Chandler Limited TG2-500 Series Microphone Preamp Reviews

This is like a 1073 with slightly less low end (and a more clearly defined low end too) and a more aggressive midrange and slightly more open top. I think these sound great on pop vocals, as does that one Swedish guy Max Martin. But what the heck does he know about vocal chains.

Chandler TG-2 is a pretty sick channel. I picked up two from my rep at Sweetwater, and I have no regrets.

This thing blew me away. Super open on the top with incredible clarity. Very smooth response and sound. Seems to bring things forward in the mix naturally. I'm not sure I would use it on percussion or drums but for anything melodic that needs to stand out and/or smooth out, this is your tool. Very unique sound. I have used it mostly on horns (saxophones mainly) and love it.

Chandler TG-2 is such a great Pre-amp. We have used these on anything and everything, results yield patterns of beauty and open air thickness. Close feel on drums or room mics both have just the right amount of grab and tone to truly work on many types of sounds and even many types of mics.

Try these with a TLM-103 or a MD421 or a 414. No rules makes the ride man. Overheads using these helps so much with good thick background sounds we often require or search for using other units not labeled Chandler.

All the other reviews cover it, but hard not to leave a comment about how awesome this preamp is. Can't wait to pick up another.

I have been using this on acoustic instruments and am loving it. Warm and punch but so open and sweet on the top end. Dialing between the fine gain and the output can get you a wide range of color to suit what you need. Love it.

I love it. It wasn"t love at first listen, but I love it now! For whatever reason, I had trouble at first finding the "sweet spot" using the course gain and fine gain. I was not paying enough attention to the output knob. Using the output knob and fine gain together got me to the tone I was looking for much faster. Course gain gets it in the ballpark, and then output and fine gain work together to achieve the desired flavor. Boosting the output, and rolling back the fine gain yields a soft, warm, creamy texture, accentuating more of the low & low-mid frequencies. As fine gain is added and output is rolled back, the sound gets brighter and eventually more aggressive, accentuating the middle & upper-middle frequencies. At the higher fine gain settings, the top-end really opens up and reveals that "air" that everyone mentions when describing this preamp"s character. The "air" accentuates the highs, and has a very slight, sweet roll off

I bought this looking for a vocal mic pre that could add a bit of "magic" to a project I was working on. There was nothing wrong with the vocals but they needed a classic vibe that I thought the TG2 might be able to impart. And it didn"t disappoint. I"m calling it magic because nobody really wants to hear about odd harmonic content and wave anomalies ...it"s magic. Output up between 8 and 10, dial input to taste and go. Impedance switch is like a second EQ in its own right. Immediately I tried an acoustic guitar track. Guess what: more magic. No one preamp can do everything but this is a colorful, open, bold piece of gear. I guess that"s why the original is a studio staple where the Pros hang out. Buy with confidence.

Man, what can I say, if there is such a thing called magic, this baby's got it !!! I think Chandler Ltd. is using some of Santa's Elves to build this stuff... I know they are made in Iowa and by sweet little ladies... I seen the Youtube video.... But, there is something really, really special about the TG-2's circuitry that gives it a personality of it's own... I've tested it on Bass Guitar and Voice and can't wait to see how it sounds on Drum's and Guitar.... This Pre has way more offer, than its history.... My hat is off to Wade, of Chandler, for his innovated spirit.... And his little Elves... Thanks to my buddy Will Newbill for all his help.. Mike

This thing is just too friggin awesome. I spent 2 years looking at what 500 series pre I wanted. Bugging the hell out of Carson McClain at Sweetwater the whole time. Looked at API, A-designs, Neve, Great river, Focusrite and Shadow Hills even the 737 Avalon. The tone options of this are off the chain. Carson helped me without fail the whole way through the selection process. If you could have one 500 series pre, this is THE ONE

We love this thing! Very amazing pre! This thing has been amazing on Guitars!

