Give the vocal a transformer path on the way in.
The take is good, but the vocal sits behind the track. Record it through Class A, all discrete circuitry. Custom-built Midas transformers sit at the input and the output, on two channels.
Colour chosen at the input
GAIN runs from -20 dB to 80 dB in 5 dB steps. Push it to draw rich harmonic distortion from the source, then bring the output back with LEVEL. TONE switches the mic input impedance between 1200 Ω and 300 Ω. At 300 the sound becomes a little warmer, which may suit ribbon mics.
Three bands, picked by ear
The low shelf works at 35 Hz to 220 Hz, and the high shelf at 10 kHz to 16 kHz. Between them, the mid bell covers 360 Hz to 7.2 kHz. Each band has ±15 dB of gain. The HI-PASS filter clears rumble at 50, 80, 160 or 300 Hz. It stays active even with the EQ switched out.
Space for your compressor
The insert point sits after the gain and before the EQ, ready for a compressor while tracking. Bass and guitar plug into the 600 kΩ instrument input. With TONE engaged there, the input transformer adds a gentle warmth to a thin tone.
