I set out this year to make a 50K:600 transformer that would be compatible with tube compressor circuits from the 1960s. Doing so landed me in a position to introduce a very special offering: A tone shaping DI box. Its roots go back to the early days of soul music. These records featured a good chunk of direct bass and direct recorded electric guitar. The transformers from back in the day, are wondrous and fantastic creatures that utilized unusually expensive metals or simply what was around at the time. By designing the LMI50600BRN I decided to do the same. I ended up designing a transformer that could offer both a vintage sounding fidelity and the ability to present clarity on demand.
Because the transformer is built on a large EI30 core, with a clear emphasis on laminations versus bobbin, you get a 94 gram beast, that is majority metal and barely enough room to hold the windings. Utilizing a blend of special black iron and steel laminations, we get a primary inductance that comes in at roughly 2000H that presents gobs of bottom end, a very present midrange and gently rolled off highs. However, because there are 4 taps on this transformer, which the Big Block DI platform uses, each tap has its own special frequency curve that's imparted on the source. To my knowledge, this design is unique in that it accomplishes these results with no power source required and to excellent results!
This also marks the first submission to the public from LMI - Designs, which is a sub division of LMI that is focused on making useful and superb sonic tools. Rather than clone existing designs, I present novel ideas that serve as a way to improve the recording and mixing process, especially in areas that are still in need of improvement such as the transfer process from analog to digital or digital to analog. More to come on that soon! But for now its a first!
Be sure to visit the LMI Motor City Big Block DI page for more information!
