500 Series Preamps: Top 10 Picks and Great Buyers Guide!

500 Series Preamps

Introduction

500 Series tools offer an incredible level of customization for your studio setup. Engineers can mix and match gear from different manufacturers, making this format much more versatile than traditional setups based around a single console.

For example, if you want an API preamp in your signal chain along with an SSL EQ, you can now have both—without needing to buy an entire API or SSL console. The 500 format lets you build your own custom high-end channel strip to fit your needs, using preamps, EQs, compressors, DIs, and a wide variety of other tools to process your audio. 500 Series racks also fit into a 3U rack space, saving valuable real estate in small home studio control rooms without compromising on quality or flexibility.

Like many 500 Series preamps (and unlike 500 Series effects such as compressors and EQs), the preamps have inputs on their front panels. Specifically, they often include an XLR mic input and a 1/4″ high-impedance instrument/line input. Note that you can also access these inputs from the back panel of the rack, if the rack is equipped with both XLR and 1/4″ inputs.

Just so you know, we’ll list these 500 Series Preamps in no particular order. The order will be randomized—we’re not ranking them from best to worst.

Listed below are our Top 10 Best 500 Series Preamps:

1. Heritage Audio 73 Jr. II

The Heritage Audio 73JR II is an upgrade to the classic 73JR—a true 73-style mic preamp that fits into a single 500 series slot, now with extra features to meet the needs of today’s recording engineers. Built with discrete circuitry and traditional components, the 73JR II is a reliable 3-stage, all Class A preamp. Styroflex and tantalum capacitors are used throughout, with absolutely no corners cut.

The all-discrete Class A hi-pass filter is sweepable from 20 to 220 Hz, making it easy to tighten up your low end without losing important frequencies. The Line mode allows for reamping of prerecorded tracks, making it perfect for adding some color to otherwise lifeless recordings. The DI input (which automatically switches to DI mode when you plug in a 1/4″ TS cable) is a fully discrete Class-A JFET circuit placed in front of the microphone transformer, giving you all the weight and color you could want.

Special attention has also been paid to power management, with an internal +24V slow-turn-on regulator. This is great for your 500 series enclosure’s power supply and keeps the 73JR II’s power independent from other slots.

Usually, compromises are made when adapting a 73 preamp for the 500 Series, but you won’t find any of them in the 73JR II. It uses the full 3-gain stage circuit for up to 80 dB of gain, with an impressively low noise floor of -125 dBu EIN at all gain positions. The 73JR II runs on a true 24-volt onboard power supply, delivering the same performance and distortion levels as the originals.

The 73JR II is made entirely with discrete, through-hole traditional parts and built by hand for that authentic 70s sound. The output transformer is a custom Carnhill, made in the St Ives factory. The input transformer is also a custom Carnhill, but made in their Oxford factory. This particular transformer adds extra mojo to the unit and is the same one found in the higher-end 80 Series modules.

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2. Lindell Audio 6X-500

This unit features transformer-balanced inputs and outputs and delivers up to 65dB of input gain. Each gain stage uses discrete op-amps. Beneath the input and output controls, you’ll find two related pots for the high- and low-end EQ—a passive design modeled after the beloved Pultec curves, allowing up to 15dB of boost.

High frequencies can be boosted at 6kHz, 10kHz, or 16kHz, while the low end can be boosted at 30Hz, 60Hz, or 100Hz. On the back of the unit, three push-buttons let you engage the EQ, reverse polarity, or activate 48v phantom power. Up top, there’s a five-position LED meter with the word “LOUD” displayed vertically!

When using the preamp flat, without EQ, the sound remained clear with any of the microphones you might use to test it. No matter the mic, this preamp will help you get the best out of it.

Comparing the 6X-500 to our reference Earlybird valve mic pre, we noticed the Lindell had a bit less body and lacked the silky top end of the much more expensive valve unit. However, it stood out with a sonic character that emphasized the upper-mid frequencies, delivering a sound full of presence. Boosting the top end at 16kHz added a pleasant sparkle to various sources, and the low-end boost provided weight that sounded fantastic on kick drums.

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3. AMS Neve 1073LB Preampmodule 500er API

When you think of any iconic recordings from the past 45 years, chances are, the artists’ voices or instruments were first captured through a Neve 1073. Now, this legendary sound is available in the convenient 500 series format.

The Neve 1073LB is still made in Great Britain, built to the exacting standards of Neve’s original 1073 preamp. This includes painstakingly recreated, authentic-spec hand-wound input and output transformers, matched components, and specially reproduced tantalum coupling capacitors—all coming together to deliver that unmistakable Neve magic. With a build quality even the British Admiralty would admire, the 1073LB features large, gold-plated input level switch contacts designed to withstand years of demanding recording sessions.

