Help with a pre-amp

Hi David and welcome to our little community.

A while ago I thought it could be a good idea to make a small-box-preamp similar in size to the Novo or Solo with limited functions and inputs to keep its price reasonable. Not many takers for such an idea until now?

I wouldn't expect you to hold on for the many months it would take to get it off the floor, so unusually for me I'd suggest you take a look at Mick Creeks little preamp. I forgot what it's called but it's got three inputs and a volume control. As far as I can tell, it doesn't have any gain being a "passive" unit and that may be a drawback perhaps. I think it does have a remote control if that's any use.

Ours, if it ever gets done, would not have a remote, but would have gain and my thought was to give it a balanced output. It is fatal throwing such a suggestion open to colleagues like I did: they come up with lots of suggestions of their own - so many indeed that it would have to grow to a 2U rack case to accomodate the lot, with a big price tag to boot.

I'd be interested in your feedback though and anybody elses because I still feel a simple small preamp with gain (an active preamp) at a price that's sub-£500 would be attractive.

By gain I mean amplification. It doesn't even have to mean any more than a factor of 1 or 2, but it does need to buffer (give current gain to) the volume control to provide a low impedance drive to the speaker amps. In other words this is an active preamp. A passive preamp is a corruption of words - you rightly say it cannot give volume control - it can only attenuate.

It does not need to be elaborate to deliver an excellent audio performance. With 3 dual op-amps (getting technical here) it could be possible to do the two balanced outs and a "utility" headphone out (not as good as a Novo but still very acceptable).

Rear panel room is cramped but it may take two phono inputs (a total of four phono sockets like the one on the back of a Novo) plus the two XLR balanced outs. A third input could be a 3.5 front panel jack neighbouring on a 3.5 jack for headphones out.

If that won't fit, each balanced out can be done on a "stereo" or Tip-Ring-Sleeve jack like a number of pro-mixers do.

Using the Novo case it could well be possible to do it for £250.

Anyone else interested?

Thanks very much for this steer.  There are one or two runners there.  This is a particularly relevant thread which your link indirectly led me to: