Benson Sound Labs the history of Harrison rebooted featuring the 1632 Filter/ EQ / SUMMING MIXER and the Lineage Super 8

Benson Sound Labs continues the tradition of Harrison in its products, under official license, maintaining the same precise audio specifications and magic, in addition to a new feature set to enhance the modern music production work flow.

Our products are developed and assembled in the USA. Benson Sound Labs philosophy is focused on bringing exciting and innovative products to the industry to enhance creativity and continue a legacy built by great innovation in years gone by, Some things are just far to valuable and can not be left to rest. The legend of Harrison lives on.

The Harrison name has been a distinguished and integral part of music production history since 1975.

The first Harrison console shipped in 1975. Since that time, countless ground-breaking artists have been recorded and mixed on Harrison- designed consoles – AC/DC, Janet Jackson, Queen, ABBA – the list goes on! The greatest selling album of all time – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” – was recorded and mixed on a Harrison 32-series console using the very same filters featured on the Harrison 832c Filter Unit ands the Benson Sound Labs 1632c.

Benson Sound Labs Lineage Super 8

The Lineage SUPER 8-8 channel microphone preamplifier/ SUMMING MIXER provides 8 microphone preamps, each from a different era of Harrison consoles, along with 8 channels of TRUE ANALOG SUMMING. Each pair of preamps has their own unique character, providing the recording engineer with all the history of Harrison in one unit.

Features

8 Channels of Harrison Mic preamps with PAD and 48V
8 INST INPUT
8 PREAMP DIRECT OUTPUTS
8 x ANALOG VU METER
8 x channels INSERT SEND/ RETURN/ DAW INPUT
2 x MIX OUTPUT / SUMM OUT
2 x FB/ AUX OUTPUT
1 x HEADPHONE MIX OUTPUT with Variable control
PAN L/R on EACH CHANNEL
LINK L/R output for CASCADE and EXPANSION

PREAMPS

Channels 1 & 2 – TRION

The TRION mic pres represent the latest in Harrison’s mic pre designs. These have transformer-balanced inputs and electrically balanced rear line outputs. Each mic pre has a selectable front panel input that can be used with either a mic or instrument (INST) signal. When INST is select- ed, the input transformer is bypassed and a FET input stage is inserted for use with a high impedance instrument signal. 48V phantom power and a -20 dB pad are selectable from the front panel. A signal overload (OL) LED will illuminate when the signal reaches +18 dB. An alternate recessed gain pot is selectable by pressing the FIX button. When FIX is selected the mic pre gain is set by the recessed GAIN pot instead of the front panel knob. The GAIN pot can be set to a frequently used setting that can easily be recalled.

Channels 3 & 4 – 32c / MR Series

Channels 3 and 4 are reminicent of Harrison’s mic pre designs used in the 32c and MR series consoles of the 1970’s and -80’s. These feature a low noise, parallel discrete input stage with electrically balanced rear line outputs. 48V phantom power and a -20 dB pad are selectable from the front panel. A signal overload (OL) LED will illuminate when the signal reaches +18 dB.

Channels 5 & 6 – Series 10 / 950

Channels 5 and 6 are reminicent of Harrison’s mic pre designs used in the Series 10 and PRO950 consoles of the 1980’s and -90’s. These fea- ture a low noise, single discrete input stage with an op amp driven reference. The rear located outputs are electrically balanced. 48V phantom power and a -20 dB pad are selectable from the front panel. A signal overload (OL) LED will illuminate when the signal reaches +18 dB.

Channels 7 & 8 – Series 12 / LPC

Channels 7 and 8 are reminicent of Harrison’s mic pre designs used in the Series 12 and Live Performance Console (LPC) of the 1990’s and 2000’s. These feature a low noise, single discrete electronic input stage and a dual driven output stage with FET compensated headroom. The rear located outputs are electrically balanced. 48V phantom power and a -20 dB pad are selectable from the front panel. A signal overload (OL) LED will illuminate when the signal reaches +18 dB.

An innovative addition is the “FIX” button on each of the two Trion preamps. The “FIX” button engages a preset gain trim (user-adjustable via a trim pot). The combination of the front-panel input switching and the “FIX” buttons allow you to switch the first two preamps between one use (such as two calibrated overhead mics in the studio) and another (such as a vocal chain setup) without having to reset the input gain in-between.

