Skip to main content

Has anyone heard of this Scotland based preamp manufacturer? I'm looking at a used DB200 2-channel mic preamp and wondering how it stacks up to something like Focusrite ISA428 or FMR's RNP.

Thanks,

Conor

Comments

moonbaby Sun, 07/01/2007 - 14:44

Very obscure manufacturer, they may be out of business now. I ran across an 8-channel "800" in a studio in Atlanta about 5 years ago. The owner claimed that he got it through Eddie Offord, the producer for ELP and Yes. He compared it to API, and was using it for drums. The only negative thing that I noticed was that there was this built-in limiter circuit that was "spongey" at best. Anyway, it seemed like its' build quality was very good, and it was clean and quiet. With the limiter OFF, the transient detail was very good and punchy.
BUT you'd want to make sure that you would be able to get the thing repaired if needed, so be sure it has the schematic/service info included.
You may be on your own with that.
As far as how it measured up to the others you've listed, I would say that it is MUCHO better than the Focusrite (whose rep is rapidly crumbling, anyhow). Haven't used the RNP, but if the 2-channel CLM has the same feature set as the 8-channel (M/S decoder, stepped gain, etc), I'd say that its' a good notch up from the FMR even with its GOOD rep...