Recording - August 2018 - 24

REVISITED

Daking
Mic Pre II
Double your pleasure with this 2-channel
rack version of the Mic Pre One
By Paul Vnuk Jr.

Geoff Daking is an audio engineer, the drummer
for the psychedelic band Blues Magoos, and a
gear designer. Since 1993, his company Daking
Audio has been building preamps, compressors,
equalizers, and even full-scale recording desks.
Back in the early 90s there was only a handful
of companies making outboard rack gear, putting
Daking at the beginning of the outboard-based,
console-less studio trend.
In April 2010 we looked at Geoff's latest outboard preamp,
the Daking Mic Pre One. The One is a single-channel pre in
a large DI-sized enclosure rather than a typical 19" rack unit.
Thanks to its solid build and sound, the Mic Pre One quickly
became a favorite preamp for beginners in bedroom studios,
at live tracking gigs, and in big-budget studios, and at a
reasonable $650 street price it was easy to see why.
Daking Audio now bring us The Mic Pre II, with two channels
of Mic Pre One in a 1U 19" rack. Every Mic Pre One feature is
included, and there are no sonic differences between the One
and the II. Note that the older Daking Mic Pre IV 4-channel
preamp is a different beast, with transformer input and output;
the One and II use transformer input only, but offer more
detailed metering and a highpass filter (see below).
The Mic Pre II and all of Daking Audio's 1U rack boxes-the Mic
Pre IV, The Daking Mic Pre / EQ and the Daking FET II Compressor-
have been refaced with an updated look, modern and classy. The
green painted faceplates have been replaced with screened plastic
faces held in place by brushed silver endcaps and rack ears.

The new look of Daking

Each channel is laid out identically. A pair of large silver knurled
knobs on smooth continuously variable pots control the variable high-

24

RECORDING August 2018

pass filter (10-200 Hz, 12 dB/octave) and input gain (24-70 dB).
These are followed by a front-panel 1/4" TS instrument input. Next
are four bright backlit push buttons for input selection (mic or 1/4"),
phase, 20 dB pad, and +48V phantom power. Above these buttons
is a 20 segment VU and peak hold LED meter.
Around the back are balanced XLR ins and outs for each channel
and a 1/4" TRS balanced output as well. Inside, each channel
features a Jensen input transformer, Class A amplification, and
a transformerless output amplifier stage of Geoff's own design.
As with the One, the II is simple, easy to use, and sounds great.
That said, it has three features that lets it hold its own against
much costlier preamps. First, there's the finely variable highpass
filter, vs. one or two frequencies on most other pres. Second is
the detailed metering, which beats out many units with simple
signal-present/clip lights. Third and most important is its sound...

Sound and use

The following is a quote from my Mic Pre One review; my
thoughts have not changed as it relates to the Mic Pre II.
"It is smooth, clean and present; being neutral, it stays out of
the way of the microphone and the performance. It's not dark,
woolly or vibey, nor is it of the über-hi-fi variety... It does not
have a sound per se, and essentially, that is its sound. Think
of the mic pres found on quality high-end mixing consoles and
you would be spot on... not so much 'vintage' as 'classic'."
Yep, I still stand by the description. What gives the Mic Pre
II its balance of classic console sound and transparency is how
the sound is gently saturated by the input transformer, but retains
great open clarity thanks to the transformerless output stage.
It's been awhile since I used this preamp, and I was reminded
of how amazing the Mic Pre One and II are for capturing DI
bass. While the instrument input bypasses the input transformer,
the circuit still does a great job of capturing the honest realism
of the bass. It has nice clear and dimensional fullness that is
easy to build on with further EQ or compression to taste. I
really like how well the sound of the strings is defined. It's a
fantastic direct input, equally well-suited to guitars and synths.

Conclusion

This preamp is a real winner all around, just like its little brother.
It is great-sounding, simple to use, and has the perfect feature set
for crafting and capturing great tones in any studio.

PRICE: $1099
MORE FROM: Daking, daking.com; dist. by
TransAudio Group, www.transaudiogroup.com.
http://www.daking.com http://www.transaudiogroup.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - August 2018
