ISA One
★ Top Pick
Focusrite ISA One
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
The ISA One is a single channel of the transformer front end Focusrite built for AIR Studios in the 1980s, in a desktop box. It is the one preamp here that is not trying to sound like anything: it is fast, detailed and slightly larger than life, with a transformer-balanced mic input, switchable input impedance, a separate instrument DI that runs independently of the mic channel, and a real moving-coil VU meter. At $699.99 it is the most expensive thing on this list and the only one you are unlikely to outgrow.
Why it made the list
Impedance switching is the feature that justifies the price, and almost nobody explains why. Changing the load a preamp presents to a microphone changes how that microphone behaves: a ribbon or an older condenser will thicken or tighten noticeably as you step through the settings. On most preamps you get one fixed impedance and whatever character comes with it. Here you get four, which effectively gives every microphone you own a set of voicings. Add the independent DI, so you can track a vocal and a bass without repatching, and it stops looking expensive and starts looking like the last preamp you buy.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: Someone recording voices and acoustic instruments who has already fixed the room and the microphone and wants detail rather than color.
What impedance switching buys you: Changing the load the preamp presents changes how the microphone behaves, so one setting can thicken a ribbon and another can tighten it. Most preamps offer one fixed impedance and the character that comes with it. Here the microphone gets options.
Real-world use: The instrument DI runs independently of the microphone channel, so a bass and a vocal can go in at once. It is one channel, so a stereo pair means buying twice, which is the argument for an interface with good preamps instead.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Focusrite ISA ONE: Affordable HI END?
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focusrite ISA one microphone pre amp
Review
Mic Preamp Shoot-out!! Universal Audio TwinFinity 710 VS Focusrite ISA One
Comparison
Focusrite ISA One and ISA One Digital Demo - Sweetwater
Sound Demo
Pros
Four switchable input impedances, so every mic gets options Detailed and fast without adding obvious color Instrument DI runs independently of the mic channel Real VU meter, not an LED ladder Optional A/D card if you later want to skip your interfaceCons
The most expensive option here by a wide margin One channel only, so a stereo pair means buying twice Clean is the whole point, so look elsewhere for obvious character
WA12 MKII
Best Character
Warm Audio WA12 MKII
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
A fully discrete, high-voltage, dual-transformer design in the American console tradition, with up to 71 dB of gain, CineMag transformers and a Tone switch that changes the input impedance. Warm Audio built its reputation on making that circuit affordable, and at $449 the WA12 MKII is the cheapest honest route to the sound. It is not subtle, and it is not supposed to be.
Why it made the list
This is the opposite of the ISA One and the reason both are on the list. The WA12 pushes the midrange forward and rounds the transients slightly, so a snare recorded through it arrives at the mix already sounding like a record. That is enormously useful when it suits the source and actively unhelpful when it does not, which is why it is a second preamp rather than a first one for most people. The 71 dB of gain also means it drives a Shure SM7B or a ribbon without an inline booster, which quietly saves you the cost of the Cloudlifter further down this page.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: Someone recording drums, bass or electric guitar who wants the source to arrive at the mix already sounding finished.
The opposite of the ISA One: This pushes the midrange forward and softens transients slightly. That is enormously useful when it suits the source and unhelpful when it does not, which is why it belongs as a second preamp rather than a first.
Real-world use: The Tone switch changes the input impedance, so treat it as two voicings and pick per source rather than setting it once. Give it air in a rack, because it runs warm.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Warm Audio WA12 MKII Overview and Demo
Full Review
Warm Audio // WA12 Real World Test - Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic, Bass Guitar
Review
Warm Audio WA12 vs. GAP Pre73 MKII mic preamp shootout
Comparison
Warm Audio // Introducing The WA12 MKII Black - Discrete Mic Pre
Review
Pros
Genuine transformer color at a mid-range price 71 dB of gain drives dynamics and ribbons unaided Tone switch gives two usable voicings Front-panel DI with a discrete signal pathCons
The color is always there, so it is not a neutral reference Single channel, and the metering is a simple LED ladder Runs warm, so give it some air in a rack
Pre-73 MKIV
Best Value
Golden Age Project Pre-73 MKIV
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
The Pre-73 has been the affordable way into 1073-style British preamps for well over a decade, and the MKIV is the current revision. The front panel does more than the price suggests: 48V phantom, a line input, a DI, a low-impedance switch, a switchable high-pass filter at 40 Hz or 170 Hz, an Air EQ with two settings, a variable output control with a switchable pad and a four-LED output meter. At $349 it is the most feature-dense box here.
