Recording - July 2013 - 48

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

Millennia HV-37 Microphone and Instrument Preamplifier
A modern classic preamp design takes on a new form and new functions

The story of Millennia Media and its HV
series of microphone preamps dates back
twenty years, to a time when stand-alone mic
pres were not the norm. At the time, recordings were typically tracked through preamps
built into consoles, each with its own colored
sonic imprint due to transformers and complex signal paths. By contrast, Millennia
founder John LaGrou designed the HV series
of microphone preamps, initially intended for
his own use, to capture classical instruments
and symphonies as transparently and accurately as possible.
It did not take long before word about the
HV preamp had spread, and John was persuaded by a friend to send one out to a magazine, to be part of a mic preamp shootout
alongside eight other standalone units of the
day. That publication, as you can probably
guess, was Recording (at the time we were
still known as Home & Studio Recording),
and back in March of 1993 we were the first
magazine to get our hands on one of these
early HV models as part that issue’s Mic
Preamp Extravaganza. To put this in further
perspective, our own Editor Lorenz Rychner
had only just been hired as Associate Editor
the month before!
Fast-forward 20 years, and over 35,000
HV channels later (according to Millennia’s
estimate), the HV-3 preamp is known industrywide for its accurate, uncolored and crystalline sonic capture.
Over the last few years the pendulum has
started to swing away from vibey, colored
preamps and back to the “straight wire with
gain” variety. We have looked at many in this
category, from Grace Designs, AEA,
Earthworks, Moon and others. Interestingly,
Millennia’s HV-3 and John Hardy’s M-1 (also
featured in our 1993 shootout) were among
the first preamps of this kind on the market!
It’s also interesting that the HV series falls
into the “if it ain’t broke...” category and has
remained largely unaltered since its inception, until last year when the HV-35 marked
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RECORDING July 2013

the HV mic pre’s entry into the world of 500
Series modules, as reported in our October
2011 issue. It was with that design that Mr.
La Grou chose to add a handful of new features to his previously minimal design. We
will look at those features and additions
below as I introduce to you the HV series’
newest member, the HV-37.
A return to form
The HV-37 is a 2-channel version of the HV35, housed in a standard single-space 19"
rack. If you are thinking, “Wait, isn’t that the
HV-3C?”, the answer is “Yes and not really”.
Yes, internally the HV-37 makes use of two
channels of HV-Series mic preamps and all
that implies with regard to sound and specs.
As for technical differences, the HV-3C has
a 65 dB max output level (up to 75 dB with
a no-charge modification), a 3 dB difference
in its noise floor (–133 dB EIN vs the –130
dB on the HV-37), and it has maximum input
and output levels of +23 dBu and +32 dBu,
while the HV-37 offers +20 and +28.
Despite these differences I find no discernible difference in the sound when comparing my HV-3D side-by-side with the HV37; that was also the case in my HV-35
review, making all three units sonically interchangeable when used on the same application. The trick here is that the HV-37 can do
some tricks that the HV-3C can’t.
Dressed down but decked out
The HV-37 is visually more casual than its
older sibling and does away with the extra
thick ebony black faceplate in exchange for
a thinner and less imposing brushed matte
black version, similar to that of the HV-35. The
real difference is in the feature set. The older
HV-3 models were minimal affairs with phantom power, a large stepped gain switch (36
steps of 1.5 dB per step), boost buttons, and
an optional +130 V setting for use with DPA
(B&K) high-voltage mic designs. In contrast,
the new HV-37, like the HV-35, is quite

tricked out with modern enhancements.
Each matching channel starts with a gold
1
/4" instrument input followed by a small variable-gain knob (15–60 dB). The remaining
controls on the unit are backlit push buttons
which, in order, are:
~ a blue Instrument Input switch
~ an amber Highpass Filter button (–3
dB/octave, 80 Hz corner frequency)
~ a red Ribbon Mic boost button (+10 dB)
~ an amber Phantom Power button (+48V)
~ a red Polarity Flip button
~ a green 15 dB Pad button
Each channel is rounded out by a green
signal LED and a red Peak LED which glows
at +22 dB. The rear has matching XLR ins
and outs and a standard 3-prong AC socket.
A closer look
While many of the above items are selfexplanatory, a couple deserve a closer look.
The Ribbon Mic button was introduced on
the HV-35. It boost the unit’s gain up to an
impressive +75 dB for use with ribbon and
low-powered dynamic microphones—Shure
SM7, anyone? When engaged, it disables
phantom power, keeping some older fragile
ribbon mics safe from harm.
The Hi-Impedance input for use with guitar
and bass sounds really good! It’s solid, tight
and quick, great for clean pure DI’d bass
tracks, pickup-equipped acoustic guitars,
electric violin, and especially for capturing
pure direct electric guitar that will be reamped later.
A sound investment
You can see some pretty impressive specs
(both quoted by Millennia Media and verified by our friends at CRAS) in the sidebar to
this article. But how does the HV-37 sound?
In short: like a Millennia preamp!
Over the past twenty years, the Millennia
HV series preamps have been called clean,
crisp, pure, natural, real, invisible, transparent, and many other descriptives that all

Recording - July 2013

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