Juice Your Recordings With the Bold American Sound of API
Huge, punchy drums, in your face. Beautifully open vocals, loud ’n’ proud, front-and-center. Big guitars, wide as a barn. This is the classic American sound of API. Countless iconic records were recorded through API consoles in the Golden Age of Analog, every mic pumped up larger-than-life through the legendary 312 microphone preamplifier outfitted on every channel. Today’s API 312 mic preamp is based on API co-founder Saul Walker’s original design, and it serves up that coveted analog warmth and girth, along with massive headroom. It’s the inimitable sound of API, and it fits right in your lunchbox.
Related Videos: 312 500 Series Microphone Preamp
API in your Lunchbox
The 312 500 Series mic preamp houses a modern production version of the vintage 312 circuit used in API consoles from the 1970s. API engineered today's 312 to be faithful to the original, right down to the smallest details. Built on a meticulous reproduction of Saul Walker’s original 312 PCB, today's 312 is a fully discrete design with API's storied 2520 op-amp, AP2516 input transformer, and a vintage-style analog VU meter and peak LED indicator.
API — the legendary American pro audio company
No American pro audio company is more iconic than API. Launched in 1968 by Saul Walker, Automated Processes Inc. began building quality consoles for broadcast applications. Soon, the company’s products found favor with recording studios, and a string of industry-leading innovations (including the 500 Series module, the first VCA, computerized console automation, and more) followed. API produced the 2520 amplifier, one of the most famous op-amps in the recording industry, and their consoles and products found homes in such iconic studio facilities as the Hit Factory, Record Plant, Ocean Way, Sunset Sound, and many others.
In fact, there are over 700 vintage API consoles around the globe — many of which are still in use. And the company certainly isn’t resting on its laurels; today’s API products give you the same unbeatable combination of utility, innovation, and great sound. That’s why, at Sweetwater, the name API commands reverence.
API 312 500 Series Microphone Preamp Features:
- API’s classic 312 mic pre in a 500 Series module
- Vintage-style analog VU meter; peak LED
- 69dB of gain; switchable 20dB pad
- Traditional API fully discrete circuit design with 2520 op-amp
- Proprietary AP2516 input transformer
- 3:1 output transformer tap selection
- Switchable 48V phantom power
- API 5-year warranty
