The 1970 builds on the legacy of the renowned Drawmer 1960, combining vintage character with modern flexibility. With an expanded feature set, it is one of the most versatile mic pre-amplifier/compressors available today.
While the 1970 shares a familiar layout with the 1960, it includes significant refinements. The DI (Direct Input) EQ has been fine-tuned for greater accuracy, and numerous enhancements have been introduced throughout.
Whether you are tracking instruments via the dedicated DI, recording vocals through the ultra-clean mic pre-amplifiers, capturing a guitar cabinet with two microphones, working with a singer-guitarist setup, or applying stereo bus compression using its comprehensive linking and mix facilities, the 1970 is a powerful and adaptable tool for both studio and live environments.
The 1970 employs the latest THAT Corporation technology in its dual mic pre-amplifiers to deliver ultra-clean, transparent, and precise recordings. These can later be shaped using your preferred method of adding warmth, whether valve, transformer, saturation, or tape.
Each channel provides up to 66dB of gain, with switchable mic impedance for accurate matching to bring out the best in any microphone. Phantom power, phase reverse, and a high-pass filter are also included as standard.
When required, the 1970 can deliver a pristine microphone signal via the THAT Corporation pre-amplifiers by engaging the fully balanced hard-wire bypass. This connects the input directly to the output, avoiding the compressor FETs, mix circuit, and gain controls entirely.
The 1970 makes impedance a creative tool. Alongside standard matching, you can deliberately mismatch input impedance to explore tonal variations. With three settings - 200, 600, and 2400 Ohms - the results vary depending on the microphone and source: some will produce clear tonal changes, others more subtle differences.
The FET compressor section offers threshold, ratio, attack, and release controls, along with Drawmer’s exclusive Big and Air modes to enhance the bottom and top end of each channel. The two compressors can be used independently in mono or linked for stereo bus compression at the flick of a switch.
The Do-Anything Anywhere Recording Channel. The Drawmer 1970 Dual FET compressor and pre-amplifier really is a desert island recording chain that will handle any audio source from line-level to mic to guitars or hotter synths, to low-impedance microphones.
Each channel includes a Mix control, allowing you to blend compressed (wet) and uncompressed (dry) signals for parallel compression. This provides a simple, precise way to control dynamics with a single knob.
By balancing the wet and dry signals, it is easy to avoid over-compression: add more dry signal for subtlety, or increase the wet signal for stronger compression.
