A Complete API Analog Front End
How'd you like to put the best features of a large-format API desk into your studio rack? With API's The Channel Strip, you can do precisely that. This enviable rackmount unit is jam-packed with sections based on classic API modules, including the 512c Mic Preamplifier, the 527 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 VU displays, multiple balanced insert points, a sidechain input, and an output mute switch. The Channel Strip'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 console will find everything they've been dreaming of in The Channel Strip.
Related Videos: The Channel Strip
API 512c Mic Preamplifier
The Channel Strip'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. A +27dBu preamp output peak indicator and LED VU meter add even more utility to this world-class preamp. The engineers here at Sweetwater are blown away by the authenticity of The Channel Strip's 512c Preamplifier section — its 2510 and 2520 op-amps are the real API deal.
API 527 Compressor
API's The Channel Strip's multimode 527 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 Channel Strip's sections, the 527 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 Channel Strip 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 Channel Strip'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 The Channel Strip, you'll find a 325 Line Driver, culled 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 Channel Strip's 512c Mic Preamplifier. A 2520 discrete op-amp and a transformer-coupled output complete the 325 Line Driver section.
API The Channel Strip Features:
- Complete front-end solution with API console sound
- API 512c Mic Preamplifier provides line, instrument, and mic preamplification with real-deal API character
- API 527 Compressor includes fully adjustable controls, feed-forward/feedback, hard-/soft-knee, and Thrust
- API 550A Equalizer supplies 3 bands of classic API equalization with loads of tweakability
- API 325 Line Driver boasts an output level pot and output mute
- Complete patching facilities on the unit's rear panel
- 2 x 10-segment LED VU displays
- Multiple balanced insert points and sidechain input
- Sections can be switched in and bypassed individually
- Compressor can be internally routed pre- or post-EQ
- API transformers and 2510 and 2520 op-amps yield classic API sound
