Grace M101 Microphone Preamp Review

[vintologi]

Where did you see that?

It's at -1.9 dB @ 5hz with phantom power enabled.

Unfortunately pretty much all good mics require phantom power.

 

[Cbdb2]

View attachment 544064

It's at -1.9 dB @ 5hz with phantom power enabled.

Unfortunately pretty much all good mics require phantom power.

First, the phantom power makes no difference, the blue dotted line is the ribbon mic setting, probably a different input impedance. You think anyone can hear a .5db drop at 20hz? And nobody records 5hz on purpose.

 

[IamJF]

Ribbon mode is probably DC coupled. Normal mode for phantom power needs decoupling caps.
A few db down at 5Hz is no problem - none of the usual mics will give you linear sound down there anyways! You would need a special, omni measurement mic with an extra small vent hole to get down there linear.

 

[vintologi]

Cranborne Audio CAMDEN EC1 does have better specs but i have not found any proper third party tests on it.

 

[Casper]

Cranborne Audio CAMDEN EC1 does have better specs but i have not found any proper third party tests on it.

View attachment 547746

I'm a little sceptical of a $399 preamp that has a "Mojo" knob for controling the "analog saturation circuit." While you can chose between "Cream" and "Thump" it does not look like there is an option for bypassing the saturation circuit other than dialing it back all the way.

 

[vintologi]

I'm a little sceptical of a $399 preamp that has a "Mojo" knob for controling the "analog saturation circuit." While you can chose between "Cream" and "Thump" it does not look like there is an option for bypassing the saturation circuit other than dialing it back all the way.

I am pretty sure turning it all the way back will turn it off completely.

Edit: checked their documentation and it clearly states it's a "true bypass"

Camden EC1 - Preamp and Headphone Mixer

Camden EC1 combines award winning preamp technology with a reference-grade headphone amplifier to elevate your audio interface’s front-end to a professional level.

www.cranborne-audio.com

Honestly my first impression of the grace M101 was that the frequency response wasn't super-great (especially the case when you cannot use ribbon mode due to needing phantom power) and for the price it honestly looks like a bad option assuming cranborne audio doesn't outright lie in in their spec sheet (which likely would have been discovered by now).

Might exist some other better option of course but it's difficult to hunt down and proper independent testing is rare in general.