The Black Lion Audio Auteur Quad is the four channel version rack mount of the ever popular Auteur MK2 preamp. The Auteur preamp has become a studio staple over the last decade and is know for its fast, transparent IC based front end while also providing a fat, colorful back end via edcor transformers. This mixture of vintage and modern design approaches has led the Auteur to be known as the “Swiss army knife of preamps” that sounds great on everything. It especially shines on sources that require detail but also benefit from some thickness such as drums or vocals. Some of the major additions to the Quad over the 2 channel half rack unit would be the all new meters on all four channels as well as borrowing the loved DI circuit from the 500 series Auteur on the first 2 channels. This feature set as well as channel count gives you one of the most affordable preamps in the world at an unbelievable price.
Mic Section:
- Max Microphone Input Level: +1 dBu
- Input Impedance: 6000 Ohm
- Pad: 10 dBu
- Gain (no pad): +14 dB to +65 dB
- Equivalent Input Noise (noise floor): -108 dBu
- THD+N (@ +4 dBu output): .0033% @ +10 dBu Gain
- THD+N (@ +4 dBu output): .0054% @ +24 dBu Gain
- THD+N (@ +4 dBu output): .0112% @ +32 dBu Gain
- THD+N (@ +4 dBu output): .027% @ +40 dBu Gain
- THD+N (@ +4 dBu output): .078% @ +50 dBu Gain
- THD+N (@ +4 dBu output): .21% @ +62 dBu Gain
- Bandwidth (1 kHz, 150 Ohm source, unweighted): 10 Hz to 30 kHz
DI Section:
- Max DI Input Level: +18 dBu
- Input Impedance Balanced: 2.2MOhm
- Input Impedance Unbalanced: 1.1MOhm
- Pad: 13 dBu
- Gain: +14 dB to +65 dB
- Equivalent Input Noise (noise floor): -82 dB
- THD+N (@ +4 dBu output):
- .007% @ +12 dBu
- .11% @ +40 dBu
- Bandwidth (1 kHz, 600 Ohm unbalanced source, unweighted): 10 Hz to 30 kHz