Ronald Meij Maker · 1 d ago
Twenty modules, and one honest line each about what they are. Before the list, four things. Prices are what a European shop was asking on 14 September 2026, including VAT unless it says otherwise, and they move, so read them as a bracket and not a quote. Links go to the maker first and to a shop second, where I could verify one. Nobody paid to be here and there are no affiliate links. And this is not a ranking: there is no measurement that puts one of these at number three and another at number eleven. It is a spread across price, circuit and maker, filtered down to what you can still buy new. Every maker here is doing serious work, the cheap ones included. A lunchbox usually starts with a preamp, and the preamp is the decision that colours everything after it. So: twenty, across every price bracket from under three hundred euro to well over a thousand. 01 API 512c Discrete, built round API's 2520 op-amp with their own input and output transformers. The 500-series continuation of the console mic amp they were making in the 1970s. For: drums, guitar amps, bass DI, horns About EUR 999. apiaudio.com/product/512c-mic-pre www.thomann.de/de/api_audio_512c_mic_pre.htm 02 AMS Neve 1073LB Class A discrete, two gain stages and an output stage, Marinair transformers. The factory 500-series version of the 1073, with gain to 80 dB in 5 dB steps on a switch. For: vocals, bass, guitar amps, drum room About EUR 959. www.ams-neve.com/outboard/1073-range/1073lb www.thomann.de/de/ams_neve_1073lb_preampmodule_500er_api.htm 03 AMS Neve 88RLB The mic amp of the 88R console in a module, with a custom Marinair input transformer. Cleaner and wider than the 1073, which is the point of it. For: general tracking, vocals, DI synths and bass About EUR 739. www.ams-neve.com/outboard/500-series-range/88rlb-mono-mic-preamp-module www.thomann.de/de/neve_88rlb_preampmodule_500er_api.htm 04 BAE 1073MPL All Class A, hand wired, Carnhill St Ives transformers, in the 1073 lineage. Switchable 1200 or 300 ohm input impedance and a high impedance DI. For: vocals, bass DI, guitar amps, overheads About EUR 1175. www.baeaudio.com/products/1073mpl www.musicstore.com/en_OT/EUR/BAE-Audio-1073MPL/art-REC0015981-000 05 BAE 312A Discrete, BAE 2015 op-amps, Jensen transformers, and no capacitors in the audio path. The API 312 console lineage rather than the Neve one. For: drums, guitar amps, bass DI, percussion About EUR 860 excluding VAT. www.baeaudio.com/products/312a www.milkaudiostore.com/shop/bae-312a-module-500 06 Rupert Neve Designs 511 Solid state with a custom transformer and the variable Silk and Texture control from the Portico series, so the amount of harmonic colour is a knob rather than a fixed property. Sweepable high-pass from 20 to 250 Hz. For: vocals, acoustic guitar, overheads About EUR 775. rupertneve.com/products/511 www.thomann.de/de/rupert_neve_designs_511.htm 07 Chandler Limited TG2-500 Discrete transistor, transformer balanced, recreating the EMI TG12428 mic amp from the Abbey Road consoles of the late sixties. Switchable input impedance. For: drums, bass DI, electric guitar, vocals About EUR 1149. chandlerlimited.com/tg2-500-pre-amp www.thomann.de/de/chandler_limited_tg2_500_preamp.htm 08 Heritage Audio 73 Jr. II All discrete, all Class A, three gain stages, Carnhill input transformer and a gapped Carnhill output transformer wound for them. A discrete Class A JFET DI sits ahead of the mic transformer. For: vocals, bass DI, guitar amps, drums About EUR 899. heritageaudio.com/73-jr-ii www.thomann.de/de/heritage_audio_73_jr._ii.htm 09 Cranborne Audio Camden 500 Fully discrete and transformerless, designed round the 500-series rails rather than adapted to them. Twelve step gain switch, distortion under 0.0004 per cent, and a separate saturation circuit when you do want colour. For: clean capture of anything, with colour on demand About EUR 395. www.cranborne-audio.com/camden500 www.thomann.de/de/cranborne_audio_camden_500.htm 10 Solid State Logic 500-Series VHD+ Pre SSL's Variable