This preamp has beautiful aesthetics, even nicer looking in-hand than in the web photos. The color is more of a battleship grey with large red, black, and blue chicken-head switches for the coarse gain, fine gain, and output controls. The coarse gain travels in 5dB detents, with a firm tactile response, while the fine gain and output controls are continuously variable, smooth and consistent. Judging simply by physical appearance, it is clear that many hours and some great choices went into the design of this unit. The overall impression is solid and satisfyingly "vintage."

I tested in mic mode only, although there is a line mode, both of which are discrete and transformer balanced. Through a pair of KM-84s, the sound from a Martin acoustic guitar model SPD-16 was much fuller and present than through any preamp I have previously tried, and really had a beautiful sparkle as the music ventured into the higher registers. Switching to a Neumann M149 on male voiceover, I was rather floored by the resonant and deep sound that was immediately presented without resorting to EQ, as often is necessary with the M149. This unit truly offers impressive sound, distinctly analogue and very gratifying to the source.

I bought this unit to add some additional flavor to complement my Avalon, API, and Neve preamps. I was looking for something uniquely EMI / Abbey Road "-ish" and this unit surely delivers. What genuinely took me by surprise was the aesthetic quality, the tank-like build, and the actual high fidelity character of this preamp. It is really a stellar product and a fantastic addition to the toolbox.

I bought two of these pres because of hearing an acoustic guitar track and a vocal track that were recorded on them (that was part of a video advertisement for the preamps that I found on the internet.) I felt that I could hear the guitar sound from Here Comes The Sun, even in the relatively lo-fi presentation of what I'm sure was an mp3. After I had them I recorded a friend with one Neumann TLM 103 through one of the Chandlers. She didn't begin the experiment with much enthusiasm but when I played her that recording of her sitting on my sofa strumming an acoustic guitar and singing she got excited about recording some of her songs in the same solo manner. On the night that she came over I had spent the whole day doing things to the room for acoustic treatment and was in more of a state of disarray than I would have liked, to say the least. Then I was having routing problems (my own dumb mistake) and, for awhile I was unable to get the Chandlers to work, so I plugged her into a series of other preamps, including a Neve 8801, which I thought sounded pretty good. She's no expert but she wasn't hearing what she had heard that made her want to do this project. Finally, I got the Chandlers routed correctly and right away the big smile came back to both of our faces. Now, I've ordered two more. I wish I could have enough of them that I could always be sure that I had the option of using them, no matter how large the ensemble.

I have owned soo many great sounding mic-pres over the years.
1066/1073, V76, Fearn-VT1, GML, API-312, Hardy's & even more.

The TG2-500 stands right up there with all of them.. believe me it does.
This mic-pre is not a want-a-be anything, it just is.
It has a true genuine vintage tone.. not a vibe but the real deal..
your ears will tell you that when you hear it for the very first time.
All you need is a cool mic & this pre to produce the best sounding vocals ever.
Vocals are my thing.

I still have one of my vintage api 312 pres,
I kept the sweetest sounding one of the bunch and sold the others.
Out of the two pres the TG2 is my personal favorite.

Thanks Wade for creating.. not just the best sounding 500 pre,
but one of the best sounding mic-pres ever.

Bill Manning

There is no LED to tell you when it's reading a signal or if it's even on. There is no high-pass filter. The only problem is, as I understand it, it makes the compressor in your chain work harder because you can't kill the lows before it hits the limiter/compressor.

I record direct then re-amp & line-out out of the interface into the 500 Series gear. So it's nice having a line-level switch on the TG2.

My honest opinion:
This pre sounds polished and professional. HOWEVER, For certain tracks like drums or electric guitar.... it sounds TOO crisp and TOO polished, for my taste. I reverted back to my Fredenstein tube pre for guitar, drums, percussion and electric piano. Granted the Fredenstein doesn't sound as crisp but the tubes add a smoothness and saturated warmth you can't get from solid-state gear. The only thing I really found the TG2 useful for was vocals and acoustic guitar.

Don't get me wrong. It's an awesome pre. I just don't think it'll work for me as much as I would have liked.