Tritonaudio FetHead - Studio Preamplifier

Product Information

A Cloudlifter (or alternative mic activator) is necessary if you’re using a low sensitivity dynamic or ribbon microphone and the preamps of your mixer/audio interface don’t provide the gain needed to bring your microphone up to the required level. As for the amount of the boost that the FetHead gives you, it’s specified as being 27 dB by Triton. This varies by load impedance, however, so you may find that you get a higher or lower boost depending on your connections. I’d like to make a casual reference to the MartiAudio Booster, Royer dBooster, Sanken HAD‑48, and a handful of other options that could have qualified as a viable alternative to the CL-1.

Fethead uses low noise jfets configured as a double class a amplifier. Jfet’s are among the most quiet amplifying elements available today. The calculated noise figure of the FetHead based on the jfet’s datasheet is lower than we are able to measure.

Final Verdict

The Durham MKII has a small footprint and is a more affordable alternative to CL-1. If 20 dB is enough gain for your needs, it has an excellent value-to-cost ratio and high-quality gain to offer. When compared to other preamplifiers with a similar cost, FetHead is noted for its low noise, crisp, and clear end result. Fin da quando ho iniziato a utilizzare l'SM7B, mi sono reso conto che aveva bisogno di un po' di "aiuto" per raggiungere il livello di uscita desiderato. Il FetHead è stato la soluzione perfetta per questo problema. Si tratta di un preamplificatore a transistor a stato solido che si collega direttamente al tuo microfono XLR e fornisce un notevole aumento di guadagno senza introdurre rumore o distorsioni indesiderate. The FetHead is smaller than the alternatives and has a utilitarian design. It doesn’t have any indicators, knobs, or switches and doesn’t look like much more than a metal tube. This is great if you want a seamless and no-nonsense setup. Now we know a bit more about the products and have analyzed how they work in a variety of tests, what have we learned? Well, the noise floor on the FetHead is higher than that of the Cloudlifter, however, that is to be expected as the FetHead provides a higher boost overall.

I’ve referenced the regular FetHead for this post. However, Triton Audio also offers FetHead Filter that has an extra HPF feature and FetHead Phantom for condenser microphones. 2. sE Electronics Dynamite DM-1 (Highest Gain) Cathedral Pipes have adopted the built-in circuit from “Seville” – one of their bestselling active ribbon microphones – to create the Durham MKII. That ought to vouch for the fact that it has enough juice for ribbon mics. Performance

Triton Audio FetHead Phantom In-line Microphone Preamp Features:

In-line preamps like the FetHead are helpful in this case—they give you clean gain to boost your mic levels without being too noisy. Even if you don't need more signal, some users have even reported that just by using the FetHead they have noticed an improvement in the sound from the mics. So it can also be used to open up the sound a little for that perfect, airy vocal take. These mic activators can add a much-needed boost to your noise floor without marring the quality of your output. It’s as simple as plugging in your XLR cable, adjusting the gain, and making sounds! Additional resources: Mic activators help us solve the gain problems of dynamic and ribbon microphone styles. One of the biggest draws of these devices is that they are considered a low-noise solution for quiet audio. This means you can spend more time recording and less in post-production working with audio you can barely hear.

The frequency response range of the FetHead is larger than the CL-1. The FetHead is also, by and large, the flatter of the two responses, meaning that although this additional gain does bring up the noise floor somewhat, the gain is more transparent overall.

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Robust, quality components, made in the US and considerably cheaper than the CL-1, the Durham is a great alternative to a Cloudlifter. Ultimately, I omitted them because they are not quite as popular or are much of the same. The only exception to this is the Royer dBooster, which is a pricey but top-shelf unit. That said, it’s safe to say assume we’ve covered every mic booster worth contemplating in 2021. Due to their age, some ribbon microphones cannot handle phantom power. Although the Fethead uses phantom power to power up its circuitry, this does not pass to the microphone so your ribbons will be kept safe at all times. Specifications It doesn’t add any color and the gain boost on dynamic or ribbon microphones doesn’t have any noticeable noise. The transparent gain and improved impedance loading are ideal for studio use or podcasting with low-output microphones. Verdict Other than these situations, a FetHead can be a great addition to your mic setup if you need a clean boost to the level of your dynamic or ribbon microphone. Detailed Review