_Phoebe

NG500 FULLY ANALOG PREAMPLIFIER

Class A microphone/line/instrument preamplifier with digital recall

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_Phoebe

NG500 Class A preamplifier with digital recall

The most notable style of Microphone preamplifiers now integrated with a digital workflow. Dual amp vintage design with most demanded modern features! We are proud to present _PHOEBE – NG500 fully analog, Class A microphone/line/instrument preamplifier with digital recall.

 

Audio signal is processed only via analog components!

Main Features

_PHOEBE

  • 100% analog microphone/line preamp with +28dBu of headroom.
  • Class A fully analog – inspired by famous British design based on dual amp topology.
  • Microphone gain up to 75dB.
  • Carnhill Transformers (input and output).
  • Output signal metering on the front panel with clip detection.
  • Phantom power and phase invert control.
  • Switchable impedance input (1200/300Ohm).
  • All controls/analog settings are fully manageable via the WesAudio GCon DAW plug-in.
  • 15dB OUTPUT PAD – passive output attenuation circuit with 1 dB step. (after the output transformer).
  • Front panel XLR/TS socket which supports – HiZ instrument input (TS), line input (XLR), microphone input (XLR).
  • Recallable signal source to be either back XLR Socket, or front panel XLR/TS socket.

ANALOG SOUND, DIGITAL CONTROL

Class A microphone/line/instrument preamplifier with digital recall

+28 dBu of analog headroom

+28 dBu of analog headroom – Class A fully analog – inspired by famous British design based on dual amp topology.

Input and output transformers

_PHOEBE is fully transformer balanced unit faithful to its vintage ancestors.

 

 

Plenty of GAIN!

Microphone gain up to 75dB – high gain perfect for low level microphones!

Recallable signal source!

Keep two source connected and easily recall via DAW plug-in between XLR Socket (LINE/MIC), or front panel XLR/TS socket (LINE/MIC/Instrument).

OUTPUT passive attenuation up to 15dB!

PAD – passive output attenuation circuit with 1 dB step (after the output transformer) managed via relay cascade.

Switchable input impedance!

Input impedance can be changed from 1200 ohm to 300 ohm for perfect integration with vintage microphones!

Precise signal metering!

Fully integrated with DAW plug-in – output signal metering, with CLIP detection!

Full remote control!

From now on You can use Your preamplifier wherever convinient and manage everythying from Your sweet spot!

Main features summary:

  • 100% analog microphone/line preamp with +28dBu of headroom.
  • Class A fully analog – inspired by famous British design based on dual amp topology.
  • Microphone gain up to 75dB.
  • Carnhill Transformers (input and output).
  • Output signal metering on the front panel with clip detection.
  • Phantom power and phase invert control.
  • Switchable impedance input (1200/300Ohm).
  • All controls/analog settings are fully manageable via the WesAudio GCon DAW plug-in.
  • 15dB OUTPUT PAD – passive output attenuation circuit with 1 dB step. (after the output transformer).
  • Front panel XLR/TS socket which supports – HiZ instrument input (TS), line input (XLR), microphone input (XLR).
  • Recallable signal source to be either back XLR Socket, or front panel XLR/TS socket.
  • 500 series and ng500 (e.g. _TITAN) series compatible.
  • Total Recall and plugin control compatible with most DAWs.
  • Analog automation in DAW.

Other features:

  • Fully digitally controlled and isolated analog circuit;
  • Digital recall can be achieved by connecting unit directly through front panel mini USB socket, or using it inside _TITAN chassis;
  • Accurate analogue Output signal metering with clip detection and its precise simulation implemented in the plug-in itself;
  • Free software and firmware upgrades.

Specification

_Phoebe specification

Frequency response+/- 0.5dB 20Hz-20kHz; -3dB at 50kHz
Distortion0.005% at 1kHz at +20dBu output
Line input impedance5.5k ohm bridging
Microphone input impedance300/1200 ohm
Noiseunity gain (better than -100dbU) Max gain +75dB (better than -70dbU)
EINbetter than -120dB
Max power consumption170mA(+16V); 100mA(-16V)
Unit dimensions38x133x145mm
Box dimensions105x162x234mm
Unit weight1 kg
Box weight1,2 kg
Warranty2 years

User Manual

Download _Phoebe User Manual

_PHOEBE VIDEO STORIES

Watch the product videos

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

ng500 Module (e.g. _DIONE) is frozen and doesn’t react to encoder moves – Factory reset is needed

If the module doesn’t react to any changes to the knobs on the front panel, the first necessary step is to rewrite firmware into the flash memory (Factory reset procedure re-writes firmware into internal flash memory – it doesn’t affect anyhow unit configuration). To proceed with factory reset, please follow below steps:

