API TCS-II Channel Strip

Name: TCS-II Channel Strip
Brand: API

Mono Channel Strip with Mic Preamp, Compressor, EQ, and Line Driver with Rear-panel Patching and LED Peak Metering

Be the first to review Item ID: APITCSII

Find it used on Sweetwater's Gear Exchange

listed from $2,595.00

In Stock!

Ask An Expert Our Expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

(800) 222-4700 Email

What is a Sales Engineer?

A Complete API Analog Front End

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

How would you like to put the best features of a large-format API console into your studio rack? With API's The Channel Strip (TCS), you can do precisely that. Now, the API TCS-II upgrades this venerable studio workhorse tool with an updated compressor section, expanded preamp controls, and peak metering for improved performance and operability. This enviable rackmount unit is jam-packed with sections based on classic API modules, including the 512c Mic Preamplifier, the 527A Compressor, the 550A Equalizer, and the 325 Line Driver. Moreover, you get complete patching facilities on the unit's rear panel, plus two 10-segment LED peak metering displays, multiple balanced insert points, a sidechain input, and an output mute switch. The TCS-II's processing sections can be switched in and bypassed individually, and you get a switch to internally route the compressor after the EQ. Moreover, this indispensable piece of studio hardware includes API transformers and 2510 and 2520 op-amps throughout for real-deal API sound. Any engineer seeking to harness the high-performance sound of an API board will find everything they've been dreaming of in the TCS-II Channel Strip.

API 512c Mic Preamplifier

The TCS-II's 512c Preamplifier section is brimming with classic API sonic character, supplying you with a line preamp at unity gain, an instrument preamp with 50dB of gain, and a mic preamp with 68dB of gain. You get a -6dB line pad, a -20dB microphone pad, switchable +48V phantom power, and a polarity inverter. The addition of peak LED metering adds even more utility to this world-class preamp. The engineers here at Sweetwater are thoroughly impressed by the authenticity of the TCS-II's 512c Preamplifier section — its 2510 and 2520 op-amps are the real API deal.

API 527A Compressor

The TCS-II's multimode 527A Compressor section includes fully adjustable Threshold, Attack, Release, and Ratio controls, with selectable feed-forward/feedback and hard-/soft-knee compression. API's patented Thrust feature is on hand, providing ear-grabbing frequency-dependent sidechain control. You also get a 10-segment gain-reduction meter, a sidechain input, a Link switch for multiple-unit, interdependent compression linking, and a Comp Bypass switch with hard-relay switching. Finally, you get a switch to internally route the compressor post-EQ. And, like the rest of the TCS-II's sections, the 527A Compressor boasts 2510 and 2520 discrete op-amps.

API 550A Equalizer

The API 550A Equalizer is a true classic — an EQ embraced since the late '60s and a standard by which countless EQs continue to be judged. The TCS-II includes this fabled EQ, supplying you with three bands of classic API equalization. Each band includes seven API-selected frequency centers, with a maximum of 12dB of boost/cut per band. You get reciprocal and repeatable filtering, the section's Low and High EQ bands offer shelf/peak switching, and you get a bandpass filter. And, of course, the API 550A Equalizer gives you access to API's ultra-musical Proportional Q, which narrows the filters' Q at extreme settings. The TCS-II's EQ section vaunts a traditional, fully discrete API circuit design with 2520 discrete op-amps.

API 325 Line Driver

At the end of API's TCS-II, you'll find a 325 Line Driver, ported from classic API console designs. This section includes a switchable insert return, a remote-controllable soft mute function, and full attenuation to +10dB of gain. You get a high headroom, +30dB clip level, with an output level pot and a 10-segment LED VU meter that can be switched to display the output level of the TCS-II's 512c Mic Preamplifier. A 2520 discrete op-amp and a transformer-coupled output complete the 325 Line Driver section.

Built for the long haul

Since the 1970s, API’s large-format consoles have been prized for their robust, mil-spec build quality. This is borne out by the impressive number of vintage APIs still in daily service around the world. Back in the Golden Age of Analog, pro audio equipment was meticulously assembled and wired by hand using fully discrete circuit designs and military-grade components — factors to which the timelessly superior sound and performance of coveted vintage gear are often attributed. And that is precisely how API builds its consoles and outboard gear today. Your API TCS-II Channel Strip is built to reliably deliver superior performance and sound, session after session, over decades of faithful service.

API: an American pro audio legend

Launched in 1968 by Saul Walker, Automated Processes Inc. began building high-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 its 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. Clearly, the company isn’t resting on its laurels; today’s API products give you the same unbeatable combination of utility, innovation, and stellar sound. That’s why, at Sweetwater, the name API commands reverence.