YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN ULTRA HIGH END MIC PREAMPS!!
DISCRETE Millennia media J-FET


OK..WHY BUY MIC PREAMP KIT$ from some guy on the NET...?
FAIR QUESTION. ANSWER ONE, a REVIEW from someone who MADE ONE:

"stunningly good first time, deep, crisp, even, QUIET, totally transformed my ribbons. The guy that runs the sessions at the studio hasn't used it over any length of time but seems pretty damn impressed. It's several leagues ahead of anything else we've got.".... jonathan h*****d

ANSWER TWO: that studio is REAL WORLD, in bath england.
ANSWER THREE: i have been making gear for about 30 years now, Starting off with over 1000 audiophile amps, and modified pieces of TUBE equipment. i have WORKED ON, or SEEN and heard, MOST OF THE EQUIPMENT ON MY SCHEMATIC LISTS. PLEASE take a moment to look them OVER, especially the RECORDING EQUIPMENT list. I have HAD all sorts of NEVE, API, ADM, PULTEC, UREI, etc etc etc, IN MY HANDS, and as well, have spent literally YEARS dissecting electronic topologies, and components like TUBES, TRANSFORMERS, CAPS, etc.
and after comparing most new and vintage transformer types, circuit designs,and parts, (again,please DO have a look at my LARGE schematic library) i have now settled on my personal favorites.

ANOTHER RAVE:( this came in october 12th/2004

Another one of your delighted customers !
I finally was able to A/B-compare your preamp-kit with some other
preamps, i.e. SPL Goldmike (yuk!), Dan-Alexander-Audio custom thingy
(~2000$), and an 80s NEVE console. The difference was far bigger than
what I've expected... and VERY pleasant ! Thumbs up !

The only downside: two friends of mine (owners of the above gear) are
jealous now and want me to make one of your preamps for them aswell..

I had some problems finding a good PSU though - couldn't get those
"power one" things in germany, and didn't find a nice equivalent. So I
tried to make a killer PSU for your killer preamp myself. I've attached
the schematics and partlist, maybe you want to include this into the
kit's manual..
NOTE FROM ME, there are 4 differant supply schematics included with the kit allready!

ANOTHER RAVE:

"Yup, I can see what you're saying- I started A/B-ing your pre design on the guitar tracks along side my neve 1073, each with Royer 121's and before you know it the pat-pre was on the room mics, then on a snare, then direct with the bass......pump...pump....pump....You can nominate me as your poster boy 'cause your pre rocks!!!! I can see a 6 or 8 channel version in the near future (no output transformer!!!!), right after I throw my crappie, I mean Mackie, off a cliff along with the Antares autotuner. Auto tuner is bad, bad karma.
Sincerely........Mike M****"

and ANOTHER:

"Your preamps definitely beat out the Grace preamps (which sounded grainy, boxy and somewhat untransparent by comparison) that the producer brought with him today (I was pretty sure they would). 9 foor Steinway mic'ed with a stereo X/Y pair of TLM170s thru Monster Cable mic lines into your preamps and into Pro Tools HD. Very natural, no sense of strain on the loud stuff, no grain, fast without edginess... everyone was really happy with the piano sound. I really like 'em."

and ANOTHER:

"I recorded harp the other day with your preamp. I see what you mean about... "true to the source" is how I think you put it in one of your emails. I have 6 channels built now and I want 2 more in the short term." Michael A*****d

and some more..( dont worry, i will stop,you get the idea):

I built one of your kits and am very happy with it I would like to build 4 more channels. I would also like an output tranny for each channel for balanced outs......PS a friend of mine tried it out and loved it We AB'd it with an avalon and it held its own! .....Kurt G*****y

I have an Audio Percision test station here at >work that will allow me to do all the specs on it. I am curious exactly >what they are. Not that it really matters, I mean it sounds great, what >more is there. Do want to see if I can quantify exactly why it sounds the >way it does. Freq responce, thd etc. I'll email you the results of it.....Si M*******d

The bass is much tighter, the detail and soundstage detail far improved. Live recordings have allot more space....

