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.
These eight pres are magic! Tedi Sarafian Music Producer, CEO of Barefoot Sound
“Using the Lineage Super 8 and the 1632/EQ/Summing mixer in my latest project was an absolute delight. These eight pres are magic, each with its own unique vibe. They bring depth, clarity, and a rich fullness that shines beautifully. My trusty old mics really hit it off with them – a match made in heaven, you could say. These preamps delivered my best vocal recordings ever. Nowadays, whenever I’m diving into vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, you name it, these preamps are my go-to. Actually, they work wonders on just about anything you throw at them.
The summing bus is like a time machine with that vintage sound, reminiscent of the classic consoles they used back in the day. My mixes suddenly become 3D. No wonder they went for a Harrison console for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” That album’s legendary sound makes perfect sense now. I usually do not write reviews on gear and did not receive these for free to do so. This is my honest take on a product that’s worth your attention.”
—Tedi Sarafian
Music Producer, CEO of Barefoot Sound
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