  1. Connect unit either:
    1. Through front panel USB socket,
    2. Or keep the unit in ng500 chassis – _TITAN, but please note that chassis has to be connected to the PC/MAC either via USB or Ethernet cable.
  2. POWER OFF your 500 series chassis.
  3. Depends on the product please press following front panel control:
    1. _MIMAS – RATIO button,
    2. _DIONE – RATIO button,
    3. _RHEA – THD button,
    4. _PROMETHEUS – HIGH CUT encoder (top-right encoder),
    5. _HYPERIONLMF GAIN encoder,
    6. _CALYPSO – MENU encoder.
  4. While keeping this control (button/encoder) pressed, POWER ON your 500 series chassis.
  5. LEDs should present a strange pattern.
  6. Now open GConManager:
    1. WIN: C:/Program Files (x86)/WesAudio/GConManager.exe
    2. MAC: /Applications/WesAudio/GConManager.app
    3. Or click on the WesAudio “Tray” icon, and select “Open GConManager”
  7. Go to _UPGRADE application.
  8. Hit start!
The NGRack unit (e.g. ngBusComp) is frozen and doesn’t react to encoder moves – Factory reset is needed

If the module doesn’t react to any changes to the knobs on the front panel, the first necessary step is to rewrite firmware into the flash memory (Factory reset procedure re-writes firmware into internal flash memory – it doesn’t affect anyhow unit configuration). To proceed with factory reset, please follow below steps:

  1. Connect the unit to either USB or Ethernet.
  2. POWER OFF your unit.
  3. Depends on the product please press following front panel control:
    1. ngBusComp – far left Ratio on Channel 1 (Ratio “-”),
    2. ngLEVELER – use a small screwdriver and press button available on the rear panel via a small hole in the chassis.
  4. While keeping this control (button/encoder) pressed, POWER ON your unit.
  5. LEDs should present a strange pattern.
  6. Now open GConManager:
    1. WIN: C:/Program Files (x86)/WesAudio/GConManager.exe
    2. MAC: /Applications/WesAudio/GConManager.app
    3. Or click on the WesAudio “Tray” icon, and select “Open GConManager”
  7. Go to _UPGRADE application.
  8. Hit start!
Unit passes signal only when bypassed

This is a very common issue and in most cases the root cause lies in the connection of the unit and audio interface. If that happens it should be checked if audio interface input isn’t connected to the chassis input and if audio interface output isn’t connected to chassis output. As this initially would seem to be entirely wrong and shouldn’t work at all, as all our units implement “True Bypass” via relays, the unit will pass a signal when the bypass is engaged. The reason for that is that the relay is in fact hard wiring input to the output, and thus the unit will pass the signal, as it doesn’t go through any active circuit of the unit.

Plug-in doesn’t connect to hardware when a plug-in instance is created

This is actually how it is supposed to work, so after the plug-in instance is created, please use a small triangle button which usually is on the bottom side of the plug-in and select proper HW ID from the drop down menu. If the drop down menu doesn’t list any hardware units, please check Your connectivity and other possible root causes in this FAQ.

Unit can’t connect to a plug-in

This is a wide topic, and there may be at least several root causes, but there are few things that should be checked. However, the first and most important thing is to double check that GConManager doesn’t list this device in the _CONFIG app. If this is the case, it means that WesAudio unit can’t connect on the OS level, and some of the below steps may help:

  1. First of all double check if module connection is properly executed, this procedure is described here.
  2. USB specification indicates that USB 2.0 works up to 5 meters. This is however not entirely true, as it strongly depends on the peripherals that unit is connected to. Even if our modules are USB 2.0 compatible, your USB port could support USB 3.0 – USB is a backward compatible protocol, so it may be that USB 3.0 cable length limit should be considered which is 2 meters. We would recommend having a USB cable up to 2 meters to remove those limitations from the equation.
  3. USB HUB is very common root cause to those problems, if module can’t connect via HUB – just for the sake of the test, it is mandatory to connect unit directly to PC/MAC to verify if the problem isn’t caused by it.
  4. Please note any system warnings attached to “WesAudio Tray Icon”.
Unit disconnects by itself

As USB controllers have limited capacity it could be a reason for random unit disconnection. Usually, it happens when a lot of USB devices are plugged into the PC/MAC. The usual behavior would be that the unit works normally, and after reboot it doesn’t, but it strongly depends on the OS implementation so exact reaction could be a little bit different. If this is suspected, just for the test, it would be good to disconnect most of the devices from the USB ports, reboot PC/MAC and double check the connectivity from stability point of view. If it leads to the conclusion that this is the root cause of the problem, we would recommend using a decent USB hub, and ideally a TB/USB dock station which tends to offload a lot of responsibilities from our PC/MAC.

Unit can’t connect anymore

If the unit was working fine, and suddenly it couldn’t connect (it is not visible in the GConManager _CONFIG app) that could lead to the conclusion that some devices were added to our USB line, and we could have problems with the USB controller inside PC/MAC. In that case please check the description in the above “Unit disconnects by itself”.

How to open GConManager in Admin mode

GConManager in Admin mode enables special functionalities which are used during WesAudio units calibration.

OSX: 

  1. Please open terminal.
  2. Copy-Paste following command:

open /Applications/WesAudio/GConManager.app --args --admin

WINDOWS:

  1. Go to “START” and open “Command Line”.
  2. copy paste this command:

"c:\Program Files (x86)\WesAudio\GConManager.exe" --admin

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