302: Small but mighty – 2003

“The 302 was a product that Libby Koomar (Mechanical Engineer) and I squeezed out during the tumultuous development of the 7-Series recorders. We were getting asked regularly for a mixer that fit in between the MixPre (too small) and the 442 (too big). Circuitry-wise, the 302 was fairly straightforward, mostly being a cut-and-paste exercise from the MP-1/MixPre/442 circuitry. However, the mechanical design was difficult because we wanted to use the same extrusion that we used everywhere else – this also ensured its ridiculously small size. Libby and I resorted to all sorts of tricks to make the circuitry fit. Cramming 3 full-sized Lundahl LL1576 mic preamp transformers in meant that we didn’t quite have enough room for the batteries, so Libby let half of one of the batteries protrude out the unit. Jim Koomar (Sales) christened the battery compartment the ‘angry inch’ which was as unorthodox as it was functional. The 302 went on to become one our most popular mixers ever, which we still get asked for today – a hard-to-beat mixture of size, battery life, audio performance, and ruggedness.”