API 312 Mic Pres from Wally Heider Recording - $895 each

The console that this card came from was built in 1972 by Frank Demedio for Studio 4 at Wally Heider Recording in Los Angeles. Demedio is widely respected for his custom recording consoles built for Heider and a select group of artists. Only a small number of these were made. Sunset Sound in Los Angeles boasts one of the few still in operation. Components by API and Universal Audio served as the core building blocks for these consoles; Demedio is known for having built consoles exclusively using API components before API had come to do this work themselves.

Wally Heider and his studios are legendary, having shaped and defined the sound of many great artists. Heider himself was pivotal in capturing the 60's "San Francisco Rock" sound as well as that of many jazz greats in the same era. At this pivotal time in American musical history, his groundbreaking work using Demedio's consoles has enriched our lives and shaped our opinions from those days onward. The Studio 4 console has been photographed with Lindsey Buckingham seated at it, and an inner panel was in later years tagged by the Foo Fighters.

After the closing of Wally Heider Recording, the exact history of this console becomes hazy.  The accumulated trauma of several moves took it's toll, and sadly, the console has been decommissioned. It's essential building blocks, the original issue API 312 modules, are intact and perform flawlessly.

The 312 preamp cards Frank used for the Studio 4 console were customized before installation with a 0887 input transformer built by Ed Reichenbach, a seminal and enigmatic figure in the world of transformer design. Reichenbach started his career at Altec Lansing before making transformers throughout the 1960's for the audio and aerospace industries. Tom Reichenbach, Ed's son, carries his legacy forward, serving as the president of Cinemag Transformers. Cinemag employed Dean Jensen, another heavyweight in the field, for some time.
The very first component your microphone interacts with is the preamp's input transformer. No other single component impacts a captured sound at such a fundamental level; the interaction between the microphone and the input transformer is a truly magical and nuanced transaction. The Reichenbach 0887 transformer gives the API 312 a smoother, punchier feel, slightly taming the signature hard edge and imparting a touch of warmth.

During the process of racking these preamps for 500 series use, great care has been taken to preserve their original configuration from the Demido console.  No parts were added or removed, save those needed to provide the front panel controls. Great care and attention has been paid to respect and preserve the purity of these modules.  The approach is strictly 'lean and mean', resulting in an API 312 that is truly at it's finest. This limited run of preamps brings our living musical history into the modern world like nothing else.