D-tar Solstice Mic Input

[oystein]

Hi,
I am curious about the D-tar Solstice preamp. My current set-up inlcludes a Fishman Full-Circle combined with an AMT Mic with low-z(150ohm) xlr output. I need a preamp with the rather unusual combination of 1 high-z (min. 1Mohm) and 1 low-z(150-600ohm) input. Before I got hold of the AMT I used a Crown condenser mic which my Raven Labs PMB handled very well, but it doesn't have enough gain/correct impedance to handle the AMT.
By now I use ALTO 6-channel mixer with decent mic inputs, but this unit again don't have high-z inputs to match the Full Circle. Who said life is easy *S*

My question: Will the Solstice solve my problem? Does it have enough gain/correct impedance to handle low-z xlr input? Phantom power is not a must, that can be done by the AMT preamp.
Anyone tried this at home, please chip in.

BTW, please don't recommend me to get the AMT super preamp. They cost $500 and upgrade is no longer done to ordinary preamps.

regards Oystein D. -Norway

[Adrian Cho]

Your situation is not unlike my own. I currently use the AMT exclusively - I have the super preamp. I recently got a Full Circle but have not installed it yet. I also own an ALTO S-8 although I don't use it all that often. I currently use an LR Baggs MixPro and I'm very happy with it. It has two 10 MOhm inputs. It's very clean, not too expensive, and very small. Since I have the AMT super preamp, I can use the 1/4" output straight into the MixPro.

The Solstice would work for you and it has other benefits but here's some other things to consider:

Regarding the gain, are you aware that there is a trimpot inside the AMT preamp that lets you increase the gain?

You can get an inline transformer such as an Audio-Technica CP8201 and convert the AMT preamp XLR output to Hi-Z and then it should be fine for the Raven Labs.

Adrian