The Portico II Channel was created using the high voltage topologies from the 5088 to create a channel strip with the ultimate sound quality. Comprised of a fully-featured mic preamplifier, 4-band EQ, compressor-limiter, “texture” control and level metering, the Portico II Channel includes a bevy of new features including; Variable Silk with Texture control, a fully tunable “de-esser”, multiple VCA filtering and detection options, a transient-optimized swept HPF and parallel compression blending. With its simple yet powerful topologies and extensive feature set, every element of the Portico II: Channel is geared towards empowering recording artists to realize these visions.
Input Section
Input signals may be derived from any of three sources; Microphone, Line or DI. The Microphone input has a 10K Ohm non-reactive input resistance that handles a full 26dBu signal without the need for a pad. A primary Gain control provides 66dB of gain in 6dB increments for easy recall with a +/- 6dB Trim for fine adjustment. A transient-optimized HPF variable from 20-250Hz is included. Additionally, a 48V Phantom Power switch, Phase Inversion, Signal Present indicator and a Mute switch are included. The pre-amp is a TLA non-reactive design that precludes the loading of microphones with limited driving capability and which maintains a 2 dB noise figure over a wide range.
Inserting a plug into the DI input selects a 3M Ohm discrete FET DI circuit with a transformer-coupled topography that optimizes both the microphone and DI inputs, allowing low impedance microphones and high impedance sources like electric guitars and basses to sound their very best. Primary Gain and Trim controls are fully operational. A “Thru” jack on the front panel that duplicates the unaffected source signal allows the use of an external amplifier if required. A “Line” switch selects the independent Line XLR non-reactive input circuit that includes the HPF and Level Trim controls.
Texture
One of the key developments in the Portico II Channel is the new Texture section. Building on the “Silk” mode found in the original Portico Series mic preamplifiers, Texture is designed to adjust the actual amount of musical harmonic content from the source material – in effect, providing countless tonal options in one device. The texture section can vary from barely audible to dramatic, all controlled by a single knob. With that said, we have taken great care to ensure that the musical integrity of source material itself will not be compromised by these harmonic controls – these are not to be confused with controls from other manufactures that may “incinerate”, “demolish” or “destroy” source material – and we believe they can be confidently used to fit the personality of any song, instrument or engineer.
