Classic Brit Tube Preamp, Windy City Style
The Beatles recorded through it. So did Pink Floyd and the Zombies. We're talking about the classic 1960s British tube console that characterized the recordings made in a certain London studio between 1964 and 1968. The Dizengoff Audio D4 mic preamp is a tribute to the EF86 pentode preamp circuit in that venerable desk. Dizengoff Audio is a company you'll be hearing a lot about. The brainchild of Matt Newport, Dizengoff designs and manufactures affordable, handcrafted boutique gear based on classic circuits. They're based in Chicago — part of the windy city's surging artisanal scene. Dizengoff's tag line is "Home of the new Chicago sound." Although the roots of that sound, in the case of the D4, are half a century old and a continent away.
The sound of '60s British rock
Designed to replace the Siemens V72S amp cards in a previous console, the new console preamps defined the sound of '60s British rock 'n' roll. Rather than a being a slavish reissue, the D4 pays homage by nailing the huge, open sound of the original while introducing significant improvements to the gain structure; notably, a 12-step rotary attenuator with 20-60dB of gain on tap. An additional trim, a feature held over from the original, is interactive with the stepped main control and lets you fine tune gain by up to ±4dB. Using these two knobs, you can access a range of new tonal options, from warm, liquid cleans to the rich tube saturation characteristic of EF86-equipped gear. On a historical note: John Lennon's heavily overdriven guitar sound on "Revolution" was taken DI and driven hard through two console channels in series.
Vintage transformer design, modern materials for low noise and high efficiency
The transformers used in the D4 signal path are based on the ones in the original preamps, but they leverage modern materials. To optimize fidelity, a high-nickel design with 80% nickel content is used for the input transformer, and a low-nickel (50%) transformer is used for the output. The D4 also employs an internal power supply built around a Japanese Nippo Steel R-core power transformer, which exhibits very high efficiency and extremely low noise as compared with traditional E-I shell-type core transformers. This plays an important role in the D4's outstanding signal-to-noise ratio. At Sweetwater, we're duly impressed by the Dizengoff Audio D4's solid performance and value. You should be, too.
Dizengoff Audio D4 Tube Preamp Features:
- Solid build quality; vintage gray 2RU aluminum chassis
- Standard IEC power inlet
- XLR input and output
- Front-panel DI input
- Stepped 12-position gain control, 20-60dB
- Gain trim control for fine adjustment
- 20dB pad, +48V phantom power, polarity reverse
- 20Hz-60kHz frequency response
- THD+N at 1kHz: 1%, +4dBU (10-24kHz bandwidth)
- S/N: -90dBA at maximum (+60dB) gain (10-24kHz bandwidth)