As inspiring as owning a rare piece of vintage gear can be, the lack of modern features can sometimes make recording less enjoyable. That’s why Neve’s engineers have equipped the 1073LB with switchable microphone input impedance, a signal presence LED, and a clever, protected switching system on the front combi-XLR input connector, so you won’t accidentally damage a line-level device with 48v phantom power.

The new Fine Trim control lets you dial in sparkling clean signals at maximum level or push the gain for that signature Neve saturation. The 1073LB Preamp’s smart Audio Processing Input design and Lunchbox Insert layout allow you to create a classic Neve 1073 channel strip when paired with a Neve 1073LB Series EQ.

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4. Shadow Hills Industries Mono GAMA

The Mono GAMA is the single-channel API 500 Series version of the Golden Age Microphone Amp, offering all the features, flexibility, and high-quality sound of the original. The Shadow Hills Mono Gama is built around a custom discrete op-amp, delivering uncompromising sound that is huge, consistent, punchy, and deep across the entire frequency range—without ever sounding veiled or choked.

The preamp uses a transformer-balanced input with an authentic Jensen input transformer. This version includes both transformers, allowing you to choose which one to use for your recording. You can switch the output transformer by simply turning a knob, changing the tonal character to best suit whatever source you’re recording.

This lets you easily audition different settings to find the perfect match for your microphone or direct input, all without the hassle of patching and un-patching different preamps. It may even reduce your need for EQ. Choose from Nickel, Discrete, or Steel transformer settings. Each position sounds excellent on its own, but being able to switch between them is like having three great preamps in one.

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5. Rupert Neve Designs Portico 511

Rupert Neve Designs has created plenty of signature gear that brings Mr. Neve’s legendary touch to the modern recording world. While these products are sometimes priced out of reach for some, RND’s latest release hits the sweet spot for affordability while still delivering high quality and excellent sound. The 511 preamp offers a range of controls, including the signature Silk circuit.

RND has smartly optimized the space limitations of the 500 Series by using components that keep noise low, while still providing the same presence and sonic quality as their popular Portico series. A precise 12-way rotary switch increases the gain from zero to 66 dB in 6 dB steps.

There’s also a continuously variable trim knob that lets you adjust the level by ±6 dB, plus phase polarity and phantom power buttons right on the 511 panel. A variable highpass filter can be engaged with the HPF switch, letting you sweep from 20 to 250 Hz at a 12 dB per octave rate—perfect for cutting out unwanted low-end rumble when needed.

The eight-step LED meter on the right side of the Portico 511 lights up as soon as a signal passes through, and it will hold a peak in the red range depending on how far above the clip threshold your signal is. The Silk button, taken from the Portico II series, is included on the 511—pressing the red Silk button engages the Silk circuit, which reduces negative feedback on the output transformer and adds harmonic content as you increase the texture.

The Silk circuit itself allows the engineer to create up to ten times more harmonic material and distortion characteristics than what you’d find in many of Rupert Neve’s earlier Class-A vintage designs.

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6. Chandler Limited TG2 500 Preamp

With just three rotary controls (all featuring quality chicken-head knobs), two toggle switches, and two push buttons, the TG2–500 is refreshingly straightforward to use. However, it would have benefited from some status indicator LEDs, even if they aren’t strictly ‘authentic’. The top rotary control has a red knob and sets the gain in seven 5dB steps, covering a total range of 30dB.

This setup is quite different from the rack-mounted TG2, which uses a 15–position switch to provide a wider gain range. The middle potentiometer, with a black knob, also differs from the TG2 preamp/DI. It offers a continuous gain trim of about ±10dB, allowing for precise level adjustments. This fills in the gaps left by the coarse gain control and extends the overall gain range in both directions. The bottom potentiometer has a gray knob and serves as an output level control, functioning like an output fader, just like the rack-mount version.

When set to ‘mic mode’, the maximum gain—according to the coarse gain scale—is 50dB, which matches our measurements with the trim control centered and the output control at maximum. Pushing the trim control all the way up adds another 10dB of gain, giving you a total mic gain of 60dB.

If you switch to ‘line mode’, the input sensitivity drops by 10dB. This means that with the coarse gain at minimum, trim centered, and output at maximum, a 0dBu line input signal will appear at the output as +5dBu. Turning the output control back to 6.5 on the scale gives you unity gain.

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7. SSL 500-Series SiX Channel

Featuring SSL’s signature grey background and colored buttons, the SiX CH offers performance much like a channel from one of the company’s other products, the SiX mixers. You get mic, line, and Hi-Z inputs, along with two bands of EQ and a compressor. As is standard for this format, you connect microphones using the XLR input on the back of your 500 Series rack.

