audio path, clearly-labeled meters onds), and Ratio (1:1 to 12:1), with a problem frequencies with manageable and legends with multicolored LEDs for Compressor In switch and two 10-step but not negligible effect on surrounding virtually every function, and rear-panel LED meters, one for Gain Reduction (1–10 frequencies, always remaining very jacks of the same high quality. A class act dB from right to left) and one for Output musical to my ears. Still, I found the Mid all around. VU (–20 to +3 dB VU, where 0 dB VU is eq much more useful at lower Q settings, The front panel follows the signal path referenced to +4 dBU). Finally there’s a with the Mids providing a gentle and from left to right. There’s a Hi-Z instrument switch to activate Linking or Sidechaining, very nice-sounding bump or scoop to a input jack that switches out the rear-panel a large Output Trim control (±10 dB), and variety of sources. Maybe I’m weird [“We-l-l-l...” says our Mic input, a stepped Input Gain knob (10 the power switch. to 65 dB in 5 dB steps), and switches for The rear panel has XLR jacks for Mic Editor], but I feel the lion’s share of the Mic vs. Line input, +48V phantom power, Input, Mic Pre Output, Line Input, and power and beauty in the m103’s eq, Ribbon mode (more about that in a Main Output, as well as 1/4" jacks for especially for the novice, will be found at
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RECORDING OCTOBER 2011

Recording - October 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - October 2011