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Flagship Preamp

Opal

A discrete Class A preamp circuit designed from scratch — big Cinemag iron, FET DIs and house-wound inductor EQs. A tracking & mixing workhorse, with a Push-lite “Mix Mode” that flips every channel to line for saucing up stems. Not a color box. Not a clinical reference amp. Something one of a kind — the first of many custom designs from us.

First build
Ochre Hill Studios
Channels
16
Gain
65 dB · Class A FET
EQ
6-band · ±12 dB
DICE Opal — 16-channel Class A preamp, full front panel built for Ochre Hill Studios

Full specifications

  • Class A FET input, discrete opamp
  • 65 dB of gain on tap
  • ~0.01% THD — mostly 2nd & 3rd order when pushed
  • Mic / line input, 20 dB pad, phase and phantom per channel
  • Master Mix Mode flips all channels to line
  • 12-position gain switch · 40-position custom output trim
  • 6-position inductor EQ — 12 dB boost/cut per band
  • Multicolor LED VU metering
  • Extremely low noise

Hear it

Uncompressed audio. Hit play, then flip A / B to switch sources at the same instant.

Opal — full front panel, straight on Front panel
Opal — angled top with the Dream Inspired Custom Electronics engraving Engraved top
Opal — per-channel gain, pad, polarity, 48V, trim and EQ controls Channel detail
Opal — house-wound inductors and transformer iron inside the chassis Inductors & iron
Opal — internal filter capacitors and hand-wired boards Internals
Opal — rear panel DB25 Mic, Line and Output for channels 1-8 and 9-16 Rear — DB25 I/O
Opal — engraved channel boards on the bench during the build Channel boards

Want one of your own?

If you can dream it, we can build it. Tell us about your studio and what you need.

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