On the front of the SiX CH, there’s a 1/4-inch jack for line and Hi-Z inputs. Next to that jack are Line and Hi-Z buttons, which let you select the input type. Pressing the Line button switches the input from the XLR to the 1/4-inch jack. If you want the high-impedance input, you also need to press the Hi-Z button. It may seem a bit counterintuitive that the Line button has to be engaged to use the Hi-Z input, but it’s a minor detail, and you’ll get used to it quickly.

Other controls on the SiX CH include a Gain knob and switches for polarity reverse, 48V phantom power, and a highpass filter. The highpass filter is set at 75 Hz with a 12dB/octave slope. While many 500 Series preamps offer only a single LED for signal presence and overload, the SiX CH features a five-segment, color-coded LED meter.

The preamp itself uses SSL’s SuperAnalogue design, just like the one in the SiX mixer. According to the company, this design originated in their Duality and AWS consoles. The SiX CH’s mic preamp works great on both sung and spoken vocals, as well as acoustic guitar and ukulele.

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8. Cranborne Audio Camden 500

The Camden 500 was designed from the ground up to be the ultimate front-end for the modern studio and engineer, built to handle the demands of today’s workflows and production techniques. It features a completely unique, custom-designed ‘Camden’ preamp topology that delivers stunningly low noise and distortion, along with frequency and phase linearity at every gain setting. The result is an impressive -129.8dB EIN (150 ohms, unweighted), THD+N as low as 0.0002%, a frequency response of ±0.7 dB from 5 Hz to 200 kHz at maximum gain, and less than 2° phase shift from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

When you want a touch of that classic ‘British’ character, instead of relying on a transformer and accepting its downsides, Cranborne Audio created Mojo—two discrete analog saturation styles that transform the Camden 500 into the fattest, warmest, and most colorful preamp in your toolkit—all with a simple turn of a dial. Best of all, unlike transformers and other vintage designs, Mojo can be subtle, exaggerated, or completely bypassed.

While most preamps boast impressive specs at certain gain settings, those numbers often fall apart as you turn up the gain. The Camden 500 was specifically engineered to maintain its outstanding performance at every gain position from 8 dB to 68 dB. This means even at maximum gain, the phase and frequency response remain linear and THD always stays inaudible—so you can use any gain setting with any source or microphone combination and get pristine results.

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9. API Audio 512v Preamp

The API 512v is a 500 series mic/line/instrument preamp that builds on the legendary sound of the classic 512c preamp. While it keeps all the familiar controls of the 512c, the 512v adds three new features designed with the modern engineer in mind.

First, the 512v includes a variable gain management knob located just below the input gain knob, making stage matching quicker and easier. No more struggling with clip gain automation or relying on attenuator plug-ins. Next, the new 3:1 transformer output button reduces the output level, letting you push the transformers harder for extra analog warmth, grit, and rich saturation. Finally, the 512v features an updated front-panel combo XLR + 1/4” line input jack, making it quick and easy to capture ideas, add new instruments, or overdub whenever inspiration strikes.

With 500 series modules becoming more popular every day, it might surprise some to learn that Saul Walker of API invented the first modular signal processors back in 1969. Soon after launching their first console, API quickly became the leading console manufacturer for radio and television networks.

Recording studios caught on fast, and API began receiving rave reviews from engineers and producers for the superior tone of their preamps. To this day, over 700 API consoles are in use across the country and around the world. Albums like Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, Wasting Light by Foo Fighters, and Van Halen’s debut stand as shining examples of the quality and versatility of API preamps like the 512v.

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10. Warm Audio WA12-500 MKII

The front-panel quarter-inch Hi-Z input makes life much easier when plugging in guitars and keyboards—you don’t have to dig through that mess of cables behind your desk. I’d definitely suggest using this as a channel to add some flavor to your re-amped direct guitar tracks.

Also, the XLR and 1/4-inch outputs are linked and can both be used at the same time. This makes it simple to take two of these units, send one output to your DAW, and the other to your monitors. Just like that, you’ve got yourself a stereo-summing amplifier!

The front-panel controls are straightforward, giving you Hi-Z, Phantom Power, Pad, Polarity Switch, and the “tone” button. That polarity switch is super handy for recording stereo mixes when your mics are close together and at risk for phase cancellation. We’ve already talked about what the tone button does, but here’s a more technical explanation.

The tone button adds 6 dB of gain and drops the impedance from 600 ohms to 150 ohms. While this is great for ribbon mics, most people use it to add some analog color to electric guitar tracks. The 20 dB pad comes in handy for loud guitar amps and drums. So, you’re covered for everything—from high-SPL instruments (with the pad) to quieter sources (with up to 71 dB of gain when you use the tone button).

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Conclusion

If you own a 500 series chassis, you probably have some of the preamps we mentioned in your rack as well. These preamps are essential for any recording session where you use a microphone or want to record instruments directly into your DAW.

If you think we missed any important 500 series preamps, please let us know in the comments section. We’ll do our best to update our list and share more insights in future posts. Happy mixing!