MixPre-D: A blend of old and new

“The original MixPre came out in the year 2000, and in the intervening years, USB digital audio had grown in popularity. This new version, called the MixPre-D, is in some ways one of the coolest products we’ve made, as it was the last of our transformer-based input products. I took the digital guts (Blackfin DSP) from the USBPre-2 and fitted them into the original MixPre chassis along with some other enhancements, like an AES digital output and an M/S matrix. The analog section stayed the same as the original MixPre with the Lundahl transformers, opto limiters, and conductive plastic pots. The power supply was another one of my super-efficient flyback varieties featuring several supply rails (+15V, -15V, +48V, +5V, +3.3V, +1.8V, and +1.35V for the DSP core) with my custom-designed multi-tap transformers that we hand-wound at our headquarters in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. This design was truly old meets new… which is now old, but so am I 🙁 We made this product for several years, but it was eventually eclipsed by the modern generation of MixPres which featured even more features and higher quality audio for less money.”