Four channels of analog bliss, with color to spare.
$1,799.00
This past summer, after the NAMM show in Nashville, we had the honor of booking some time at the legendary Blackbird Studios in town. There, we unveiled the brand new preamp from Useful Arts Audio, the Swarm 4 channel mic preamp and DI. We put the Swarm up against two legendary preamps, and we were amazed with the results. Hear them for yourself!
First came the Hornet — an affordable, handheld preamp/DI that sounds as good or better than any of the $1000+ solid state preamps on the market. Discrete transistors and transformers on both the input and output – combined with the Useful Arts exclusive color control – give the Hornet a positively huge sound.
Now, make room for the SwarmTM – a single rackspace unit, hand-built in the USA, with four independent Mic/DI channels that takes the Hornet to a whole new level. Sonically, the Swarm delivers the same huge sound as the Hornet, but its rackmount form factor makes room for extra features including a high pass filter, 22dB pad and phase control. Like the Hornet, the Swarm features discrete gain cell topology, a custom Cinemag input transformer, and a JFET DI. Dial in the Color control, and the personality of your microphone or instrument is enhanced and thickened without the need for compression or EQ.
Preamps in interfaces are everywhere, but they don’t have much of a sound. The Swarm makes your music sound like a record even before it hits the interface. If you’re looking for a versatile front end that can handle a whole drum kit, or a combination of microphones, bass, guitar and keyboards, it’s here. And it’s affordable.
Useful Arts was born out of an aesthetic quest for vibrant, living sound straight from the source -- not merely a technically clean sound that needs enhancement after enhancement to speak in a mix. Back in the days when the U-47 was a commonly-used "standard" microphone, there were no "standard" preamps -- studios used hand-built consoles with custom tube preamps designed to capture the personality of the recording. In the same way, our hand-built products are designed to enhance dynamics and perceived tonal richness, not simply to make a small signal electrically bigger. We invite you to hear for yourself the difference that philosophy makes.
We hand-build Class A tube gear in the United States for recording professionals and musicians. We don't build "clones" of classic gear -- our designs are created from the ground up and thoroughly optimized to achieve specific sonic goals. We use circuit topologies inspired by some of the most treasured gear made during the 40s, 50s and 60s, coupled with modern design techniques to ensure reliability, compatability and feature sets that meet the needs of the digital age. This approach requires expensive, bulky and heavy components, but as a small company we don't have to cut corners to meet the rigid cost constraints of mass-produced brands. (We don't make washing machines or cell phones, nor do we report to those who do). Our engineering mandate is to create the best-sounding equipment possible, not to figure out how to get acceptable sound at a retail price point. The result is gear that captures the sound of microphones and instruments not only with clarity, but with beauty.
There is plenty of usable gear out there that will give reliable performance with amazing specs. So who needs yet another option? People who want their recordings and live performances to sound intimate and powerful without the need for further processing. Plugins can do incredible things, but they can't create raw data that isn't there. Our devices ensure that every nuance and every transient is translated in a way that excites the ear.
That's the art of sound.
Preamp Type: Solid State
Number of Channels: 4
Mic Input: XLR (4)
Line Output: XLR (4)
Hi-Z Input: TRS (4)
Phantom Power: Yes
Pads: -22dB
Polarity Switch: Yes
EQ: Highpass Filter
Rack Spaces: 1U
© Sound Pure LLC 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Rating: 4.8
919-682-5552