Recording - July 2018 - 50

Big Bear
Audio
MP1, MP1+, and
Colour Modules

This 500 Series preamp features
customizable tone via (literal) plug-ins
REVIEW BY PAUL VNUK JR.

ig Bear Audio is a London-based audio
manufacturer. All of its products are
designed and built completely on British
shores using British-made materials. The first two
Big Bear products to hit the market are a pair of
microphone preamps: The MP1 and MP1+.

Both are modules designed for use in an API 500 Series-style
enclosure. Each one is a discrete electronically-balanced preamp; the MP1 is a transformerless design while the MP1+
adds a transformer to its output stage.
Both models also have an additional trick under the hood-
they offer a pop-in slot for the addition of a DIYRE format
Colour Module. The DIYRE website (diyrecordingequipment.
com) states that Colour Modules are designed to be "real
analog plug-ins," and we had a chance to try three of them
inside the MP1 and MP1+... but first, let's learn about the
preamps themselves.

The beautiful blue alien glow

There is nothing vintage or even basement-boutique when it
comes to the look and styling of the Big Bear preamps. Both MP1
models use the same faceplate and controls; the only way to tell
them apart is to look inside or twist a knob. Each one features a
modern contoured thick faceplate that is coated in a rubberized
textured midnight blue with matching knobs and buttons. It is such
a deep rich blue that when powered off, the buttons and controls
all but disappear. Luckily the unit is internally backlit-when
powered on, the controls of the preamps glow a neon light blue.
Other than the company and preamp names as well as the
number 48, both units' level knobs and four push buttons look like
they are scrawled in an ancient alien dialect. Thanks to the manual,
we know the push buttons are (clockwise from the bottom right):
48v phantom power with LED indicator, input select for the rear
balanced XLR mic input or the front unbalanced 1/4" instrument
input, Colour module bypass, and phase/polarity invert.
Levels are controlled by the top two knobs and displayed
on a 5-stage LED level meter. Both units offer a gain range
of 60 dB; the input gain control on the MP1 is a fully
variable rotary control from 6-66 dB, while on the MP1+ it's
a high-quality stepped ELMA attenuator with a range from
0-60 dB. The smaller variable output control is attenuation
only, from -20 dB to 0 dB.

Inside the blue

The inside of each preamp is clean
and well laid out, with audio-grade
capacitors in the chain. The output of
the MP1 is a Burr-Brown op amp,
while the MP1+ uses a Lundahl
LL1517 transformer.
The stated mic/line input
impedance is 4.8 kΩ for both
units, while the instrument input
impedance is "almost infinite."
THD is 0.001% for mic/line and
0.04% for the instrument input.
Frequency response is 10 Hz-80
kHz (±0.1 dB) @0dB gain on the MP1
and 20 Hz-50 kHz (±0.5 dB) @0dB
gain on the MP1+. Both have Equivalent
Input noise better than -128 dB and a
signal-to-noise of better than -95 dB and -100 dB respectively.
50

RECORDING July 2018

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