Chandler Limited TG Microphone Cassette
The Chandler Limited TG Microphone Cassette is a full-featured mixing console channel strip, incorporating elements of the historic EMI/Abbey Road Studios TG12345 recording and mastering desks of the late ‘60s and ‘70s.
CHANDLER TG MICROPHONE CASSETTE
Chandler Limited’s critically acclaimed TG1 Limiter, TG2 Pre-Amp, and Curve Bender EQ, each known for their remarkable reproduction of the EMI TG sound, have been combined to form the ultimate TG Microphone Cassette reimagined to work in a modern recording studio context.
TG MICROPHONE CASSETTE: PRE-AMP
The pre-amp section of the TG Microphone Cassette makes use of the Chandler Limited TG2 pre-amplifier based on the vintage EMI TG12428. The TG2 pre-amp section includes switchable coarse and variable fine gain adjustment controls for up to +70db overall gain, selectable LINE, DI, 48V phantom power, phase reverse, and switchable rumble filter (low cut.)
The Chandler TG2 pre-amp section is coupled directly to the Curve Bender equalizer section.
TG MICROPHONE CASSETTE: EQ
The Chandler TG Microphone Cassette’s equalizer section is derived from the famed and greatly expanded Chandler Limited EMI TG12345 Curve Bender EQ. The Curve Bender EQ section provides Hi and Low shelf, frequency selectable presence, output control, and bypass functionality.
The Curve Bender EQ section is the second stage of the TG2 pre-amp section, and the EQ output control works as a fader would on a console.
TG MICROPHONE CASSETTE: LIMITER
The compressor/limiter section of the TG Microphone Cassette is a special adaptation of the Chandler Limited TG1 Limiter tracing its lineage to the historic EMI TG12413 mixing and mastering console limiters.
EMI technical engineers experimented with the use of optos in their audio compressors, and now for the first time ever Chandler Limited introduces the TG1 Opto Limiter.
The TG1 Opto Limiter section of the Chandler TG Microphone Cassette is patchable apart from the TG pre-amp and EQ, allowing for independent use of the compressor/limiter on other sources. The TG1 Opto is stereo linkable to a second unit via a standard ¼” cable.
The TG1 Opto Limiter’s feature-set includes: HOLD, Attack, Release, selectable sharp/rounded knee, output or makeup gain, and true bypass.
TG MICROPHONE CASSETTE: POWER
All Chandler TG units require and function on the PSU-1, Chandler Limited power supply. The PSU-1 has an internal switch for setting voltage to 120V or 220V (115V/230V).
TG HISTORY
Conceived from meetings in 1967 between Abbey Road engineers and EMI’s Central Research Laboratories technical team, the EMI TG12345 desk (later known as Mark I) would usher in a sea change in sound and flexibility at Abbey Road Studios.
The new transistor based EMI TG12345 recording console was modular in design, with twelve dual channel microphone “cassettes.” The TG desks featured expanded EQ, and for the first time ever, a compressor/limiter on every channel. The compressor was originally supposed to replicate the sound and behavior of the Fairchild 660 and RS124 tube devices, but ended up with a completely unique sound in its own right.
Installed in Abbey Road’s Studio Two in November 1968 and making its debut on an 8-track recording by the Shadows, the new transistor desk marked a departure from the earlier REDD valve consoles. The following year, the EMI TG12345 desk helped shape the sound of the Beatles’ final album, Abbey Road, which was markedly richer sounding to that of the band’s earlier work. The sonic qualities of classics like “Here Comes the Sun,” “Come Together” and “Something” would have been very different without the EMI TG12345.
The desk encountered many revisions throughout the ‘70s and became the main recording console used throughout the studios until 1983. The EMI TG12345 console Marks I–IV were used on everything from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here to John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass to epic film scores including Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The EMI TG12345 was never commercially available to the public.
Chandler Limited is the only company in the world authorized to develop, manufacture and market the “Official Equipment” of EMI/Abbey Road Studios.
Specifications
- Channels Mono
- TG2 Preamp Transistor amplifier
- Mic/Line XLR Input (Transformer balanced, Mic 300Ω Impedance)
- DI 1/4” Unbalanced
- Maximum gain +70db, Coarse Gain (Stepped +20 to +60db), Fine Gain (Variable ±10db)
- Rumble Filter (Low Cut) 6 Frequencies (Out, 33,41,47,65,82,110hz)
- Phantom power, Phase Phantom (+48V), Phase( 0/180º)
- Curve Bender EQ Treble/Bass Shelf, Presence (Out, 300hz,500hz,1.2k,3.6k,6.5k), Output control, Bypass, XLR Output
- TG1 Opto Limiter Independently patachable (XLR I/O), Hold, Attack, Release, Knee (Sharp/Rounded), Output (makeup gain), Bypass, Linkable (1/4” Jack)
- Power External/PSU-1, Purchased separately