The Warm Audio JUDE-MP is a single-channel, dual-discrete microphone preamp developed with Sound Techniques. It recreates the preamp from the Sound Techniques A-Range consoles of the 1960s and 70s, which were used at De Lane Lea and Trident Studios in London. It is aimed at engineers and producers tracking vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, piano and drum overheads.
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Original circuit: the dual-discrete 3035 Class-A amplifier from Geoff Frost's A-Range console design
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Z-Match: a 9-position impedance control that changes how the mic loads the input, affecting gain, transient response, frequency balance and harmonic character
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CineMag iron: custom-wound CineMag USA input transformers with three impedances, and nickel output transformers
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Hand-wired build: Wima and Nichicon capacitors with carbon resistors
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Front-panel DI: TS instrument input for guitar, bass, keys, synths and drum machines
The name refers to the Hey Jude sessions, which were recorded at Trident on a Sound Techniques console. The Z-Match control does more than switch a load resistor: according to the manual, it reconfigures how the whole input transformer behaves. Lower impedance settings give more gain, so the control works both as a tonal tool and as a way of adjusting level. At 60 Ω, 200 Ω and 1.5 kΩ, the range runs from fuller, hotter settings to a more open response.
Gain is set with a stepped potentiometer and monitored on a front-panel VU meter. There are separate switches for 48 V phantom power, polarity and line input, each with an LED. On the rear, balanced XLR and ¼" TRS inputs sit next to balanced XLR and TRS line outputs, so the unit fits into a patchbay or connects directly to an interface. The faceplate is aluminium and the chassis is steel.