BLUETUBE DP V2

The job of a microphone preamplifier is to boost a microphone-level signal to line level before conversion to the digital domain. A good preamp boosts the level to almost 400 times that of the original signal, making the preamp one of the most important stages in an interface. A cheap, off-the-shelf, op-amp-type mic preamp delivers thin, noisy, harsh results. But with XMAX preamps, the sonic quality is limited only by the microphone you plug into it.

XMAX preamplifiers are built with three key elements:

• Class A. Class A circuits have no crossover distortion and deliver purer, clearer, and more musical results than the Class AB designs that are found in many preamps.
• High Voltage. The XMAX preamplifier runs on power rails of 30V. Most off-the-shelf, op-amp-based designs run on power rails of 10V to 18V. Higher-voltage power rails deliver more headroom, deeper lows, smoother highs, and a richer overall sound.
• Discrete components—not op-amps. We only use genuine transistors, resistors, and capacitors. Op-amps add noise, coloration, and harshness to a signal. Our discrete design delivers ultra-low noise and transparency.

The most versatile preamp in its class—and built to travel.

The BlueTube DP V2 offers far and away the widest variety of tone-shaping capabilities of any preamp in its class. Housed in a rugged, half-rackspace case that is built to travel, its rear panel sports two combo mic/instrument inputs and unbalanced ¼” and balanced XLR line outputs. With two dual-path channels and this complement of I/O, you can use it as a preamp and as a direct box (DI) for guitars and basses. Singer-songwriters can run their vocal through one channel and their guitar through the other, feeding both to the P.A.—no guitar amp needed. And we didn’t forget the extras: an 80 Hz highpass filter, phantom power, a -20 dB pad to control hot input signals, polarity reverse, and a backlit VU meter. Yet the BlueTube DP V2 is small enough to carry in a gig bag—or screw-mount it to a standard rack tray.