We’ve all dreamed of Manley gear. One of the first big pieces of gear I wanted was a Manley Slam and their gold Reference mic. Not only do they look appealing but they are an industry standard for the big studios. Manley has looked down and had pity on us and decided to give us an opportunity to have a full channel of Manley including preamp, EQ, and dynamics at a price that is a little more in our league. Presenting the Manley Core. Look out Avalon VT737, Manley is creeping up on your territory.
Manley Labs, a privately owned company that designs, manufactures, and distributes high-end analog audio equipment, today announced the CORE, an analog channel strip. The Manley CORE is an innovative and affordable mic preamplifier, compressor, equalizer, and limiter combo-unit that combines the greatest hits of the Manley product line with fresh technology. The intuitive design incorporates musical and forgiving circuitry that allows the user to concentrate on performance rather than be lost in a sea of knobs. No other channel strip at this price point offers higher headroom or higher end sound than the CORE, which is, like all Manley products, handcrafted in Southern California.
“As more musicians are contributing to a project remotely, coached by the recording engineer over the telephone, we saw the need to provide an affordable and easy-to-use, excellent sounding recording channel for these guys. They aren’t engineers, they are musicians!” commented EveAnna Manley, president of Manley Labs. “The CORE is feature-laden without being confusing. Its whole purpose is to give the musician the tools he needs to turn in a great sounding track.”
FRONT PANEL CONTROLS
- 48V Phantom power switch
- 120Hz High Pass Filter switch
- Phase Invert switch
- Input Attenuator (Variable Pad)
- Mic Pre Selectable Gain 40 dB or 60 dB (Total Gain >70 dB)
- Line Amp Selectable Gain 20 dB or 40 dB
MIC / LINE PREAMPLIFIER
- Hand-wound Manley IRON® input transformer with nickel laminations in a mu-metal can
- Class A tube amplifying stage circuit topology (similar to the Manley VOXBOX® and Manley Dual Mono & Mono Microphone Preamplifiers)
- All-triode high voltage vacuum tube circuit
- Regulated 300 Volt B+ supply
¼” DIRECT INPUT
- Similar to the DI in the Manley SLAM!®
- All-discrete solid-state circuit
- 10 Meg Ohm input impedance (ideal for guitars, bass, keyboards, etc.)
COMPRESSOR
- ELOP® technology also found in the Manley VOXBOX
- Compressor placed before the mic preamp—virtually impossible to clip
- Ratio 3:1
- Continuously variable Attack, Release, and Threshold controls
- Silent Bypass switch
EQUALIZER
- Low and High Baxandall shelves (80 Hz and 12 kHz) with ± 12dB range
- Sweepable Midrange Bell EQ (100 Hz – 1 kHz) or (1–10 kHz) with ±10dB range
LIMITER
- Fast attack FET brickwall limiter
- Continuously variable Threshold and Release controls
- Peak Limit LED indicator
- 10dB range output gain control
METER
- Large illuminated analog display
- 3-way meter select to read Compressor gain reduction, Mic Preamp Output level, and Main Output audio levels.
INPUTS AND OUTPUTS
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Balanced XLR mic input
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Balanced XLR line input
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Front panel direct instrument 1/4” input
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Insert point between Mic Preamp/Compressor and EQ/Limiter via 1/4” TRS jack
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Balanced XLR direct output (after Preamp/Compressor section)
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Balanced XLR main output
Availability and Pricing:
The Manley Core is available Q2 2014 at a MSRP of US $2250.00.
