7
Audiophile Gain Staging
The skulpter 500 does not use a potentiometer for
changing its gain, but a much more audiophile topol-
ogy instead: Fixed resistors switched by a cascade of
relays and electronic switches. This setup is controlled by an
encoder with 20 steps per rotation, providing a total of 40 gain
values in 1.5/2 dB steps (total gain range: 3 - 65 dB).
Turning this encoder to the right increases the amount of gain;
turning it to the left decreases it. Push the encoder if you want
to change the LED meter from displaying the output level to
showing the actual amount of gain the preamp generates.
The skulpter 500 provides an ample amount of gain, starting
at unusually low values and going up to what you’ll need to
properly amplify ribbons with high gain requirements. A huge
benefit of this is that an additional pad becomes completely
unnecessary, resulting in a better signal-to-noise ratio.
When your skulpter 500 is powered off its current gain setting
is saved automatically, so the preamp will start with exactly
the same amount of gain on the next session.
Using single resistors arranged in a cascade guarantees exact
gain values. As a result, multiple preamps do not require fac-
tory matching or consecutive serial numbers when forming
stereo pairs or multichannel configurations.
Note:
However, switching the gain in discrete steps does not
allow continuos gain sweeps without interruptions. Slight ar-
tifacts can appear in the audio path while changing the gain.
