Black Lion Audio : Auteur MKII 500 Black Lion Audio

500 Series Mic Preamp with Ultra-high-speed Input Stage, Transformer-balanced Output, and DI Input

Fast and Beefy

The Black Lion Audio Auteur MKII 500 Series mic preamp circuitry combines an ultra-high-speed front end and a transformer-coupled output stage. The combination, which we've seen from Black Lion before, delivers lots of nuance and detail, nicely balanced with a beefy, vintage-flavored assertiveness that holds its own in a mix. The Auteur MKII 500 has 67dB of gain on tap, so you can feel free to use your favorite ribbon mics on quieter sources. A DI input is provided for direct injection of electric guitars, bass, keyboards, and the like. Phantom power, polarity reverse, and a 13dB pad complete the feature set. At Millionhead, we like the Black Lion Auteur MKII 500 a lot. It's versatile and sounds great — and it's a solid value. Put one or two of them in your 500 Series rack; we think you'll be impressed.

Excellent Value in a 500 Series Preamp

Since 2006, Black Lion Audio has helped musicians and engineers improve the sound of their equipment, and they've built a solid reputation for coaxing world-class sound out of modestly priced gear. As an outfit that cut its teeth doing acclaimed mods, Black Lion, unsurprisingly, produces innovative audio equipment of their own design that consistently outperforms its price range. The Auteur MKII 500 is, essentially, a single-channel 500 Series version of the company's desktop model — which is, itself, a second-generation iteration of its well-received predecessor. As such, the Auteur MKII 500 sports a revamped gain stage that delivers higher gain, lower noise and distortion, and a more extended frequency response than the original design. Drums sound round and punchy through the Auteur MKII 500. Vocals sit pretty with a silky sheen. Guitars soar like flaming phoenixes. No matter what the source, the Black Lion Auteur MKII 500 performs like a pro.

About Black Lion

Founded in Chicago in 2006, Black Lion Audio has made their mark on the audio industry by hot rodding audio equipment and upgrading the sound quality of popular music-production gear, elevating industry-standard products to new levels of sonic quality. Though they started off modding gear from other manufacturers, they've utilized their cumulative expertise to design their own line of boutique mic preamps and word clocks. BLA gear and modded gear can be found in studios from LA to New York to Nashville and heard on projects from artists like Maroon 5, Alison Krauss, Metallica, T-Pain, George Strait, MGMT, Beyonce, George Duke, Slayer, Erykah Badu, Rod Stewart, and more.

Features

• Single-space 500 Series module; requires compatible 500 series rack
• 1-channel preamp with ultra-high-speed input stage and Edcor output transformer
• Bandwidth (1kHz, 600Ω unbalanced source, unweighted): 10Hz–30kHz
• Gain range: +16dB to +67dB
• Phantom power
• Polarity reverse switch
• 13dB pad
• DI input (max input level: +18dBu)
• Hi-Z switch selects input source; engaged: front-panel DI jack; disengaged: rack XLR input