Burr-Brown op-amps have been chosen for a 'silkier' sound for the mic amp. The 'DI' input has limited 'tone control' function as well…for 'minor touchups' [or real radical alterations].

A polarity reverse switch was added, let's face it, a piece of "pro" equipment should have one.

The compressor works on a 'J-FET' compression cell, which sounds a bit smoother than a VCA, and has the potential to be faster than an 'opto-attenuator'. There's a whole new tube path in the compressor as well, which nets a "warmer","richer", "fatter", [your favorite buzzword here] tone.

Three coupling positions allow for dual mono, stereo link, and a new "Big" position which puts the hi-pass filter in the side-chain to keep the bass and kick drum from 'driving' the compression. The high pass filter gently rolls off the detection signal at 100Hz to minimize undesirable 'pumping' which can be caused when the 'bottom' drives the compression.

The unit goes into "true stereo" compression…in other words, in 'stereo link', you control both channels with one set of controls. When in stereo mode you have a choice of adding a 100Hz filter to the detector path on the compressor [the signal path that controls the compressor, it's not in the audio path]. This is called the "big" switch. What it does is allow the detector to pretty much ignore the bass and kik drum while modulating the compression from the loudest sound source, which is usually the vocals. Very often things like kik drum and bass will have the greatest amount of energy behind them and the stereo compression reacts to this energy [ever notice that a bass player usually needs a 300 watt amp to keep up with a guitar player with a 50 watt amp? Same principles apply here.

The compressor's 'attack & release' functions were based on the timing selections available on the 670. Unlike the 670, we separated the 'attack' & 'release' controls so you can pick different attack and release times [on the 670 they work in pairs]. We started with the 670 timings, then "tweezed" them by ear. It's a completely different circuit than the 670, and while the buzzword of having the 670 timing parameters makes for great 'buzzwords'…the reality is they didn't sound really good…so we started with the 'buzzwords', and moved on from there.

Built around the 12AX7 tube, the gain-makeup section rounds out the 1969 supplying more punch and definition…and gives credibility to the "tube" buzzword so necessary as a marketing tool. While they were originally added as a "marketing tool" [ohhh, gee whiz, golly... it's tooob compressor], we found that they add to the character and the charm of the unit... which is a good thing.

FEATURES

• Two ultra low noise vacuum tube microphone pre-amplifiers.
• Switchable 48 volt phantom powering
• Input level with 6dB steps from 0dB upto 66dB of gain
• Peak overload LEDs
• Two Vacuum tube 'soft knee' compressors.
• Variable threshold control.
• Switchable attack and release times.
• Adjustable gain 'make up' of up to 20dB.
• Variable input gain sufficient to provide sustain effects.
• Variable Bass and Treble EQ.
• Switchable HF Boost, Gain Boost and EQ Bypass.
• Aux pre-amp section can be routed to one or both compressors to provide two channels of output for creating stereo effects from a mono source. Different compression characteristics can be set for each channel if required.
• Stereo linking.
• Big Stereo linking.
• Balanced XLR connections.
• Switchable 50Hz and 100Hz high pass filters.
• Switchable Phase Reverse.
• Switchable input source: Mic; Mic 48V; Line; Aux.
• -10dB and +4dB 'Insert' connections allow the sound sources of each channel to be independently modified with external effects and/or equalization.
• Side Chain access for external equalization to achieve frequency selective compression.
• Illuminated VU meter indicating output level or gain reduction.
• Connectors: Mic/Line Balanced XLR (Pin 2+) Aux Input 1/4 jack (Unbal).

SPECIFICATIONS

• Noise: -134.5dB (ref 0dBu, Shorted)
• Noise: -130.5dB (ref 0dBu, 150Ω)
• Noise: -129.8dB (ref 0dBu, 200Ω)
• Dynamic Range: 150dB
• Headroom: +21dB
• Input Impedance: 20KΩ (line), 150&Omega (mic), 2.2 MΩ (aux)
• Max Input Level: +16dB (+20dBu).
• Output Impedance: 50Ω
• Max Output Level: +18dB (+22dBu)
• Frequency Response: <20Hz to 24 KHz -1 dB
• Crosstalk: better than -80dB @ 10KHz
• Noise: (Compressor section @ unity gain) -85dB @ 22Hz- 22KHz
• Distortion: Unity gain, +4dBu input 0.35% @ 100 Hz to 10 KHz.
• Power Requirements: IEC Connector, 95-125V or 190- 250V @ 50-60Hz, 38 Watts.

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Drawmer 1969 Mercenary Edition Product Information

Drawmer 1969 Mercenary Edition Manual Adobe pdf

The main differences between the '69 and '68 is that the '69 has 2 mic pre's and a DI... the '68 is the compression section from the '69 without the other facilities.

The compression in the '68 is a tad more flexible than the compression in the '69 as you can use the "big" switch individually on the channels in addition to when the channels are tied in 'stereo' mode, the metering on the '68 was another improvement that I found to be of great assistance. Other than that, they're the same [ahhh, the nomenclature on the '68 is a little better... but that's not really a big deal]

I'm not sure of the depth... I'm going to guess about 14" for each, but I can't swear to it. If you'd like me to measure them, please let me know. The '68 is 1 RU vs. the '69's 2 RU profile. -Fletcher