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The S80 Producer Box

The characteristic sound of vintage valve equipment is well know, but interest is now growing in early op-amp designs too. One example is the renowned Trident Series 80 console from the 1970's, which has recently been reincamted in the form of the John Oram S80 Producer Box. Hugh Robjohns relives those heady days....

"As far as my ears are concerned, the new box sounds absolutely identical
to the original Series 80 channel in every way."

The S80 Producers box is based on the channel strip of the Trident Audio Developments Series 80 Console - an Oram design. The Serie 80 was, and still is, a highly respected and well-loved recording desk dating back to the early -80's and posessing a subtle but distinctive sound quality which resulted from a combination of Oram's approach to circuit design (particularly his EQ stages) and the solid-state technology of the day... (still under construction) The rear panel carries a generous array of connectors. Each input module features a three-pin XLR for microphone input along with a second XLR and adjacent TRS socket acommodating the line input. The balanced insert point is equipped with a pair of TRS quarter-inch socket providing separate send and recieve connectors. Unusually, the S80 provides both pre-fade outputs, direct from each equaliser, and a stereo output which receives the post-fade, panned signal from each fader. The module direct output are each available on both XLR and adjacent TRS sockets, as are each of the two channels of the stereo output. The last connector is a 5-pin XLR conveying power from the chunky external PSU.
Hugh Robjohns		© SOUND ON SOUND NOVEMBER 2000.