API 512V 500 Series Discrete Microphone Preamp

Put a Legendary Preamp in Your Rack

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The API 512v 500 Series mic pre gives you all the features - and legendary sound - of the 512c, with a couple of valuable additions. First, API fitted the 512v with an output level control just below the input gain knob. This gives you more control over level-matching, which you'll especially appreciate if you work in a DAW-based studio. It also streamlines your setup, eliminating the need for 3rd-party attenuators. The second enhancement is the addition of a 3:1 output transformer tap switch, again, giving you more control over your gainstaging. Want more vintage iron in your sound? Tap the 3:1 button and you'll immediately lower your output level, so you can hit the transformer harder on the input side. The 512v also features a new combo input jack. In all other respects, the 512v is identical to the 512c - every inch a classic. At Sweetwater, that's what we expect from API.

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• Modular console-grade preamplification
• API 500 Series: unrivaled utility, value, and sound
• The API heritage

Sporting API's 500 Series modular format, the API 512v boasts a lofty pedigree. In the 1970s, API's modular consoles defined the punchy, vibrant sound of American radio hits. And every product the company currently makes is brimming with that same inimitable sonic character. With the 512v, you get an API console-grade microphone preamplifier with traditional discrete circuitry, in a design that's flexible, expandable, and portable. If you're looking for classic preamp character, then you've found it: the API 512v.

The beauty of the entire API 500 Series is its long-term flexibility and lasting value - especially when you consider that needs change over time. With a range of mounting frame options, the API 512v will be a valuable asset to your ever-changing studio rigs. It's also ruggedly designed with sound you just won't outgrow - crafted to be your sonic partner for year after year after year.

In 1968, 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 advancements (including computerized console automation, the first VCA, 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 Ocean Way, the Record Plant, the Hit Factory, and Sunset Sound, among others. In fact, there are over 700 classic 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.

• 500 Series discrete mic preamp with 65dB of gain
• Features variable-output level control
• 3:1 output transformer tap switch:
  • Produces lower output level
  • Lets you drive transformer harder
• Front- and rear-panel Mic Input access
• Line/Instrument Pre with 45dB of gain
• Front-panel combo XLR + 1/4" Line Input
• LED VU meter indicates Gain Level
• 20dB pad switch (applies to mic/line/instrument)
• Switchable 48-volt Phantom Power
• API's traditional discrete circuitry
• Incorporates classic 2520 Op Amp
• Comes with API's Five Year Warranty