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May is Microphone Month at Sweetwater, and we've partnered with AEA to make it easy to add that coveted AEA mic to your collection. From April 30 through May 31, 2012, use your Sweetwater Musician's All Access Platinum Card to purchase AEA microphones and RPQ preamps, and you'll pay NO INTEREST for 18 months! Minimum payments are required, and some restrictions apply. Click Here for full details.

AEA Ribbon Pre

Item ID: RibbonPre

2-channel Mic Preamp for Ribbon Mics, Tube Condensers, and Moving-coil Mics

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From Our Research Team:

Two Channels of Clean Gain for Your Ribbon Mics

The AEA Ribbon Pre is a one-of-a-kind preamp was designed specifically for use with ribbon mics, moving coil, and tube mics and has 83db of clean gain and no dangerous phantom power. The Ribbon Pre is one of the only mic pres out there designed exclusively for ribbon mics. The TRP is an ultra fast, two channel, minimal-path JFET preamp designed collaboratively with Fred Forssell. This unit is designed to have one of the lowest noise floors available. Eliminating phantom power allows for advantages in minimal signal path circuitry and the elimination of electronics that induce noise.



AEA Ribbon Pre At-a-Glance:
  • Optimized for ribbon mics
  • Built for high gain and low noise


Optimized for ribbon mics
The AEA TRP is the only mic preamp designed specifically for ribbon mics. Unleash your ribbon microphones' full potential with a TRP, and hear music more completely than ever before. Your ribbon mics will sound loud, clean and open, with fuller bass response.

Built for high gain and low noise
AEA's TRP has the quick, quiet gain you need for digital recording of ribbon, moving coil and tube mics. The Ribbon Pre has the speed needed for high resolution 192 kHz recording. With 300 kHz of bandwidth and DC coupled, Low-Energy-Storage (LES) circuit topology this preamp delivers outstanding dynamic response and bandwidth, and recovers instantly from overloads. TRPs have enough gain to let you hear how noisy the universe really is, but within the limits of physics, provide quiet gain. The DC coupled mic inputs let you hear all the dynamics, subwoofer bass and fast transients that your ribbon and tube mics can deliver. This discrete front end and integrated circuit JFET design combines the quiet gain of solid state with an openness reminiscent of tubes.

AEA Ribbon Pre Features:
  • Gain is >83 dB at 1 kHz, balanced in to balanced out
  • Positive polarity is pin 2 on XLRs, tip on 1/4" stereo jacks
  • Balanced outputs clip above +28 dBu, 100k load
  • Unbalanced XLR output load reduces max level by ~ 6 dB
  • Unbalanced TRS outputs clip at +22 dBu, 100k load
  • Frequency response is down 3 dB at 6 Hz and 300 kHz
  • THD at 1 KHz is .005% with 22 Hz to 22 kHz bandwidth
  • EIN, A weighted noise figure is -130 dBu, 150 ohm input
  • Balanced mic input impedance is >30,000 ohm
  • Microphone input electronics are DC coupled
  • Mic inputs are zener protected from external P48 DC
  • Mic inputs shut off while external DC is present
  • Green LED snaps on at ~ - 5 dBu
  • Yellow LED is variable brightness from ~ 0 to +20 dBu
  • Red LED snaps on at ~ +20 dBu
  • High Pass filter is 12 dB per octave and -3 dB at 100 Hz
  • Power supply provides two 17.25 VAC outputs
  • No Phantom Power
  • Gain switch is a 12 position Grayhill series 71
  • Output level control has detent at 12 noon
  • Polarity reverse & High-pass pushbutton switches
  • Power supply (P.S.) is external for minimum noise
  • P.S. input & output cords are each 6 feet long
  • 115 VAC P.S. uses male grounded Edison power plug
  • 230 VAC P.S. uses male recessed IEC power plug
  • Chassis P.S. input is a female 7 pin circular DIN jack
  • Power-on indication is by a front panel LED
  • Finish is a tough, textured, black & gray powder coat
  • Legends & single line schematic are laser engraved
  • Chassis is aluminum with rugged extruded endcaps
  • Size: Half-rack wide, rack unit high 8.5" x 8.5" x 1.7"
  • Weight: Chassis is 2 pounds, P.S. is 1.5 pounds
  • Dual TRP steel rackshelf mounting option is 1 RU high


AEA Ribbon Pre - Hear your ribbon mics like you've never heard them before!

