The front panel is dominated by two black XLR connectors for the mic input and balanced line output. A small Jensen transformer sits next to the DI input socket, while the front panel supports all the connectors and controls. The chunky output transformer and slightly smaller microphone input transformer are bolted to the case floor on the right-hand side, while the BA283-based circuit board is supported horizontally in an edge connector over the left-hand side. Internally, the device is put together well, with a torroidal mains transformer mounted on the back panel, the PSU circuit board affixed to a vertical steel dividing plate, and the audio circuitry arranged in the front half of the case. A sturdy metal carrying-handle adorns the top of the battleship-grey painted case, and the rear panel carries the usual IEC mains inlet (with integral voltage selector and fuse holder), plus a mains on-off rocker switch. It measures roughly 136 x 115 x 305mm (5.3 x 4 x 11 inches) (WxHxD), including handles and knobs, and it weighs about 3.3kg (7.4lbs). The 1073 DMP is a neat 'brick' of a single-channel mic pre. The purists might not like the idea, but the approach appears to work perfectly well and BAE have a lot of products out there now employing this revised design, and some very satisfied customers. That second gain stage is absent from the 1073 DMP (as it was from the 1073 MPF) and instead the BA283 circuitry's gain structure has been cleverly modified to provide up to +70dB of gain all on its own. However, the actual mic-preamp gain stage employed here is slightly different from the original Neve 1073 module design, since that employed an additional gain stage (the BA284), which did much of the work for the +50 to +80dB end of the gain-range switch.
The 1073 DMP uses the same Carnhill (St Ives) input and output transformers as were specified for the original Neve 1073 console modules, for example, and the same discrete-transistor BA283 class-A preamp and output-stage circuitry. In fact, it is a 'desktop' - or portable - version of the 1073MP: the 1073MPF without the high-pass filter option, and with an internal power supply.īasically, we're talking here about an authentic 1073-style mic preamp packaged in a modern, convenient and attractive way, and retaining all the distinctive sonic character of the original 1073 circuitry. I reviewed BAE's 1073 MPF preamp back in SOS April 2010, and the 1073 DMP is another variation on the same basic theme. But does it deliver the familiar Neve sound?īAE (formerly Brent Averill Enterprises, and now British Audio Engineering) are a Californian company who specialise in manufacturing preamps based very closely on - and, in some cases, that are extremely accurate replicas of - the classic Neve 1073 microphone preamp and related products. BAE's latest take on the classic Neve 1073 preamp design is presented in a sturdy, portable format.
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