Presonus ADL600

PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS FROM PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

While I've always been a fan of Presonus for their excellent quality of product while remaining affordable--I've never thought of Presonus as a maker of "high-end" gear. That all changed with their professional class mic-pre, the ADL600! I'm going to cut right to the chase on this one.... I was so impressed the first time I heard the Presonus ADL600 that I bought one. I liked that one so much, I picked up a second ADL600! And well I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering getting yet a third ADL600! Yeah, you could say I love this thing and I'm confident that YOU WILL TOO! While other pres are simply made up of circuits, you can see by the picture below that inside this solid metal box is full of true analog bliss!

If you're searching for a clean-gain mic-pre with little coloration, then I'm sad to say that the Presonus ADL600 is about the last box you should ever consider. While the gain is clean, there is plenty of rich tone inside this box thanks to the (3) military grade vacuum tubes on each of the two channels. But tube-warmth doesn't have to mean dark as the typical myth is of tube mic-pres. The sound of the ADL600 is a warm and lush bottom-end while the highs are open and clear, semi-transparent even. The sound of the Presonus ADL600 can best be summed up as "CHARACTER". This was ever more so apparent when I first used the ADL600 as drum overheads with my Earthworks TC30's. The Earthworks microphones are known for distinct clarity with no coloration, a sound that captures the natural essence. What I heard was incredible stereo imaging on the cymbals with full, natural sustain. But at the same time, you could really hear the depth of the snare and transient responses of the toms. I had a problem--I bought the ADL600 for kick and snare so I have that natural tube compression with a fat, punchy sound. But after hearing the ADL600 on overheads, I couldn't go back--so that's when I bought a second Presonus ADL600 tube microphone pre-amplifier. Now when tracking drums in my personal home-studio, I use a pair of ADL600's---one for kick and snare, the other for my drum overheads.

Another way I am a huge fan in how the ADL600 handles tracking in my studio is Bass Guitar. While many bass players prefer the sound of their cabinet, I'm a firm believer that the bass sounds in the studio come from the bass going direct. This is where a great sounding front-end is important, but not one that radically changes the sound of the bass. In the case of the DI input on the front of the Presonus ADL600, tracking bass guitar direct sounds absolutely phenominal! What you get is a rich bottom end that's not dark or over-exaggerated, the perfect bass tone....well providing you have a good bass. But the DI works perfectly fine on Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Keyboards, or any direct instrument. Below are some audio examples of Direct Recording through the Presonus ADL600's DI input.
Bass Guitar (24-bit/44.1kHz) Electric Guitar #1 (24-bit/44.1kHz) Electric Guitar #2 (24-bit/44.1khz)
Ibanez 5-string bass (model not known) direct into DI of Presonus ADL600 mic-pre Les Paul Custom through Marshall TSL602 Combo Amp miked with Royer R121 ribbon microphone and Presonus ADL600 mic-pre Les Paul Custom through Fender Super-Sonic 112 miked with Royer R121 ribbon microphone and Presonus ADL600 mic-pre

The feature set of the ADL600 is quite extensive. Each channel provides separate +48volt Phantom Power, Polarity Reverse, a -20dB Pad, High Pass Filter, and a -6dB pad on the VU meter. The selection switches are built solid, this feels like a professional piece of outboard gear should feel. The Microphone Input selection features impedance switching which is great feature for driving the load on your mics to produce a unique sound. The settings are 1500, 900, 300 and 150 ohms while the High Pass Filter provides a 40Hz, 80Hz or 120Hz roll-off. The stepped-gain Attenuator provides up to 65dB of gain while the variable Attenuator provides another +/-10dB of adjustable gain. Why stepped-gain? The volume pots that signal passes through can be better isolated and controlled for optimum audio fidelity with fixed positions as opposed to continually variable gain steps. By having stepped gain with a variable adjustment, you get the best signal to noise gain level out of the preamp in relation to gain-stage and noise. As far as inputs and output, each channel as a 1/4" Instrument Input on the front while the backside houses an XLR balanced output and both an XLR balanced line input and the XLR Mic In.

Okay, so by now hopefully you get the point that the Presonus ADL600 is a professional quality microphone pre-amplifier capable providing a top-quality sound. But another area many never think to use this kind of product is on the master mix-bus. Yes, we think of compressors but a dual-channel tube mic-pre?? ABSOLUTELY!! This is what I feel is one of the best features of the Presonus ADL600 is, again, the clean sound on the top-end with a lush bottom-end. When I'm not tracking, I use the line inputs of one of my ADL600 units as a stereo send from the 192I/O on my ProTools HD3 Accel DAW to get just a little more of that analog warmth. By hitting and saturating the tubes, I get that natural compression that only tubes can provide--without over-compressing issues that can arise with the use of a dedicated stereo bus compressor. Because of the stepped-gain attenuator, I always get the exact level needed when switching between tracking and mixdown. Because the ADL600 has LED meters in addition to the VU meters, I get a more accurate display for mixing purposes.

Check out the original ADL600 prototype picture below. This was used to record Sonny Landreth's live CD, "Grant Street".

If you'd like to know more about the Presonus ADL600 tube mic-pre and why I like it so much, don't hesitate to email or call Brad Lyons toll-free at (800)222-4700 x1362. I personally own (2) Presonus ADL600 tube microphone pre-amplifiers and I feel SO strongly in this box that if you purchase one through me and are not 100% satisfied, I will return it for a complete refund.