Analog | fet/rack - Hairball Audio built by Billy Pratt of Audibility Recording - ABW Reviews
Channel: Audio Builders Workshop
Date: 2017-09-15

"The Blue Stripe

Often referred to as a “Blue Stripe”. These units were the first commercial revision and have a silver panel with a distinctive blue stripe over the VU meter. The signal and line amp are based on the 1108 mic pre and use a FET as the first active component in each amp stage (all other revisions use a bipolar transistor). The gain reduction FET in this model has a unique circuitry around it, different from all other models (notably the lack of source resistor). This results in a little more distortion that helps define the “Blue Stripe” sound. This revision also has a slightly lower threshold in comparison to later revisions (about 5db) and more gain in the amplification stages (about 5db) than the Rev D. This revision is rare, limited to less than a 1000 units, and are highly sought after by many engineers and producers."

"There is a ton of excellent and highly regarded DIY gear out there, but so much of it only comes in pieces. We know that not everybody can solder and that’s where we come in.
We may offer many services in the audio industry, but we enjoy building DIY gear the most. If you’re as much of a gear slut as we are then you understand that looking at gear is almost as much fun as listening to it. This deep-seated philosophy of ours holds build quality and presentation as the highest priorities in all of our items; because clean, thoroughly checked builds lead to electrical and mechanical integrity and longevity.

Our company recognized the potential of DIY gear only after several months of research, intensive forum browsing, reading customer testimonials, and listening to blind shoot outs posted online. We decided to begin our personal preamplifier collection by building some for ourselves. A few years and 750+ hours worth of solder fumes inhaled later we have built over 30 different models of preamplifier and microphone kits from several of the highest regarded DIY suppliers."- http://www.audibilityrecording.com/di4u/