Ribbon Pre Image Gallery

Specification Detail
Preamp Type FET
Number of Channels 2
Frequency Response 6Hz-300kHz (-3dB)
Phantom Power No
EQ No
Compression No
Analog Inputs 2 x XLR
Analog Outputs 2 x XLR, 2 x 1/4"
Digital Inputs No Digital Inputs
Digital Outputs No Digital Outputs
Other I/O No Other I/O
Computer Connectivity No Computer Connectivity
Rackmount Spaces 1U, 1/2 Rack Space
Height 1.75"
Depth 8.5"
Width 8.5"
Weight 2 lbs.
Notes High-gain/High-impedance for Ribbon Microphones
Manufacturer Part Number TRP

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Reviews

based on 3 reviews

AEA TRP Ribbon Pre

by Stainless Brown from Sacramento CA USA
March 27, 2012
Music Background: engineer/musician
I recently acquired an AEA R84, prior to which i owned one of the import ribbons which i thought was nice, albeit a bit 'woofy". It was an active ribbon and the R84 is not. While I could get a good si... read more [+]gnal from my Prism MXA-MM4 I had to turn it much much higher than with condensers and this (I felt) was probably not the best practice)... so saving up for a ribbon pre was my next 'goal'. I looKed at several other options, some more $, some less and decided upon the AEA TRP for 2 reasons:

1) I figured as AEA made it and they made ribbon mics... therefore it would be well matched

and

2) Tim Harrington at Sweetwater had never steered me wrong.

This is a GREAT addition... I can't believe how the ribbon mic literally pops out of the mix. Plenty more headroom than I need, great clarity, no noise, and there is tonal variations depending upon how you set it.

My one nit... no power switch! (at least I haven't found i) and plugging unplugging is a a bit of an incconvenience (hence the 4.5 instead of a 5)

and rack ears would ne nice! close [-]

Great Pre

by Nick Orr from Highland Lakes, NJ
January 30, 2012
Music Background: Recording Engineer
Sounds great. Clear with a ton of gain. Really opens up the AEA r84 nicely. Now i can hear the mic for what it really is. Its a great pair. Also used with the golden age mk2 ribbon mics. Completely... read more [+] different sounds. Mics are no longer extremely dark. Great purchase for those really wanting to explore the character of ribbon mics. Havent tried it with dynamics or tube mics but im sure it will open those up to. I gave it a 4.5 because i don't know if this is the be all end all of ribbon mics but its sure as hell pretty sweet. close [-]

TRP Ribbon Preamp from AEA

by Mick Riley from Mena, AR
July 7, 2011
Music Background: Musician, Producer, Recording Engineer
It just works. I love the way I've gotten headroom for my Royer SF-12 stereo ribbon. It's a no brainer to use and it is very clean. I think the key to success with ribbon mic comes from the correct... read more [+] ohm load the TRP handles the Royer just fine. I'm very pleased with the purchase! close [-]

Sweetwater Advice

Forrest Powell
Good night! 83dB of gain is quite a lot, and yet this 2-channel ribbon preamp is totally clean. The noise is totally negligible; total harmonic is .005% at 1KHz. It is as quick in response as I have heard to date, but please don't just think this can only be used with ribbon microphones! Tube mics can profit greatly paired up with TRP!
Simon Picazo
AEA mics with a Ribbon Pre are honest enough to be scary! But if you're an artist who can handle the truth and want to improve the quality of your tracks, give this a try. Wes Dooley and his engineers have imparted into every AEA product their respect for the sounds that musicians have worked years to craft. In AEA you get a microphone and preamp combination that will actually give you back exactly what you feed into it.

Also popular

See Also: Dual Channel Preamps , AEA , AEA Dual-Channel Preamps

AEA Ribbon Pre

Today's Payment: $299.50
Includes $10 processing fee
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