Harmonic Drive circuit, which sweeps the added harmonics from second order towards third. A clean preamp at one end of the knob and a deliberate distortion stage at the other. For: vocals, guitars, drums, DI sources About EUR 619. solidstatelogic.com/products/vhd-pre-module www.thomann.de/de/ssl_500_series_vhd_preamp_518670.htm 11 Millennia HV-35 Transformerless, the HV-3 topology in a module. Quoted flat within 3 dB from 3 Hz to over 300 kHz, with a ribbon mode that lifts the gain to 70 dB. For: acoustic instruments, orchestral work, ribbons, piano, voice-over About EUR 1059. www.mil-media.com/product/hv-35 www.thomann.de/de/millennia_hv_35.htm 12 Grace Design m501 Transformerless, built on a transimpedance amplifier. The ribbon mode raises input impedance, bypasses the input coupling capacitors and locks phantom off. For: acoustic guitar, strings, overheads, ribbons, location work About EUR 883. gracedesign.com/products/microphone-preamplifiers/m501 13 Great River MP-500NV Discrete, British console derived, Sowter transformers, with a switch for 300 or 1200 ohm input impedance and a transformer load switch. Heavier iron than most of this list. For: bass DI, electric guitar, drums, vocals Price not checked in euro. A London dealer had it at GBP 850. www.greweb.com/mp-500nv kmraudio.com/products/great-river-mp-500nv-500-series-mic-pre-module 14 Shadow Hills Mono GAMA A custom discrete op-amp with a Jensen input transformer and three selectable outputs: nickel transformer, steel transformer, or no transformer at all. Gain on a 24 step attenuator. For: vocals, drums, bass, when you want to re-voice without swapping boxes About EUR 1218. www.shadowhillsindustries.com www.audiosteps.io/shop/en/product/shadow-hills-mono-gama 15 Avedis MA5 Direct coupled, single ended Class A, with Avedis transformers and gain on a stepped 5 dB switch plus output trim. In production since 2007. For: drums, guitars, vocals, bass About EUR 865. avedisaudio.com/product/ma5-class-a-preamplfier www.audiosteps.io/en/product/avedis-audio-ma5-500s-preamplifier 16 Burl Audio B1 All discrete Class A, direct coupled, no capacitors in the audio chain, BX3 input transformer and a nickel BX2 output. The B1D swaps the output for all iron. For: vocals, drums, bass and guitar DI About EUR 823. www.burlaudio.com/products/b1-mic-pres www.audiosteps.io/shop/en/product/burl-audio-b1-500-mic-preamp 17 Maag Audio PREQ2-500 Discrete Class A, nickel core input transformer, with the AIR BAND EQ on board: up to 9 dB at 2.5, 5, 10, 20 or 40 kHz. A front instrument input and a thru jack for re-amping. For: vocals, acoustic guitar, overheads No European price found. Their newer PREQ4 500 was about EUR 676. maag.audio/preq2-500 18 Purple Audio Biz Discrete Class A/B with a transformer input, two KDJ3 op-amps and a KDJ4. A Dual switch splits the gain across two Class A stages for up to about 75 dB. For: ribbons and dynamics that need real gain, drums, bass About EUR 884 including VAT. purpleaudio.com/products/biz floatingpoint.audio/gb/preamplifiers/purple-audio-biz 19 AEA RPQ503 68 kohm input impedance, gain from 7 to 85 dB, and the two band sweepable CurveShaper EQ. New in 2025, but the RPQ line behind it is not. For: passive ribbons above all, and quiet acoustic sources About EUR 929. aearibbonmics.com/audio-products/rpq503 www.thomann.de/de/aea_rpq503.htm 20 Golden Age PRE-573 MKIII 1073 derived with no integrated circuits in the signal path and a transformer balanced floating output. Switchable active or passive DI, two position high-pass, and an AIR mode. For: bass DI, guitar, vocals, drums About EUR 285, which is why most project studios meet the 1073 sound here first. goldenageaudio.com/outboard-hardware/preamps/pre-573-mkiii-500-series-microphone-preamp www.thomann.de/de/golden_age_project_pre_573_mkiii.htm That is twenty. If something you own belongs here and is not, reply and say what it does that these do not. Corrections welcome too: a price that has moved, a model that has been revised, a dealer link that has died.