Why it made the list
What makes this the value pick is not the price on its own, it is the high-pass filter and the output pad sitting on the front panel. Those two controls are how you actually use a colored preamp: the filter keeps proximity effect and stage rumble out of the transformer before it saturates, and the pad lets you drive the input hard for character and then bring the level back down to something your converter is happy with. Cheaper preamps make you choose between clean and driven. This one lets you have the drive without wrecking your gain structure, which is exactly the trick our loudness and headroom guide keeps coming back to.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: A first external preamp for someone who has decided they want British console character and does not want to spend ISA One money to find out.
The two controls that matter: The high-pass filter keeps rumble and proximity effect out of the transformer before it saturates, and the output pad lets you drive the input hard for character and then bring the level back down. Together they are how a colored preamp is actually used.
Real-world use: Push the gain for attitude and pad the output, rather than running polite gain and hoping for tone. Push it very hard and it is noisier than the ISA One, which is the honest limit of the price.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Unleashing Studio Magic: Golden Age Project Pre-73 MKIV Mic Preamp Review & Demos! 🌟✨
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Golden Age Project Pre73: Vintage-Voiced Microphone Preamplifier Demo'd By Golden-Voiced GW Staffer
Sound Demo
Golden Age Project Pre-73 Microphone Preamp Review - TheRecordingRevolution.com
Full Review
Golden Age Project Pre-73 MKIII Review / Test / Explained
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Pros
High-pass filter and output pad make the color controllable Air EQ adds top end without a separate equalizer DI and line input as well as the mic channel Cheapest route here to a British-style transformer soundCons
Build quality is good for the money, not boutique The Air EQ is two fixed settings, not a sweepable band Noisier than the ISA One when you push the gain hard
CL-1
Best for Dynamic Mics
Cloud Microphones Cloudlifter CL-1
Price history
We have been recording this product's price at its dealers since July. Player members see the 90-day trend, what it has been at its highest and lowest, and whether today is actually a good day to buy it.
The CL-1 is not a preamp in the usual sense. It is an inline activator that sits between a passive microphone and your existing preamp, takes the 48V phantom power your interface is already supplying, and uses it to add up to 25 dB of clean gain before the signal ever reaches the preamp input. It is built in the USA, it has no controls at all, and it costs $129.
Why it made the list
It is on this list because it solves the single most common preamp complaint in home studios, and it solves it for a quarter of the price of the alternatives. A Shure SM7B into a budget interface needs so much gain that you end up hearing the preamp hiss along with the vocal. The CL-1 supplies that gain with a discrete JFET circuit ahead of the noise, so the interface only has to do the easy part. Be clear about what you are buying, though: it adds level and lowers noise, it does not add character. If you want the sound to change, you want one of the three boxes above.
Deep Dive: Who It's Really For
The ideal buyer: An SM7B, RE20 or ribbon owner whose recordings are quiet and hissy. This is a fix, not an upgrade.
Why it works: It adds clean gain ahead of your preamp, using the phantom power your interface already supplies, so the preamp only has to do the easy part and its hiss never gets amplified with your voice.
Real-world use: There is nothing to set. It needs a microphone input supplying full 48V phantom, and it does nothing useful for condensers, which already have plenty of output.
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Video Reviews & Tutorials
Cloudlifter CL-1 Review
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Do You Need A Cloudlifter? | Shure SM7B + Cloudlifter CL-1
Review
What's a cloudlifter? CL-1 (review)
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Does The Cloudlifter CL-1 Really Make The Shure SM7B Sound Better?!
Review
Pros
Up to 25 dB of clean gain ahead of your existing preamp Fixes low-output dynamics and ribbons for a quarter of the price No power supply needed, it runs on phantom power Nothing to set, so nothing to set wrongCons
Adds no tone or character, only gain Needs a mic input that actually supplies full 48V phantom Useless with condensers, which already have plenty of output One more box and one more XLR cable in the chainHow to choose between them
If you own a low-output dynamic and your recordings are noisy, buy the Cloudlifter and stop there: it fixes that one problem cheaply and nothing else on this page fixes it better. If you want your drums and guitars to arrive in the mix already sounding produced, the WA12 MKII is the most direct route to it. If you want one preamp that flatters everything without imposing a personality, the ISA One is the one you keep. And if you are buying your first external preamp and want the widest range of things to try, the Pre-73 MKIV gives you color, a filter and a pad for less than the alternatives.
Whichever you choose, remember that a preamp works on what the microphone gives it. If you are still deciding on that end of the chain, our vocal microphone guide comes first in the signal path and matters more. And once you are tracking, the dB Calculator will keep your gain staging honest.