TRION

This preamp is based on a premium Lundahl transformer in an unconventional but inspired design that provides 70dB of clean gain. It also has the additional features of front panel inputs, instrument (hi-Z) selection, and an alternate “FIX” gain preset. With unmatched sound and configurability, this pair of preamps provides the backbone for any recording studio. They provide subtle character for lead vocals, clean gain for DI instruments, transformer saturation on close-miked drums, and recallability (using the FIX mode) for matched drum overheads. The TRION mic preamps are the culmination of decades of optimizations to accommodate sources with widely-ranging requirements. You can’t throw anything at these preamps that they can’t handle.

70s-80s

A parallel discrete input stage provides 60dB gain using a static bias scheme. This preamp has an EIN measurement at the edge of theoretical limits, and is perfect for quiet sources where noise performance is an absolute priority. Paradoxically, this same preamp provided the hard-hitting sounds of 70s rock and R&B that put Harrison on the map. A true classic.

80s-90s

This model is based on a single discrete input stage (63dB gain) using an active bias scheme. Providing slightly more gain and headroom than the 70s models, but with a similar character, this preamp is a “workhorse” design that has powered many incarnations of Harrison analog products over the years. This is an excellent low-noise, high-gain preamp that will transparently capture any source.

90s-00s

Incorporating a single discrete input stage (63dB gain) and using a passive bias scheme, these preamps also incorporate FET-compensated headroom extension. This unusual design powered some of Harrison’s later digitally-controlled analog consoles, and it is highly regarded for preserving the character of individual drums, acoustic guitar, and other percussive, harmonically-rich sources that need to “cut through” a mix. This circuit also differs from the others by using a parallel electronically-balanced output which we found was needed to preserve the original’s character.

MIXER

The Lineage SUPER 8 is an 8 channel TRUE ANALOG SUMMING MIXER with BUSS assignment. 8 Channels of DAW output can feed the inputs which are routed to the MIX/ FB/ AUX outputs and returned to your DAW or other devices with true analog headroom.

Each Channel has Analog VU Meter, PAD, Fixed/ Variable GAIN, BUSS assignment, PAN, INSERT and MIC/ INST input, The master section includes variable HEADPHONE and MASTER BUSS control.

Combined with the 1632C, this completes a powerful all ANALOG 16 channel, 8 Microphone Preamp with Filter/ EQ, PAN control, Headphone and MIX BUSS output Harrison MIXER with VU metering.

The front panel includes eight MIC/INST inputs, and the rear panel includes eight microphone preamp inputs and a DB25 connector carrying the eight line outputs. The unit is constructed with a robust power supply and uses high-quality components that are assembled and tested and hand built in the USA.

Audio Specifications:

The following specifications apply to Benson Sound Labs Lineage SUPER 8 Mic Preamps and are subject to change without notice. Mic Preamps will be tested to meet only those specifications in effect at the time of final testing. These specifications represent an overall system and not the individual components of a system. They represent the cumulative effect of all components. Additionally, these specifications are stated over a wide range of operating conditions representative of actual use conditions rather than a restrictive set of conditions likely to be seen only when conducting systems tests. Therefore, these specifications represent the worst case in-use conditions rather than test conditions developed for competitive advantage. All level specification tolerances are +/- 1 dB.

TRION

Input Impedance without Pad 920 ohms
Input Impedance with Pad 1300 ohms
Minimum Gain without Pad 26 dB
Minimum Gain with Pad 6 dB
Maximum Gain without Pad 70 dB
Maximum Gain with Pad 50 dB
Maximum Input Level without Pad -2 dBu
Maximum Input Level with Pad +18 dBu
Maximum Output Level +24 dBu
1khz THD @ 50db gain < 0.010
IMD @ 50db gain < 0.05
EIN 150 ohm source impedance > 127 dB
Freq. Response 20Hz-20kHz +/- 0.25 dB
Instrument Input Minimum Gain 13dB
Instrument Input Maximum Gain 57dB
Instrument Input Impedance 1 Mohm

