M72s - Microphone Amplifier
A New Era of Vintage Tone
The Mercury Recording Equipment M72s
Tube Studio Microphone Preamplifier
Overview
The Mercury M72s is our flagship, all tube studio microphone amplifier (preamp). The Mercury M72s is based on the most sought after vintage amplifier module in the world—the Telefunken/Siemens V72s—made famous for being installed in REDD.37 consoles used on all the early Beatles recordings by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios in London, England.
We based the Mercury M72s on the specially produced module used in recording consoles from that era. Because the original recording console modules were manufactured in such small quantities, they have become extremely rare. The more common “V72” amplifier modules (not marked with the lower case “s”, i.e. “V72s’) were later modified and have been sold for many years as outboard preamplifiers all over the world.
Neither of the original V72 or V72s amplifier modules have been available new for more than 50 years, and working units have become extremely rare, very expensive and in some cases are now in need of extensive repair. Regardless of cost, the uniquely musical tonal characteristics of these amplifiers has made them a prized possession for engineers lucky enough to use the vintage modules, and has become a "secret weapon" for many studio musicians.
Mercury Recording Equipment is proud to introduce a faithful reproduction of the original, the Mercury M72s. Because we have over 20 years of experience repairing, modifying and racking the original amplifiers, we have been able to very accurately capture the behavior, and the legendary sound of the original. We have also included all of the modern features not available on the original units including, +48V phantom power, phase reverse and pad, as well as a direct input for guitars, bass, and keyboards.
Every microphone you plug into the M72s will sound better. If you are looking for your next “secret weapon”, the Mercury M72s is for you.
“While the vintage V72 modules are historic and one of the holy grails of tube mic preamps… in my opinion the Mercury M72s is the best tube preamp, of its type, ever made. The vintage modules are sixty years old and are not flexible nor easy to operate without extensive modification. The the Mercury M72s and M76m are by far the best way to go if you want the sound of the original, in a package you can use day in and day out. Mercury offers the same tone, and craftsmanship in a rock solid package with modern features and a far better power supply. The Mercury V72s and V76m are fully repairable and built to last 50+ years, just like the originals.”
— David Marquette, Mercury Recording Equipment
Features
The Gain of the Mercury M72s is variable from 28dB to 58dB, in 3dB increments, controlled with an extremely high quality rotary switch. There is a selectable Input Pad of -16dB or -28dB for even more input control. Additionally, when the -28dB pad is engaged and it is set at the lowest gain setting (28dB) you can run signal through the M72s to add warmth and tonality to your tracks, mixes, keyboards, drum machines, and samples. We have also included +48V phantom power, and phase (polarity) reverse.
In addition to all of these features, we also include our amazing sounding FDI (FET Direct Input) circuit on each channel.
The Mercury FDI (FET Direct Input) is a proprietary J-Fet circuit, based on a class-A tube topology. The Mercury FDI is designed to reproduce every nuance of a direct recording, while the circuit lets the tube or solid-state character of the amplifier determine the overall tone. The instrument DI signal is sent through the entire microphone preamp circuitry, including Mercury’s custom designed, massive input transformers, so that the individual character of each preamp comes through.
The sound of Mercury M72s can be described as having a rich low end with a punchy mid-range, giving you that ‘instant’ studio vocal tone, realistic acoustic guitar tone, and massive punch to bass guitar. The M72s shares many of the characteristics of the vintage module, with slightly more open high end, including a vintage tone and ‘break up’ like the original circuit with more musicality (not cleaner, but more musical—there is a huge difference).
Mercury Recording Equipment products are not hybrid circuits, emulations of circuits, or "clones". We get the same sound, same tone and same musicality because we use the highest quality parts, including all of the tubes, and all of the transformers of the original design in our products — just like the vintage circuits we are paying homage to.
Pricing
All Mercury Recording Equipment comes with a limited lifetime warranty and support.
Specifications
Mic Input Impedance: 2k*
Suggested Source Impedance: 200 ohms*
Input Impedance with -28dB Pad: 4k*
DI Input Impedance: 2M ohms
Internal Output Impedance: 30-50 ohms (depends on gain setting)
Suggested Minimum Load: 500 ohms
Max. Mic Signal Input Level (@ 20 Hz): +34dBu with -28dB Pad engaged / +6dBu with Pad not engaged
Max. Output Level: +22dBu
Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz +/- 0.5dB
Harmonic Distortion: All musically related low orders of harmonics, with no significant order above 5th. **
* Approximate values
** The actual % of distortion depends on Gain setting. We feel that T.H.D. is not a specification that correlates well with actual "sonic niceness" although there are other types of lab tests that seem to fair better in that regard. Besides the typical (and not so typical) instrumentation lab measurements, we feel that a U.Y.E. (use your ears) test is a very valid approach to achieving our goal.