First of all I want to thank you for making your fet design available. It sounds just as warm and liquid as promised. I tested it alongside my Neves and API's and it sounded big and open and I think it has more headroom than the others!

sounds really good! With alot of punch, great frequency response, in your face presence and very natural sounding. Both me and Martin like it alot! A pure joy to listen to... :-D

DONT GET ME WRONG, I LOVE TUBE GEAR.
I use TUBE MICS, TUBE COMPS, TUBE EQ, TUBE HEADPHONE and MONITOR amps, GUITAR AMPS, PREAMPS, PEDALS, ETC, TUBE TUBE TUBE TUBE, SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM.

I never expected a class A JFET preamp to BE as GOOD as this one is...
( having tried JFET circuits for Line amps for audiophile preamps previously, finding them mostly boring compared to a good tube circuit.... Quite simply, in this case it is the synergy between the gain circuit and the TRANSFORMER that makes this mic pre work. i actually DISAGREE with Millennia about transformers, and believe Transformers are the heart of good studio gear...and solve a LOT of design problems, but the BEST ones, historically, were EXTREMELY LARGE : UTC Linear standard, MUIRHEAD,etc.. and EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE...: new, poorer copies of the UTC LS are $225 each US.. custom wound in minimum lots of 20..you do the math...! FORTUNATELY, THIS HAS CHANGED!
My preamp kit is built around 2 breakthrough technologies.

HAVE A LOOK AT THE KIT, in both raw, and finished forms
HAVE A LOOK AT THE KIT, as a CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

Lets have a quick look at the SPECS, to whet your interest...: the TRANSFORMER frequency response is AT LEAST 10cps to 90k +/-1.5db... response goes WAY OUT there, doesnt just drop like a stone...(best low AND high end of any transformer i have heard.)

(normal GOOD audio transformers are 20:20k)..some, like used in NEVE gear, even has better response than that, but not close to my new stuff new stuff... The GAIN BLOCK ( more in this later) is 3cps to 350k, and the noise floor is lower than ANY preamp I have ever tried. anyway, back to the transformer stuff:

Having a lot of tube mic preamps..and spending lots of time listening to various designs,over TIME,I had pretty well ALL the vintage transformer types to compare..i built a jig, so I could compare the transformers, both as input and output devices...

this was a simple HEADPHONE AMP, with a single black plate triode mil 5751
driving SENNHIESER 580 dynamic phones..using the transformers as output couplers
lets me hear them in worst case scenarios, driving them harder than you would as an
an INPUT device...i tried pretty much all the vintage types, and
most of the new ones as well....

UTC LS,A,O,X
TRIAD
ST IVES, Gardeners ( and other NEVE)
PEERLESS
JENSEN ( new AND vintage )
RICHENBACH
MUIRHEAD
HAUFFE
ADC
API
BAYER
CHICAGO STANDARD
LUNDAHL
SOWTER
BARTOLLINI
RCA
WE
Gates, Northern electric, etc etc...
to name a few..each has SEVERAL Models.


SINCE I PERSONALLY NOW PREFER THE CLASS A J-FET preamp to ALL OTHERS,
I will talk about IT FIRST....

(Millennia media)JFET MODULE KIT INFORMATION

i HAVE A LOT OF MICS i like..some are LOW output ribbons...(-77db) and for a long time I was using GREAT RIVER preamp CIRCUITS.. (with my own transformer types, instead of the stock jensen) and they allowed me to get enough quiet , clean gain for my low output mics...and sounded quite great..but NOT as WARM as the tube units.

the GREAT river is VERY quiet, and "clear" sounding, but it uses large banks of computer grade electrolytics, with small bypass caps as output couplers. Personally, i prefer a pure polypropyline or HI END transformer coupled signal path. I have been making AUDIOPHILE tube amps for years, Doing speaker crossovers, and tried ALL SORTS of caps..including TEFLON, etc, and settled on RIFA, WIMA and SOLEN as good value, good sounding caps.
MILLENNIA MEDIA, whom i am sure most of you have heard of, that make what is by REPUTATION the "CLEANEST" mic preamps in the world... BIPOLAR ( ie NOT thier jfet amp, in the HV3), used by some of the "who's who "of the CLASSICAL and AUDIOPHILE recording world.
very clean sounding, BUT... some claim TOO CLINICAL sounding.

