Every so often an iconic piece of hardware takes the music industry by storm and transforms into a beloved fixture in studios worldwide. The 1073 was one such piece of gear. A mic preamp with a unique voice and rich sound, it became famous for shaping the sounds of many music generations, from the grit of ‘70s rock and roll, to the polished pop of the ‘80s. It was a staple in renowned studios like Abbey Road, Sound City, and Capitol Studios and influenced iconic tracks like Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” as well as The Who’s “Who’s Next.”
Behringer now pays homage to that iconic studio cornerstone with the Behringer 1273, a two-channel microphone preamplifier, with built in EQ. The 1273 is more than just a remake. Developed with one of the original engineers, their valuable knowledge and experience ensures that the 1273 not only remains faithful to the original but is able to meet the demands of modern production.
The 1273 is built around a Class A discrete circuit which ensures the highest signal integrity with minimal coloration. Each input and output stage is equipped with a high-quality, custom-built Midas transformer that’s great for maintaining signal clarity and integrity. The 1273 also has versatile gain controls for each channel for various input types such as mic, line and instrument, providing comprehensive control and flexibility for different recording scenarios. And if you’re switching between different mics like a dynamic to a ribbon, pressing the tone switch adjusts the transformer impedance for whatever mic is in use. Great for when your using vintage microphones.
The 1273 includes an electronically controlled, resistor-stepped rotary gain switch that offers up to 80 dB of gain adjustment. This allows you to precisely set optimal input levels with the least amount of noise and is also great for recalling your settings consistently for every mix scenario.
Taking a closer look at the 3-band EQ section, low frequencies can be set at 35, 60, 110 or 220 Hz; mid frequencies at 360, 700, 1600, 3200, 4800 or 7200 Hz; while highs can be set at 10, 12 or 16 kHz. This section and its inductor based rotary switches and are key to bringing out that lush, vintage sound in any mix. Combine this with the 5-position high-pass filter with selectable 50, 80, 160 or 300 Hz settings and you can get really creative, vocals can be made more intimate and present, guitars given a warm, woody sound, and bass tracks the thump and funk they deserve. Having fixed frequency settings and the ability to finely boost or cut specific frequencies is also very helpful in recreating configurations precisely.
