Arturia V76-Pre, User Manual, Page: 22 / 41

4. V76-PRE OVERVIEW
As we said already in the Introduction, the Telefunken V76 was particularly noted and
praised for the pleasant sound created by the induced vacuum tube saturation. One of Its
predecessors, the V72s, was even used in the Beatles' recordings up to 1964.
Characterized by a somewhat "muffled" sound, the V76 had however a powerful bass
response. This, coupled with the switching input filters and the capability to raise the power
in 6dB steps across twelve positions, added an extra level of control when compared
with the previous units, making it a sought-after classic, not only in broadcast but also in
recording.
Arturia coupled this vintage preamplifier with an EQ unit of the same period, the V612,
based on germanium transistors that gave it a distinctive sound. It also featured two broad
Baxandall EQ bands with fixed frequencies, and another level of saturation. This allows the
V76-Pre to remain faithful to the spirit of this line (preamp and EQ) and also gives more
flexibility to the user, and a complementary tool to help shape the sound.
The plug-in works as a Single Channel or as a Double Channel, according to the audio
channel it is inserted on. In Single Channel we just have Mono mode, but in Double Channel,
we can use the plug-in in Stereo mode, Mid/Side mode and Dual Mono mode.
4.1. What is a preamp?
A preamplifier (preamp or simply "pre") is a device that takes care of the first stage of
amplification. It is usually designed to boost a weak electrical signal to "working level", to
make it strong enough to be noise-tolerant and for further processing, for example in a
mixing desk. The working level is usually called "line level".
Many of us probably still remember the days of vinyl records. Vinyl records were played by
turntables, a device which had an output with a completely different impedance than, for
example, a tape recorder. The turntable output signal was much weaker. To drive it to a level
strong enough to be audible meant that it had to pass through a circuit that would amplify
it to a level where it could be passed to the main audio amplification circuit. More than that,
the circuit also had to transform the tone, in order to decode the special RIAA encoding tone
curve. Without this previous stage, the signal would be weak and distorted harmonically.
This circuit was (is) a preamplifier, and was usually part of any Hi-Fi amplifier (those special
inputs labeled "phono", which seem to be coming back as of lately). It should be mentioned
that Arturia's AudioFuse audio interface also features a microphone preamp circuit, and it
even features the special RIAA preamp we just mentioned.
But there are other kinds of preamplifiers, that do other things. The preamp devices that
brought us to this point are those typically used to amplify signals from audio sources
such as microphones and instrument pickups. Because of this, preamplifier circuits are now
usually built into audio mixers (and are included in many computer audio interfaces too).
But it wasn't always like this. There was a time when preamps were separate units that
received the signal from microphones and delivered it to the mixing circuit. The V76 was one
of those units. Then they became modules that could be plugged into those mixers (like the
Neve units). Now, they are simply standard equipment. But there are still many other devices
that use preamp circuits besides mixers, as electric guitar and bass players know very well.
18 Arturia - User Manual V76-Pre - V76-Pre OVERVIEW