Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The Eureka has gotten a lot of buzz. The box feels solid and substantial. It comes with gain, hard/soft compression, three band parametric eq, and master volume. The patch order of the eq and compresion can be switched, depending on your needs. Other useful features include phase inversion, variable impedence, and a saturation knob. A backlit analog meter can display incoming signal level or gain reduction. Inputs and outputs are both TRS and XLR. An effects insert point is included. An optional digital output card is available.
I bought the Eureka on the recommendation of a trusted music salesperson (yes, they exist) to power my Royer 121 ribbon mic. There were no preamps anywhere close to this price that he would consider recommending. As it turns out, he did me a great favor. The Eureka does a very solid job with the Royer mic (although I haven't heard the Royer on anything else, so I can only speak to the pairing of the two). Better yet, it gives me new options for almost every other piece of gear I own. I have an inexpensive Precision bass that really benefits from this box - the compression and preampe give it the fullness of a better instrument, while the eq helps to control the noisiness and unevenness between strings. The variable impedence allows users to try those DIY tricks on Shure SM57 mics without pulling out a soldering iron. Other budget-to-midrange mics also benefit. I run my Mojave tube mic through the Eureka to control peaks with good results. I haven't found anything that doesn't benefit at least a bit from the Eureka. I have even heard of mixes being run through the Eureka (one side at a time) to remove the dreaded "digital chill". Between the quiet operation and the versatility of the Eureka, it is no wonder that it is quickly becoming a "best kept secret" among many home recordists and even sine professionals.
Downsides: The knobs are close together and seem vulnerable to being bent. Three sweep eq's with no shelving eq are less than I'd prefer, but they do their job. The optional digital card can take signals from two Eurekas run in tandem, but the signal from the second Eureka must pass to the card in the "analog domain" before it is converted to a digital signal. As with any analog gear, favorite settings must be written down instead of being saved to memory for instant recall. None of these issues is a deal-killer - they just illustrate how hard I had to work to come up with any complaints at all.
If you're looking for a way to bring your home recording quality up a notch, or a way to give old gear a new lease on life, the Eureka may be just the ticket. Its quality sound, versatility and bang-for-the-buck put it in a niche that will make many bugdet-minded recordists very happy.
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The Eureka is a professional recording channel strip containing a discrete class A transformer-coupled microphone preamplifier, compressor, and three-band parametric equalizer. The microphone preamplifier features variable input impedance so that the Eureka can be matched and "tuned" for all types of microphones and recording applications. The Class A transformer-coupled microphone preamplifier also features a saturation control which adjusts the drain current on the input FET amplifier to simulate of the effects of tape saturation and tube "warmth".
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