Recording - February 2020 - 43
on tap. For this reason, the Snow Petrel
is quite surprising in how clean, pristine,
and hi-fi it sounds-it has gain for days
and days. It gives low powered ribbons
like the Coles 4038, Royer 121 and low
output dynamics like the Shure SM7B tons
of powerful, crystal clear level. It's the first
preamp in a long time where I was able
to use the SM7B for spoken word and still
have headroom in the preamp to spare.
Thanks to its well-designed three-tiered
gain structure and simple EQ, the Snow
Petrel makes it easy to dial in the right
level and tone for your tracks. If you like
it rough around the edges, you can also
push the input into the output for classic
tube harmonic drive.
Conclusion
The Thermionic Culture Snow Petrel really
is a sonic stunner! About the only thing I
can grumble about is the price, but tube
quality and hardware of this caliber always
comes with a healthy price tag. If you're a
ribbon or dynamic microphone aficionado
and love the sound of a great tube front
end, this box is worth a serious look.
PS: You may have noticed that there
is no 1/4" instrument input on the Snow
Petrel. Keep reading...
Thermionic Culture 'The Robin'
DI Box
The bird references just keep flying, this
time with the new 'The Robin' DI Box from
Thermionic Culture. The Robin DI is fairly standard 3 7/8 x 2 7/8 x 1 5/8" direct box dressed
in robin red with a 1/4" DI input, a 1/4" amplifier out and a male XLR balanced out.
While being a Thermionic product, The
Robin is not a tube DI. It does make use of
a high-spec E.A. Sowter transformer that
can be switched in and out of the circuit.
It also features a ground lift switch, both
of which are protected by switch guards.
Although The Robin it will work as a standard DI with any preamp or mixing desk
input, it's well matched with The Snow Petrel, especially where level and impedances are concerned. Thermionic warns that
it does not like phantom power. I enjoyed
using The Robin with The Snow Petrel and
some of my other microphone preamps. I
also quite enjoyed the option to engage
or disengage the transformer for the sonic
changes that transformer loading brings.
KU 5A
On many preamps, the instrument input is often a simplified circuit that runs
separate from the preamp path or routes
around the EQs, filters, and added gain
stages. The Robin allows you to take full
advantage of all the tone shaping and
features that your preamp offers.
A few final technical notes from The
Robin manual: it has a 10:1 ratio and
100x the input impedance of the mic
amp. Thermionic explains: "A mic amp
with 1kΩ input impedance means that
the transformer will present a 100kΩ
load to the instrument."
Price: $3299 (Snow Petrel),
$299 (Robin DI Box)
More from: thermionicculture.com
http://www.thermionicculture.com
http://www.aearibbonmics.com/products/ku5a
Recording - February 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - February 2020
Fade In
Fast Forward
Telefunken: Alchemy Microphone Series TF47 and TF51
Strymon: Iridium Amp & IR Cab
Robbie Robertson, Then...
Cranborne Audio: 500ADAT
Reviewed & Revisited: Universal Audio Apollo X4 and Apollo Twin X
Warm Audio: TB12 'Black' Tone Shaping Mic Pre
Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: Vocal Tracking
Earthworks: SR314 Handheld Vocal Condenser Microphone
Thermionic Culture: The Snow Petrel Extra Gain 2-Channel Mic Amp / The Robin DI Box
Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Monitoring for Vocal Recording
Roswell Pro Audio: Mini K87 Condenser Microphone
Plugin Outlet: Harrison AVA Plugins
Reviewed & Revisited: Steinberg WaveLab Pro 10
Plugin Outlet: Apogee Clearmountain’s Domain
Readers' Tracks
Fade Out
Recording - February 2020 - Intro
Recording - February 2020 - Cover1
Recording - February 2020 - Cover2
Recording - February 2020 - 1
Recording - February 2020 - 2
Recording - February 2020 - 3
Recording - February 2020 - Fade In
Recording - February 2020 - 5
Recording - February 2020 - 6
Recording - February 2020 - 7
Recording - February 2020 - Fast Forward
Recording - February 2020 - 9
Recording - February 2020 - Telefunken: Alchemy Microphone Series TF47 and TF51
Recording - February 2020 - 11
Recording - February 2020 - 12
Recording - February 2020 - 13
Recording - February 2020 - Strymon: Iridium Amp & IR Cab
Recording - February 2020 - 15
Recording - February 2020 - 16
Recording - February 2020 - 17
Recording - February 2020 - Robbie Robertson, Then...
Recording - February 2020 - 19
Recording - February 2020 - 20
Recording - February 2020 - 21
Recording - February 2020 - 22
Recording - February 2020 - 23
Recording - February 2020 - 24
Recording - February 2020 - 25
Recording - February 2020 - 26
Recording - February 2020 - 27
Recording - February 2020 - Cranborne Audio: 500ADAT
Recording - February 2020 - 29
Recording - February 2020 - Reviewed & Revisited: Universal Audio Apollo X4 and Apollo Twin X
Recording - February 2020 - 31
Recording - February 2020 - Warm Audio: TB12 'Black' Tone Shaping Mic Pre
Recording - February 2020 - 33
Recording - February 2020 - Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: Vocal Tracking
Recording - February 2020 - 35
Recording - February 2020 - 36
Recording - February 2020 - 37
Recording - February 2020 - 38
Recording - February 2020 - 39
Recording - February 2020 - Earthworks: SR314 Handheld Vocal Condenser Microphone
Recording - February 2020 - 41
Recording - February 2020 - Thermionic Culture: The Snow Petrel Extra Gain 2-Channel Mic Amp / The Robin DI Box
Recording - February 2020 - 43
Recording - February 2020 - Inside the Box with Joe Albano: Monitoring for Vocal Recording
Recording - February 2020 - 45
Recording - February 2020 - 46
Recording - February 2020 - 47
Recording - February 2020 - Roswell Pro Audio: Mini K87 Condenser Microphone
Recording - February 2020 - 49
Recording - February 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Harrison AVA Plugins
Recording - February 2020 - 51
Recording - February 2020 - 52
Recording - February 2020 - 53
Recording - February 2020 - Reviewed & Revisited: Steinberg WaveLab Pro 10
Recording - February 2020 - 55
Recording - February 2020 - 56
Recording - February 2020 - 57
Recording - February 2020 - Plugin Outlet: Apogee Clearmountain’s Domain
Recording - February 2020 - 59
Recording - February 2020 - 60
Recording - February 2020 - 61
Recording - February 2020 - Readers' Tracks
Recording - February 2020 - 63
Recording - February 2020 - 64
Recording - February 2020 - 65
Recording - February 2020 - 66
Recording - February 2020 - 67
Recording - February 2020 - 68
Recording - February 2020 - 69
Recording - February 2020 - 70
Recording - February 2020 - 71
Recording - February 2020 - Fade Out
Recording - February 2020 - Cover3
Recording - February 2020 - Cover4
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