32c / MR Series

Input Impedance without Pad 7000 ohms
Input Impedance with Pad 1360 ohms
Minimum Gain without Pad 12 dB
Minimum Gain with Pad -8 dB
Maximum Gain without Pad 60 dB
Maximum Gain with Pad 40 dB
Maximum Input Level without Pad +12 dBu
Maximum Input Level with Pad +16 dBu
Maximum Output Level +24 dBu
1khz THD @ 50db gain < 0.005
IMD @ 50db gain < 0.025
EIN 150 ohm source impedance > 127 dB
Freq. Response 20Hz-20kHz +/- .25 dB
Instrument Input Minimum Gain N/A
Instrument Input Maximum Gain N/A
Instrument Input Impedance N/A

Series 10 / 950

Input Impedance without Pad 1300 ohms
Input Impedance with Pad 1360 ohms
Minimum Gain without Pad 16 dB
Minimum Gain with Pad -4 dB
Maximum Gain without Pad 63 dB
Maximum Gain with Pad 43 dB
Maximum Input Level without Pad +8 dBu
Maximum Input Level with Pad +28 dBu
Maximum Output Level +24 dBu
1khz THD @ 50db gain < 0.005
IMD @ 50db gain < 0.025
EIN 150 ohm source impedance > 127 dB
Freq. Response 20Hz-20kHz +/- .25 dB
Instrument Input Minimum Gain N/A
Instrument Input Maximum Gain N/A
Instrument Input Impedance N/A

Series 12 / LPC

Input Impedance without Pad 1300 ohms
Input Impedance with Pad 1360 ohms
Minimum Gain without Pad 16 dB
Minimum Gain with Pad -4 dB
Maximum Gain without Pad 61 dB
Maximum Gain with Pad 41 dB
Maximum Input Level without Pad +8 dBu
Maximum Input Level with Pad +28 dBu
Maximum Output Level +24 dBu
1khz THD @ 50db gain < 0.005
IMD @ 50db gain < 0.025
EIN 150 ohm source impedance > 127 dB
Freq. Response 20Hz-20kHz +/- .25 dB
Instrument Input Minimum Gain N/A
Instrument Input Maximum Gain N/A
Instrument Input Impedance N/A

Benson Sound Labs 1632 Filter/ EQ / SUMMING MIXER

The 1632 Filter/ EQ / SUMMING MIXER Includes 16 channels of high-pass/low-pass filters from Harrison’s world-renowned 32-series console – providing classic Harrison sound for recording and mixing.

The first Harrison console shipped in 1975. Since that time, countless ground-breaking artists have been recorded and mixed on Harrison- designed consoles – AC/DC, Janet Jackson, Queen, ABBA – the list goes on! The greatest-selling album of all time – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” – was recorded and mixed on a Harrison 32-series console using the very same filters featured on the 1632C.

Features

Each channel features in / out buttons (marked “HP” and “LP”), a “Bump” button, 2 sweepable filter knobs, VU input meter and Left/Right BUSS assign buttons
The main section includes MIX output and HEADPHONE output for variable controls
The rear includes 16 channels of DIRECT IO and LEFT/ RIGHT MIX outputs for SUMMING and BUSS feed
A stereo LINK on 1/4” allows cascading and expansion.

Overview

When the filters are engaged, the variable filter knobs adjust the desired frequency. The HPF knob (red) allows adjustment from 25Hz to 3.15KHz. The LPF knob (white) allows adjustment from 180Hz to 20KHz. When engaged, the unique “Bump” button creates a resonant “boost” just above the selected HPF frequency – re-creating the signature low-end of the Harrison 32-series consoles. This resonance accentuates audible low frequencies while rolling off unneeded sub-low energy. Combined with proper execution of the LPF, the “Bump” feature makes the 1632C the perfect piece to fatten kick drums, beef up bass lines, and add body to guitar tracks.

The 1632 is an all analog 16 Channel Summing MIXER providing Filter/ EQ on each channel. A total of 16 direct inputs are available from your DAW which can be bussed to the MIX Outputs to return the SUMM mix utilising that famous Harrison Sound with all the headroom of Analog.

The audio connections are provided on AES59 (Tascam DB-25) connectors. These connectors match the output of the Lineage Super 8 Mic Preamp/ Summing Mixer. When used in tandem, the 1632C Filter/ EQ Unit and the Lineage Super 8 Mic Preamp/ Summing Mixer provide a complete 8-channel inputted SUMMING solution with preamp, filters/ EQ, bussing, headphone monitoring and metering.