Product Category: Mic Preamps

M-Audio Tampa Mic Preamp / Optical Compressor

TAMPA is a professional microphone/instrument preamp unlike any other. That’s because our design team set out to discover just why expensive tube technology sounds so good, and devise a way to land that sound at affordable solid state prices. The result is far beyond tube modeling. It’s a whole new technology called Temporal Harmonic Alignment™. TAMPA even has a built-in world-class dual optical servo compressor offering low noise and distortion, consistent accuracy and exceptional transparency. You also get a digital output for driving your digital recording gear directly without degradation.

In natural sound sources such as strings, drum heads and vocal chords, harmonics share a characteristic temporal (phase) relationship to the fundamental. Our ears exhibit the same qualities. Solid state electronics induce distortion in the form of additional harmonics that are out of phase with the original source. Tube-based devices strike the ear as having such a “warm” sound because the added harmonics have the same temporal relationship as natural mechanisms (although predominantly in the midrange). This results in a sweet spot that makes vocals, guitars and other midrange-rich content sound especially pleasing. TAMPA’s revolutionary new Temporal Harmonic Alignment technology produces that same phase relationship found in both tubes and nature. And unlike tubes, TAMPA’s sweet spot spans the full spectrum of your sound.

TAMPA also includes a dual optical servo compressor that is worth the price alone. Three fundamental problems plague engineers in designing compressors—distortion, noise and accuracy. The VCA technology used in inexpensive compressors exhibits less than professional specs on all three counts. Simple optical servo technology is much more quiet and accurate, yet has its own issues with distortion. The dual optical servo technology we use in TAMPA yields low noise, consistent accuracy, low distortion and exceptional transparency—and it comes built-in to a great mic preamp.

REVIEW:

A real winner! - Electronic Musician Magazine
"The Tampa is a versatile preamp with a host of features you don't usually find on preamps in its price range. It has plenty of character, with a decent amount of clarity in the high end and a fat-sounding midrange and low end that sets it apart from other preamps. In addition, the THA feature is effective for adding tubelike characteristics. If you're looking to enhance your project studio with a quality preamp that has dynamics processing and digital converters, the Tampa is worth a visit."

- temporally-aligned harmonics for natural sound
- built-in dual servo compressor
- direct 24-bit digital S/PDIF and AES/EBU output
- Class A circuitry throughout
- classic VU meters

MORE INFO:

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