The Portico 517 pre/DI/comp module (for the 500 Series) is based on the Portico 5017 Mobile Pre and offers a transformer-coupled preamp, compressor and DI circuitry, with vari-phase, silk and DI/mic-blending capabilities.
The 517 provides a versatile feature set capable of functioning in
many different capacities. The same engineer could use a 517 as an
inexpensive means to add new high-end analog mic amplification, instrument
amplification, vari-phase adjustment and compression to his/her studio
while also using the 517's DI/preamp blending functionality.
With ultra-low distortion, exceptional bandwidth and the flexibility of Silk, the 5017's
amplifiers can reproduce and enhance every detail captured by a microphone or instrument.
Based around a new LDR (light-dependent resister) design, the 517's
opto-coupler compressor has been simplified to a single threshold control
with auto-make-up gain and a fixed 2:1 ratio. To set the compressor, simply
dial the threshold control down until the desired amount of compression is
achieved. A built-in LED indicates when the compressor is active.
As a single-channel device for instruments, the 517 can be used to
phase align, combine and compress direct and amplified signals. To achieve
this, the instrument's direct signal is sent to the DI input and the speaker
cabinet signal via the mic preamp input. The Blend control is used for
mixing direct and amplified signals to achieve the desired tonal blend
between the two sources, and the vari-phase control is used to minimize or
attenuate phase cancellations between the two signals. The compressor can be
applied to both channels. This technique could also be used to create a
single, mixed output of a guitar and vocals or any other pair of sources.
Price: $950 U.S. list.
Find out more about the 517.