Mercury M72s/1 Mk. IV – Single Channel Microphone Preamplifier
The Mercury M72s is a faithful reproduction of the highly sought-after Telefunken/Siemens V72s vintage amplifier modules that were famously installed in REDD.37 consoles at Abbey Road Studios, renowned for their exceptional tone and warmth. These amplifier modules have not been available new for over 50 years, making working units scarce, expensive, and in need of repair. However, the tonal characteristics of these amplifiers have made them a prized possession for many engineers and a “secret weapon” for studio musicians.
Mercury Recording Equipment has over 20 years of experience with the amplifiers and is proud to offer the M72s, which captures not only how the units behave but also how they sound overall. With the addition of modern features, the M72s is much more versatile without sacrificing the most important feature: musicality.
The M72s offers variable gain control ranging from 28dB to 58dB in 3dB increments, which can be easily adjusted using a high-quality rotary switch. Furthermore, there is an option to select an input pad of either -16dB or -28dB, providing even more control. When the -28dB pad is engaged and set at the lowest gain setting (28dB), you can run signals through the M72s to add warmth and tonality to tracks, mixes, keyboards, drum machines, samples, and more.
In addition to these classic features, the M72s also includes modern capabilities such as Phantom Power (on/off), Phase (Polarity) Reversal, and FDI (FET Direct Input) circuit per channel. The Mercury FDI circuit is a proprietary J-Fet design that is based on a class-A tube topology. This innovative circuit is specifically designed to capture every nuance of a direct recording, while still allowing the tube or solid-state character of the amplifier to determine the overall tone. The instrument DI signal is sent through the entire microphone preamp circuitry, including Mercury’s custom input transformers, ensuring that the unique character of each preamp is preserved.
The M72s is renowned for its rich lows and punchy mids, making it ideal for achieving an “instant” vocal tone or adding realism to an acoustic guitar or punch to a bass guitar. It responds to instruments and sources in the same way as the vintage module, but with a slightly more open high end and overall musicality. The M72s has that classic “vintage” tone and break up, but with an added musicality that sets it apart from other amplifiers.