Topic: FEL BMA2 (UK based stealthy pre)

[sunjan]

This pre got one previous mention on the YS (http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=139350.0), but I thought it merits a thread of its own.
http://www.felmicamps.co.uk/products/felbattpreamp.html

Could be alternative for EU buyers who don't want to order Church gear etc from the US for customs reasons.

Those of you who run FEL preamps, who do they stand up to competition?

[owainturner]

Does anyone know how this compares with the CA-9100?

[fmaderjr]

Can't find any reviews but here are some nature recordings made with it, so it should be plenty quiet enough for music::
http://tabasco.upf.edu/people/dobroide/packs/7288/

Provides much more gain than the CA9100 (up to 50 dB) but has 10 dB minimum gain and no ability to attenuate.

Plug in power is only 5 volts according to the manufacturer, which really should be enough to power most mini-mics. My CA-14'S and DPA-4060's do fine with loud music when powered by the Marantz PMD620's 4.6 volts.

[owainturner]

I think my ca9100 may be going to the Yard Sale... I need a little extra gain for acoustic shows ... it'll be this or a ca9200. :-)

I would pay Mega dollar for an Ugly sized preamp with this level of gain :-)

Thank you fmaderjr ... will take a listen when I get home. :-)

[aaronji]

I thought about getting one of these a while back, but ended up going in a different direction.  I'm still curious, though...

There have been a couple of short threads about the BMA1/2 (http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=101230.msg1348802#msg1348802 and http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=94310.msg1256429#msg1256429).  These are about the BMA1, I think, but according to FEL:

The BMA 1 and 2 are identical in audio performance, they use exactly the same circuitry.

The differences are below:

BMA2 has microprocessor monitoring that continually monitors the audio level and the battery level. By pressing a button the battery voltage is displayed on two leds. If the battery goes below 7 volts the LED's flash every 10 seconds, but they also continue to monitor the audio.
Improved case with better battery change, PP3 just clips in and out.
The case is completely internally screened to reduce electrical interference.

And some other tidbits:

We can easily change the gain range to be 0 to 50 dB but not as much as 60 dB.

We can do many input connectors, but not microdot I am afraid.