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ART Pro Channel III Channel Strip

Mono Tube Channel Strip with Switchable Microphone Impedance, Selectable Opto/FET Compression Voicings, and 4-band Semi-parametric EQ
ART Pro Channel III Channel Strip
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ART Pro Channel III Channel Strip
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Feature-laden Mono Tube Channel Strip

Channel strips are a popular and comprehensive option for professional studios, but they’re often beyond the reach of a project studio owner’s budget — at least, they used to be! The ART Pro Channel III is a mono tube channel strip with two selectable microphone impedances, two compression voicings, a 4-band semi-parametric EQ, and an astounding 12Hz–100kHz frequency response. Designed for home recording musicians looking to get studio-quality tones and real tube warmth without breaking the bank, the ART Pro Channel III has become a smash hit here at Sweetwater, and we’re sure you’ll love it as well.

Convenient mic and instrument preamp

The Pro Channel III starts with a discrete FET input stage, up to 60dB of preamp gain, switchable mic impedances, and a variable low-cut filter from 10Hz to 250Hz. You’ll also get a hi-Z 1/4-inch front-panel input that overrides the rear-panel XLR input, making it handy to switch back and forth between mic and line-level signals for direct recording.

Opto or FET at the press of a button

Next, you can press the Voice button to switch between smooth tube/opto-style compression and its punchy FET compressor cousin. Both compressors can be shaped with variable Threshold, Ratio, Attack, and Release controls. Additionally, the compressor can be placed before or after the EQ section in your signal chain for your preferred style of tracking.

Highly flexible 4-band parametric EQ

Finally, the ART Pro Channel III’s EQ section features a switchable low-shelf frequency, variable low-mid and high-mid frequencies with over four octaves per band, and a 12kHz high shelf. Also, the EQ (and the compressor) have independent bypass so that you can dial in your sounds. Add it all up, and you have some serious tone-shaping capabilities that can work with any voice or instrument.

ART Pro Channel III Features:

  • Pro-quality channel strip designed for home recordists and project studios
  • Class A FET input microphone preamp with up to 60dB of preamp gain
  • Extremely wide frequency response of 12Hz–100kHz
  • Selectable microphone impedances
  • Front-panel hi-Z 1/4-inch input overrides rear-panel XLR input for easy direct recording
  • Compressor and EQ sections with independent bypass and switchable order in the signal path
  • Tube/opto and FET compressor voicings with variable Threshold, Ratio, Attack, and Release controls
  • 4-band semi-parametric EQ with variable low-cut filter
  • +4dBu or -10dBv operation for tailoring to your mic(s)
  • Universal internal power supply

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Tech Specs

  • Preamp Type: Tube
  • Number of Channels: Single Channel
  • Phantom Power: Yes
  • Polarity Switch: Yes
  • EQ: 4-band Semi-parametric EQ
  • Compressor: Yes
  • Frequency Response: 12Hz-100kHz, etc.
  • Analog Inputs: 1 x XLR, 1 x 1/4" (comp in)
  • Analog Outputs: 1 x XLR, 1 x 1/4", 1 x 1/4" (preamp out)
  • Rack Spaces: 2U
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 3.5"
  • Depth: 9.2"
  • Width: 19"
  • Weight: 10.5 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: ProChannel-III

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Reviews

Rated 5/5
Very nice quality - buy it
Quiet + clean + no artifacts = exactly what I was looking for to mic my acoustic guitars. Such a nice peice of gear for such a low price.
Rated 4.5/5
Artpro 3 Channel Strip



My findings so far include a very well built and solid piece.


Now for the sound. What sound.

It seems to quite transparent in opto mode and FET mode the transients are rounded off a little.


All the knobs and controls are very nice feeling. Love having a nice piece of hardware to twiddle with.


This piece of gear and the company Artpro in general are seriously under rated.


Now let me tell you about my main man Dennis Konicki who never fails to deliver.

When there is something I want I always get the best advice and the best price.


I definetly would serious consider any new products from this company.


Cant wait to trial a nice new condensor microphone through it soon.

Just running a couple of drum machines in mono and its preamp and compressor sweetens the sound.

There is plenty of gain and the EQ is nicely adjustable .

My settings include 100hz low cut and around 2.1 or 3.1 ratio on the comp.

Also loving the big VU meter.


Thanks Sweetwater. Another order coming soon.


Cheers

Rated 3/5
Not right for me
BLUFF: I had to return it. I was really excited about this for the features, but it had a few quirks I could not live with. All the dials are notched, meaning the dial clicks in each increment of level so you can't really fine tune things. This may not usually be a problem, but the increments are not consistent in gain level. This was a major problem trying to set mic gain and compression levels. With the gain on 9 I would get maybe 1 or 2 db gain reduction using the compressor. When I turned the gain to 10 I would get 6 db gain reduction and all other settings the same. Very hard if not impossible to dial in the right amount of compression say 3 to 4 db. The jump in gain between 9 and 10 was way more than any other level on the dial. Super frustrating since that was the sweet spot for getting the right input signal. Either too much or not quite enough and the compressor jumping all over the place except where i was trying to dial it. It was pretty noisy too. With the gain set hot there was a good amount of hiss. Comparatively, plugging straight into my Motu M4 preamp hitting the same input level it is totally quiet. The VU meter seemed fine, -18 db input to DAW signal when the VU hit 0. Using a Shure beta 87a I had to use the +20 db switch and a fair amount of mic gain to get a reasonable signal. All in all, it looks cool, and I hoped it would work out. But it didn't for me.
Rated 2/5
Noisy pre amp and gain deprived
I really wanted to like this channel strip. The layout is clean and the flexibility seemed too good to be true. Unfortunately, it was.

Using my audio interface alone introduced significantly less noise than this preamp. My WA-73 also introduced significantly less noise than this preamp. With a TLM 103 which most people know is a very hot mic that doesn't need much gain, I maxed out to 40dB and heard almost nothing except self noise coming from the channel strip. The gain knob was actually quite a wonky mess. If I dialed it up, the self nose would get louder and louder, and then once I hit about 95% of the way, all the self noise suddenly went away. Then the self noise came back as I passed 97%. I have no idea what could be causing this. Afterwards, I engaged the 20dB switch and I could finally hear. However, the audio was so noisy it was unusable. Realistically I needed about 50-55dB of gain from the pre amp to hit -16dBFS on my digital meters… Yikes! The VU meter also seemed pretty inaccurate. For comparison I could use any other pre and only need about 40 dB and it would be loud and clear. No noise!

I did like the compressor and EQ section. It wasn't anything that would blow your mind, but it was 100% usable. It's a shame that the preamp section was so bad. As I mentioned, I really wanted to love this and use it to replace a few rows of hardware. Ended up returning the unit.
Music background: 15 Years