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Everything in Music Since 1958
Everything in Music Since 1958

Warm Audio TB12 Tone Shaping Microphone Preamp

Sold out
Original price $299.5 - Original price $299.5
Original price
$299.5
$299.5 - $299.5
Current price $299.5
About Inventory Status


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In stock: It is in stock and available to ship or pickup. Apparel must be shipped from another location and is not available for in-store pickup. We can usually ship or have these items available for pickup by the next business day if they don't require inspection, special handling, or setup. Our pickup location is 4229 Howard Ave UNIT B. Kensington, MD 20895.

📆 Preorder: It is on the way to our warehouse. We can't predict when preorder items will arrive due to current supply chain issues. If you place an order for one of these items someone will contact you to estimate the delivery date.

Out of stock: We don't currently have it available but you're not out of luck yet. We still may be able to get it. If you order one of these items we will contact you with an estimated fulfillment date. You have the option to cancel the order if you change your mind.

Special order: The item is so special that it needs to be custom ordered for you. Some of these items are works of art and have to be made individually. Orders for special order items must be prepaid and we cannot accept cancellations or refunds.

█ Sold out: We don't think we can get this item because it was either discontinued by the manufacturer or was limited in quantity. If you want or need this item call or text us. Sometimes we can help you track down the item through other sources or help you find something similar.

About Item Conditions


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New: The item is brand new as received from the manufacturer with a full manufacturer warranty. Instruments such as guitars, snare drums, drum kits, brass and woodwind instruments may be opened for photography and quality control inspection and may not be in a factory sealed box.

Mint or Open Box: The item may have been opened and tested but has been repackaged. The original packaging may have superficial issues but the item itself and any originally included accessories are in perfect, like new condition.

Display Model: These items are so cool that we put them on display in our legendary shop. The condition is brand new as received from the manufacturer with manufacturer warranty. Rest assured, these items undergo a very careful inspection before shipping.

Demo: These items have been on our sales floor for demo purposes and will likely show signs of use. The original packaging may no longer be included, but you can be assured that you are receiving an awesome item and an awesome price.

Used: The item is used. These item may have varying degrees of wear. Please read the description for information about the condition of the item. Used items do not carry a warranty.

B or C Stock: Factory refurbished. These items were purchased from the manufacturer in a refurbished condition. They will show some cosmetic issues, but nothing that would impact performance. Being that these are sealed from the manufacturer, we generally do not open these to photograph the cosmetic issues. They are guaranteed to work and may have a limited warranty or you may purchase an extended warranty in some cases. Please see the listing description for item specific information.

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The Warm Audio Tone Beast is a great mic pre with loads of gain that can effortlessly capture an array of sources very well. With top notch CineMag transformers and multiple discrete signal paths, it's hard to beat its big, bold, fully-professional sound at its price.

The Warm Audio Tone Beast is a mic pre that likes to be pushed and when pushed will colorize your signal ever so sweetly. The 2 opamps and 2 output transformers at the flip of their switches won't appear to be much different, but as one drives the pre into harmonic distortion, the unique character of each of these components becomes apparent. Additionally the Warm Audio Tone Beast is customizable and allows for other opamps to be sourced and easily swapped into the unit. I've pulled my best tones from this pre right at the saturation point (as loud as I can push the gain before clipping). The output control on the Warm Audio TB12 allows you to limit the signal exiting the preamp even when pushing the gain to really hot levels, giving you maximum control.

The x731 (Melcor 1731) and x18 (Dean Jensen's 918) Op Amps saturate a bit differently. The 1731 breaks up faster and has more color when pushed. The 918 is fairly linear/clean with a smidge of character and does not break-up/saturate as quickly. The 100% steel output transformer colors the signal more than the 50% nickel transformer when pushed. However, both are designed to impart character. The 50% nickel transformer will impart less character and provide greater high and low frequencies. For an ultra clean, character-lacking tone, try the x18 while bypassing the output transformers completely.

Have no fear of hurting the Warm Audio Beast, you can push it very hard into full-on distortions if you wish, and these can sound quite nice on electric guitar, bass or anything else that likes some nice grit.

When hand building mic pres I learned a bit about the "subtle" differences component choices can make. A little change here, and another there often times became a huge deal in a finished mix, but often times is not very noticeable at first take. The different component options in the Warm Audio TB12 are subtle, but when driven into saturation are noticeable and can make a big difference to the way your final mix will sound.

Home-based musicians and professional studios alike will find the Tone Beast to be an extremely powerful and fully professional piece of gear that is capable of warming and shaping signals/mixes in a way that is very pleasing to the ear.


SPECIFICATIONS:
  • Discrete 312 preamp design with coupled CineMag Transformers
  • 71db of gain
  • Transformer selection provides both Steel and 50% Nickel CineMag output transformers for varying character
  • Transformer bypass switch allows for removal of the output transformer from the circuit
  • Discrete Opamp selection provides both the classic 1731(vintage) and 918(cleaner) style opamps.  These are socketed/swappable with your choice of 2520 6 pin footprint opamps.
  • Impedance switch labeled TONE to switch between 150 and 600 ohms input impedance
  • Capacitor selection between Tantalum and Electrolytic for different characters
  • 80hz hipass filter
  • Polarity Reverse
  • +48V phantom power
  • Output attenuation allowing for saturation flexibility of both the opamps and transformers
  • ¼" insert for the use of inline compressors, eq's etc..
  • Balanced XLR mic (front and back), balanced TRS line, and ¼" instrument inputs
  • Balanced XLR and TRS outputs
  • -20db Pad
  • LED VU Meter
  • 19" rackmountable
  • External line-lump 24V AC power transformer for low noise



Manufacturer: Warm Audio
Model: TB12
SKU: I353765-N-0-WHXA
UPC: 639713908251


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