Quickie questions please

[kaaawa2000]

Howzit - first post here.

I've made a simple passive mixer that needs some make up gain, about 16 dB.

I was looking at the Quickie.

I have a few questions:

1. is it real quiet?

2. is it stereo?

3. will it supply 16 dB gain?

4. can it easily be powered off of an ac supply?  Are wall wart adapters out of the question and would something like this K-101A power supply work?
http://www.tubesandmore.com/
thanks!

 

[Paul Joppa]

Hi, and welcome!

1. is it real quiet? -- Yes, except for microphonics if you tap or shake it. Some individual tubes are more sensitive than others.

2. is it stereo? -- Yes it is

3. will it supply 16 dB gain? -- No. In stock form, about 7dB; with the current source load or a choke load, maybe 13dB.

4. can it easily be powered off of an ac supply? -- No, it needs three independent supplies, two at 1.5v and one at 36v. I believe the supplies of the K-101A are not independent (they have a common ground), and I expect the "C" supply would not handle the necessary 100mA of current either.

One of the reasons this preamp is quiet is that it is not connected to the AC power and has no power line noise and no grounding issues. Note that a set of batteries lasts about 200 hours, and if you buy in bulk at Costco or similar you can get several sets for the price of the K-101A.

What signal level are you mixing? If you are at line level, the Foreplay (which normally has 10dB gain) can easily be configured for 20dB gain.

 

[kaaawa2000]

Thanks Paul for the responses, I appreciate it.

What this would be used for is:
I use Cubase on a Mac G4 with an M-Audio Delta 1010LT (cringe) card that has unbalanced outputs.  They go to a passive sum box that has effects sends and panning and then to a T.C.Electronics Finalizer.  The passive sum box creates the need for some makeup gain.  I would ultimately use a nice mic pre for that, and I have a Jensen Twin Servo but I'd have to repatch that and that's a pain.  Right now I'm using a Presonus BlueTube for make up gain and it sounds like what you'd think!

Probably the Foreplay unit is out of my range.  Not even that really, it's just that if I were to spend that much I'd probably put that towards getting a Seventh Circle Audio N72 Neve clone as that would have other uses.  Also, I've been looking at the Yaqin preamps for about $200.

Unfortunately the economy has me thinking in directions I wouldn't have 10 years ago, I'm sure many readers will be able to relate to that!