Alice 503 mic pre with limiter

Alice 503 mic pre with limiter is a 500-series microphone preamp that shares gain across four low-noise stages and includes a classic soft-knee limiter for warm, controlled vocals and instruments.

Product Overview

The Alice 503 mic pre with limiter is a 500-series microphone pre-amplifier and dynamics module designed to get full warmth from any professional microphone while providing smooth level control. The microphone input uses unique Alice circuitry to deliver rich, musical tone, and the audio gain is shared across four low-noise amplifier stages so the preamp can handle demanding transient material without harshness or instability. The onboard soft-knee limiter is derived from a classic Ted Fletcher design first used in the Alice 828 mixer, known for adding musical density and subtle ‘fairy dust’ character that engineers value on vocals, bass and drums.

Key Features

    • 500-series microphone preamp with integrated limiter for studio and broadcast applications.
    • Mic input circuitry voiced to deliver full warmth and character from professional microphones.
    • Gain shared across four low-noise amplifier stages to manage difficult transient sources cleanly.
    • Soft-knee limiter with approximate 12:1 ratio, based on a classic Ted Fletcher design from the Alice 828 portable mixer.
    • Excellent noise performance with relative input noise figures around -128dB for use with low-output microphones.
    • Maximum mic gain up to roughly 77dB with maximum output levels around +22dBu for generous headroom
    • High-pass filter around 75Hz (6dB/8ve) for taming rumble and proximity effect.
    • Switchable phantom power, mic/line selection and limiter in/out for flexible integration in 500-series racks and lunchboxes.

Applications

Use the Alice 503 mic pre with limiter wherever you need a characterful front end that controls peaks without killing dynamics, such as vocals, voiceover, guitars, bass or close-miked drums in studio and broadcast environments. Its combination of shared-gain architecture, classic soft-knee limiting and low-noise performance also makes it well-suited to ribbon microphones and other demanding sources that benefit from high gain and gentle, musical compression.

Pair the Alice 503 mic pre with limiter with other Alice 500-series modules and dynamics to build complete analogue vocal and instrument chains. To explore more related products, visit our Alice brand page and the main microphone preamps category on Broadcasters Warehouse.