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From Our Research Team:

'70s Vibe “All iron” Solid-state Preamp Brings Back the Quad Eight!

A Designs Pacifica — If you're looking for a preamp with the depth of a Neve, the clear midrange of API, and the top end of a Massenburg, you'll find all that in the Pacifica by A Designs. In fact, that's what people who have access to all of the above are saying about the Pacifica. A Designs Pacifica brings back the sound of the Quad Eight console of the '70s (Pink Floyd's The Wall and Boston's More Than a Feeling were mixed on Quad Eight), which in its day was considered the best of the top three — the other two being Neve and API. If you're a small studio that can only afford one really good preamp, give the A Designs Pacifica some serious consideration.

A-Designs Audio Pacifica at a Glance:

• Unique preamp based on the legendary Quad Eight Console
  
• All analog, custom-wound input and output transformers
  
• Two front-panel Hi-Z inputs
  
• Unique look and sound
  
• Phase, -20 Pad, and 48v switches

What makes Pacifica different?
In the early days of large recording consoles there were but three companies that were dominating the studios. Quad Eight was arguably considered as one of the best sounding at that time. The A Designs Audio "Pacifica" recaptures this sound with a preamp unlike any you have heard before. No wonder the Pacifica has been nominated for the Mix Magazine 2006 Tec Award!

Custom wound input AND output transformers
In building any mic-pre with soul, one of the most important elements are the transformers. A Designs actually tracked down the original drawings for the old Quad 8 console transformers and went one step further — they convinced the son of the original Quad 8 designer to rebuilt them for A Designs -by ear-by hand. After many prototypes of core alloys and experiments in winding techniques, the sound of the A Designs Pacifica was born. Employing sonically crafted input and output transformer pairs, the Pacifica's sound is unlike anything on the market.

Direct Inject
Unlike modern transformerless designs, The Direct Inject front panel input is designed to go directly to the input transformer for fullest sound. The Pacifica offers extraordinary tone to today's guitar, bass and keyboard players.

Color Scheme
A Designs Audio wanted to keep the look of the old Quad Eight consoles with its Pacifica; the faceplate is a creamy off-white and the cast-aluminum knobs are red along with the red and gray switch caps. All of these are duplicates of the original colors from that era. The Pacifica is as distinctive in looks as it is in sound.

Pad, Phase and 48v
The Pad is a -20dB, the Phase reverses Polarity, and the 48v is a full 48volt Phantom Power supply for condenser microphones. These three features will provide you with all the tools necessary for a great sound.


A Designs Pacifica Features:

• 72dB Gain
  
• Custom wound input and output transformers
  
• -20dB Pad
  
• 48v Phantom Power
  
• Phase Switch
  
• Direct Inject Hi Z
  
• Custom cast aluminum knobs
  
• Balanced XLR output connectors
  
• Red LED Phantom Indicator
  
• Blue LED power indicator
  
• On/Off power switch and internal power supply
  
• Toroidal power transformer
  
• Single rackspace form factor
  
• Lots of tone without tubes!
  
• All solid-state design

If you can only afford one really good preamp for your studio, give the A Designs Pacifica some serious consideration.

Specification Detail Preamp Type Solid State Number of Channels 2 Frequency Response 9Hz-101kHz Phantom Power Yes EQ No Compression No Analog Inputs 2 x XLR Analog Outputs 2 x XLR Digital Inputs No Digital Inputs Digital Outputs No Digital utputs Other I/O No Other I/O Computer Connectivity No Computer Connectivity Rackmount Spaces 1U Height 1.75" Depth 10" Width 11 lbs. Manufacturer Part Number PACIFICA