Recording - March 2018 - 36

583s mk2

LaChapell
Audio
583s mk2 Tube
Preamp and
500TDI Tube DI
These 500 Series modules feature
sweet tube tone in a small format
REVIEWS BY PAUL VNUK JR.

I

n our April 2009 issue, Justin Peacock reviewed the 583s
preamp, designed by Scott LaChapell of aptly named
LaChapell Audio. Justin was very impressed with its sonic
character; he described it as a "big, wide and clear sound"
that also had "fantastic depth and width," even "Mojo".
At the time, the 2-space 583s was the very first tube mic
preamp available for API's 500 Series. Its biggest innovation was LaChapell's DC-to-DC converter, which
converted the API enclosure's supplied 16V power to AC, stepped it
up to 250V, and converted it back
to DC, making a high-voltage tube
preamp design possible in a 500
Series module. Hot stuff... literally!
Fast forward to 2018, and
Scott has updated the 583s to a
mk2 preamp design. It still makes
use of LaChapell's signature stepup converter, but now fits into a
single-space 500 Series module.
The same is true of its brand-new
sibling, the 500TDI Tube Direct
Box. I had a chance to work with
them both for several weeks, and
was easily as impressed as Justin
was!

36

RECORDING March 2018

Like the first-generation 583s, the new preamp's origins
can be traced back to the LaChapell 992EG, a 3U 19"
dual-channel tube mic preamp.
The look and design of the 583s mk2 features the same brick-red
finish and "brick house" build as the rest of the line, with a pair of
large semi-stepped control knobs for input/tube drive and output.
There are a trio of toggle controls for 48V phantom power, -20 dB
pad, and phase invert. The unit is rounded out by a 1/4" Hi-Z input
and a green 250V LED indicator. The unit is front-vented and also
offers a small black pull handle. This is the exact same feature set
found on the original 583s, although that unit had a switch for the
1
/4" instrument input while the mk2 is auto-switching.
Internally the 583S mk2 makes use of a Cinemag CMMI-10
input transformer as well as both Burr-Brown and THAT Corporation balanced line drivers. It has a Jensen JT-115K 80%-nickel
alloy output transformer and uses a full-size 12AX7 tube.
Some specs: Internal gain 0 to >70 dB, THD+N 0.25% (variable), frequency response 12 Hz-70 kHz, maximum output
+26 dBu, Typical EIN -121 dBu, and input impedance 1.5 kΩ.
In non-tech speak, this translates to an exceptionally solid preamp that can cleanly handle any and all microphones-from
typical condensers to low-powered fare like old-school ribbon
mics and low-output dynamics like the Shure SM7.

In use

I put the 583s mk2 to use the day it arrived, tracking an
acoustic guitar and vocal session with the new Manley Reference
Silver tube mic (reviewed February 2018). I know some readers
occasionally fear the double whammy of tube mic into tube
preamp yielding too much tube color. That's not a concern
here, as part of the magic of the 583s mk2 is its broad throw
of tonal adjustment. It's all derived from how hard you push the
input into the output.
At low input settings and high output settings,
this preamp is ultra-clean, and thanks to its high
output and headroom, offers little color short of
some opulent top-end fairy dust. If you are using
a high-output condenser, the pad switch sounds
like it's pre-input; it can drop the signal further,
adding to the clean headroom of the unit.

...do you like it dirty?

However, if you want things thickened, this box
can drive with the best of them... from a sweet,
feathery-smooth overdrive, all the way up to fullon buzzy distortion. This isn't a pedal-style
distortion, but a controlled, circuit-driven console
channel distortion.
In between the clean and dirty are many
shades of added weight and thickness that give
the unit a classic tube console sound. I will say
it's more of a German Telefunken-style tube console tone, vs. an American Bill Putnam 610-style
sound. To my ears it's a solid even-natured tone;
in other words, nothing sounds too forced or
pushed-it just sounds classy and classic.



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - March 2018

Contents
Recording - March 2018 - Intro
Recording - March 2018 - Cover1
Recording - March 2018 - Cover2
Recording - March 2018 - 1
Recording - March 2018 - 2
Recording - March 2018 - 3
Recording - March 2018 - 4
Recording - March 2018 - 5
Recording - March 2018 - Contents
Recording - March 2018 - 7
Recording - March 2018 - 8
Recording - March 2018 - 9
Recording - March 2018 - 10
Recording - March 2018 - 11
Recording - March 2018 - 12
Recording - March 2018 - 13
Recording - March 2018 - 14
Recording - March 2018 - 15
Recording - March 2018 - 16
Recording - March 2018 - 17
Recording - March 2018 - 18
Recording - March 2018 - 19
Recording - March 2018 - 20
Recording - March 2018 - 21
Recording - March 2018 - 22
Recording - March 2018 - 23
Recording - March 2018 - 24
Recording - March 2018 - 25
Recording - March 2018 - 26
Recording - March 2018 - 27
Recording - March 2018 - 28
Recording - March 2018 - 29
Recording - March 2018 - 30
Recording - March 2018 - 31
Recording - March 2018 - 32
Recording - March 2018 - 33
Recording - March 2018 - 34
Recording - March 2018 - 35
Recording - March 2018 - 36
Recording - March 2018 - 37
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Recording - March 2018 - Cover3
Recording - March 2018 - Cover4
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