Millennia bought the JFET and transformerless tube designs of FRED FORSELL, and this is what is used,( they have updated the original designs, also ) for the gain block i am using.. is backwards compatable with API 2520, and the JENSEN 990.
it was designed to be a superiour replacement for these studio standards. I own many channels of jensen designed gain blocks, this is definately ALL THAT

IT IS A CLASS A, ALL DISCRETE ALL JFET AMPLIFIER. There is NO other amp like this in the world. I designed a NEW circuit for it, based loosely on the API 312 topography, but with several PIVOTAL improvements.. (Enabled in part by the use of a NEW technology custom transformer). The API used large electrolytics in the signal path on the 512, so historically, most people prefer the 312, the original. They and most other "high end" preamps of the period, like NEVE, etc, used MU metal core INPUT transformers, which all needed FREQUENCY correction networks. MINE DOESNT, as i am using a custom wound AMOURPHOUS STRIP CORE transformer from LUNDAHL...purpose built for this PREAMP.
This new type of transformer from Lundahl, is the first big change ( ADVANCE ) in transformer design, going back as far as it goes. they are UNIQUE, to the industry. They have EXQUISITELY LIQUID , WARM sound, with FAR GREATER BANDWIDTH than is possible with MU core transformers, no MATTER HOW EXPENSIVE. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE SIZE ! There have been some EXTREMELY GOOD transformers, historically , that were smaller than this. ( but still not remotely as GOOD as this): The BAYER units used in some HELIOS, Fairchild consoles, for example, and some of the TELEFUNKEN toroid units..all very decent transformers, but not up to the one i use, though, in terms of bandwidth. THEY ARE SIMILAR TO UTC LINEAR STANDARD, in sound...without the SHIELDING PROBLEMS, size problems, and availability problems. ( to say nothing of the COST of LS, $250 each is common, these days, on the used market) In LISTENING TESTS , they actually sound more LIQUID than the UTC, more articulate, with better bandwidth at HIGH RATIOS, than the UTC HAD at 1:1...which is ASTOUNDING. The only " tradeoff" with the amorphous STRIP CORE, is that they dont like DC on them...this isnt an issue with anything but a MALFUNCTIONING phantom supply, ..but HERE IS WHERE WE APPLY A TRICK: Because of the WINDING topology, it is possible to do the old TELEFUNKEN trick of using only ONE capacitor in between the TWO!! center taps on the input side of the transformer. *not possible on transformers that don't allow access to ALL coil structure taps!! THis critical differance allows you to use a SMALLER CAP, and therefore HIGHER QUALITY. *the smaller the SIZE of cap, the faster it's pulse rise time!! ( ie: transient fidelity ) ..in this case, small enough to use polypropyline, instead of the horrible electrolytics we are so desperately trying to stay away from in our AUDIOPHILE equipment. This cap can also be fully switched OUT of the circuit by the same switch that turns on your phantom... a neat trick, allowing us audiophile response for peanuts. ( there will also be polypropyline bypass caps on the power supply, and a polypropyline output cap..all the same grade as used in audiophile MICS, etc..) There are VERY FEW external parts with this unit, so its EASILY affordable to use the best...and the POWER SUPPLY IS AS FAST AS THE SIGNAL PATH!!

FOR ME, THIS new preamp has functionally replaced my GREAT RIVER and ALL MY TUBE units, as it is EXTREMELY LIFELIKE, but not "STERILE" or "THIN" as is the complaint sometimes associated with the Millennia SERVO units...even Millennia themselves are recognising peoples preferances for TRANSFORMERS, and are including them in their TT all in one CHANNEL..the one with the EQ, MIC PRE, and COMPRESSOR, each with DUAL amplification topographies, tube and JFET, with optional TRANSFORMER. This is SIMPLY GREAT EQUIPMENT...(you cant beat having a SIMPLE, WELL MATCHED signal path, with a minimum of redundancies) but it's considerably more EXPENSIVE than what I am trying to accomplish..and if you allready HAVE compressors, and TUBE mics, etc..and EQ, or if you simply want a STATE OF THE ART mic preamp for CRITICAL RECORDING, and you can do some EXTREMELY simple electronics ( xlr plugs, gain control, simple power supply, and phantom and phase switching as required, all these options schematically drawn out for you in the kit info) you can get WORLD CLASS RESULTS.