Products & Mods

The Auteur has been a staple preamp in studios around the world for many years. It has become the go-to choice for bridging the gap between clean, transparent preamps and those with lots of color and bite. The Auteur MKII is the next step in perfecting this combination of vintage and modern sound at an affordable price!

Its design inspired by a legendary vintage American console mic preamp, the API 312A, the B12A Quad four channel microphone preamplifier packs a massive punch. With its transformer-coupled input and output stages and 70dB of gain on tap, the B12A Quad serves up heaping portions of low-noise headroom. Now you'll finally be able to use your low-output ribbon mics on quiet sources! The B12A Quad imparts a bold sonic assertiveness that beefs up any signal you pass through it.

Program Equalizer and Microphone Preamplifier Eighteen’s preamplifier circuit isn’t just another clone, but an original design built to pay proper tribute to some of the most classic designs ever made. The Eighteen starts with a Cinemag input transformer, but that’s far from where the magic stops. In order to get the absolute perfect sound we were looking to achieve with Eighteen meant a bit more work under the hood. This is where our new BLA1831 custom, discrete op-amp comes into play. Through an extensive period of component matching, we were able to create a custom op-amp that matched the vibe we were aiming for, while still matching a noise floor that is akin to modern equipment. The preamplifier also features polarity inverse, 48V phantom power, an 80Hz high-pass filter, and a 10kHz low-pass filter. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Meet the Black Lion Audio B12A mkIII — the most portable 312A American-sound around! The B12A mkIII uses the same Cinemag input and output transformers as our B12A Quad for a whopping 70dB of gain. A front panel D.I. delivers a harmonically rich tone to guitars, keyboards, and synthesizers, and stepped input gain allow for perfect recall.

Console vibe for your desktop. The Auteur DT is a versatile preamp/DI box ready to suit all of your single-channel recording needs. Thanks to 60 dB of Chicago console-style gain and 1/4” and XLR inputs, Auteur DT will accurately capture and enhance anything you throw at it: the crackling snap of a well-tuned snare — or the thunder, resonance, and decay of a ‘70s acrylic kick drum getting hit hard. Add heat and texture to synths and mix-penetrating presence to vocals. Rest assured — anything you plug into the Auteur DT will sound better coming out of it. Auteur DT exists to capture every bit of sweat equity that goes into your recordings... in fact, bringing out the fully polished potential of your final product is the inspiration for everything Black Lion Audio makes. What the heck is “Chicago-style?” “Chicago-style” is Black Lion Audio marketing-speak for “our own preamp design,” because Black Lion Audio is in, and loves, Chicago. Represented in our Auteur-series, we feel our Chicago-style Auteur preamps offer the best of both worlds. You get the fast attack of an American preamps with the option of British warmth and color; just crank the gain a bit. More than just a preamp... Electric whatever: guitar, bass, baritone, or viola — the Auteur DT doesn’t care what you play: it cares how you sound. Auteur DT makes anything you plug into it sound weighty, detailed, harmonically rich, and above all — clean. There’s simply not a better single-channel direct box in its price class... and certainly not one that doesn’t look like it was component-sourced via a dumpster dive behind an antique radio museum. Auteur DT will dutifully respect every ingredient of your tonal recipe — your technique, string gauge, fingerboard choice, and especially those pickups you paid too much for. Sublime quality — inside and out. With a tough-as-nails brushed black aluminum chassis bookended by organic, vintage-style varnished maple side panels, the Auteur DT is sturdily built for comfort, usability, and lasting performance — while also looking like it should cost about twice what it does. Of course, it’s what’s on the inside that counts — and Auteur DT features a robust USA-made transformer and cherry-picked Nichicon and Vishay capacitors, ensuring premium sound quality, long life, and low noise. The Black Lion difference. Before offering their own brand of unique audio design solutions, Black Lion Audio grew its reputation as Chicago’s top audio mod-shop. Their years of experience spent elbow-deep in audio circuits goes into every Black Lion Audio offering: judicious component selection; robust build quality... and a heavy dose of Chicago-style hands-on, can-do, will-do attitude. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }