MARTECH MSS 10

Well it was done. This was and is the Pre Amp that Ottmar Liebert and many others (read below to find out who)uses to record his music and was a dream of mine to get. While I did not think I would ever get one. One was just bought by my very patient girl friend Kathy who is helping this c/d project become a reality, also my good friend Charline is helping out with this and the travel space and location so the bottom line is there is no way I could have done this alone and was only able to do this with the help and care/love of others. Wow its now a very good link for the guitar recoriding chain. Hear is a picture. Thank you to the two of you.

Movers and shakers of professional audio dream about finding that rare piece of equipment that will keep them on the cutting edge. A career building tool that effortlessly produces awesome sound. The Martech MSS-10 quickly established itself as the mic preamp of choice for many of the audio elite because it has Natural Sound, the mythical straight wire with gain. Its uncanny ability to deliver astonishing realism is, simply stated, audio magic in a box. Join the hit makers who already enjoy immense artistic satisfaction using the MSS-10 Natural Sound Mic Preamp and turn your audio dreams into recording legends.

"I’m blown away in the sense that it’s very hi-fi and open and sweet, but it’s not sterile and boring. It’s got fidelity but it’s got a lot of character and a lot of soul and it brings things present in the track. Audiophile used to be a bad word but this is hi-fi with soul."-Joe Chiccarelli, Engineer on Elton John’s Songs From the West Coast

Why the MSS-10
In the past, world-class engineers collected the best tube and discrete preamps, each for its own character. One for great top end, another for clarity, a third for punch, and still another for bottom. Over time, these preamps became almost mystical, credited for creating the magic of great recordings. In reality, those talented engineers just used the preamp that was least detrimental to the desired characteristic, struggling to maintain the magic of the performance.

The Martech MSS-10 brings a new paradigm to mic preamps. The real magic of the MSS-10 is that it does absolutely nothing. With nothing to cheat your audio you’ll hear it like never before! No sideshow hype or tacky disappearing acts. Illusions of zip, zing, and whoompf can’t satisfy once you experience real magic. Silky top, absolute clarity, knockdown punch, and fat bottom end to make your world go ’round. The MSS-10 delivers the body and soul of the performance with astonishing realism and immediacy. Real magic we call Natural Sound.

"Shockingly good" is a stunning endorsement from Bruce Botnick, a man who has heard it all. His engineering work, from the Doors to major motion picture scores, is driven by his passion for audio. Bruce knows that the secret of legendary recording lies in capturing the excitement and beauty of the original performance. He selects only the best equipment that faithfully reproduces every detail. Bruce uses the MSS-10 with his world-class mics over other well-respected preamps, because the Natural Sound of the MSS-10 delivers the real magic he strives for.

What is Natural Sound?
When equipment seriously degrades audio there are many esoteric and vulgar words to describe it. Gear that does a better job of preserving the original sound is often called euphonic. By reproducing every detail of the original without introducing any artifacts, we discovered something far better than euphonic; something very special we call Natural Sound.

Natural Sound is far from sterile, being full of life and vitality. And while accuracy is often judged by static measurements, Natural Sound goes far beyond technical precision by faithfully recreating the intricacies and realism of the original performance.

Experience unconstrained dynamics that never remove the faintest detail or pinch when the music soars. And when punch is required, stand back. Enjoy airy top end without smear, crystal clear mids, real warmth without mud, and extra octaves of rock solid bottom end. Natural Sound is simply breathtaking. An aural seduction. The essence of what drives one’s passion for audio.

Natural Sound. Nothing added. Nothing removed. Everything you always dreamed of.

Features and functions
The MSS-10 is comprised of dual signal paths in a single unit, allowing flexibility in getting the best audio from a microphone to a recorder.

The preamp section uses two stages of gain from mic input to direct out, providing wide bandwidth and a stable design. It features 65dB of gain switched in 5dB steps, 48V phantom, 20dB pad and polarity reverse.

The line driver section can select the preamp out or a balanced line input. This makes a great EQ insert point. The level control adjusts continuously from infinity to +10dB, allowing for riding of gain. The addition of a mute and professional VU meter allows the finest audio quality possible to be sent directly to the recorder. Engaging the Cal button provides precise VU monitoring of the selected source.

Not only does it sound awesome, it looks like a piece of art. The sophisticated, elegant appearance of the matte finish, nickel-plated faceplate matches your finest microphones while ergonomic knobs and lighted push buttons provide positional information at a glance from any angle. The beautiful package tells your clients that you own only the best.

A peek under the lid
Tracing out the schematic or unpotting the transformer will not reveal the secret of the natural sound of the MSS-10. Martech’s Natural Sound Design Methodology uses the exquisitely sensitive human ear to guide all design choices.

Every component and circuit was listened to, individually and collectively, assuring the finest signal path possible. Thousands of hours were invested, listening for the subtlest differences compared against a wire.

As a result, the heart of the MSS-10 comprises proprietary, high resolution, high voltage, all discrete, non-inverting amplifiers along with a custom built, oversize input transformer. Special silver switches with redundant contacts are preconditioned with a stabilizing agent. Hard wiring avoids internal connectors. Carefully tuned DC servo amps eliminate the coloration of in-path capacitors, while improving bottom end response. Bipolar 24v rails provide true +24dBm output even into an unbalanced input.

Finally, unique grounding techniques and balanced impedance outputs are used to ensure a flawless interface to the outside world.

What others are saying

"The main solid-state mic pres we used were Martech MSS-10s; we found those to be the best out of everything we had. At times, we had up to eight of those going. Paul Simon’s vocal mic signal chain throughout the album was a Neumann M149 through the Martech mic pre." - Andy Smith, Engineer on recording Paul Simon’s album You’re the One

"The MSS-10 gives me the clarity and musicality that I need for DSD and 96kHz/24 bit. The noise floor is well below the vintage microphones that I use and doesn’t add unwanted coloration to the sound." - Bruce Botnick, Producer/Mixer/ Engineer on recording motion picture scores


"The first thing that I really noticed was on vocals, which sold me on it immediately. It made the vocals sound really present, which required less EQ and less compression to really get them to stand out on the track." - Jerry Finn, Producer on recording Blink 182’s albums Take Off Your Pants & Jacket and Enema of the State


"The Specs are impressive, but Martech clearly intends the performance to be judged by the ear rather than the meter." - Dave Foister - Studio Sound, June 1997

Judge for yourself
If you crave astonishing realism check out the MSS-10 and judge Natural Sound for yourself. The experience is so awesome that we sell the MSS-10 with a no risk, no questions asked, 60-day buy back guarantee. So what are you waiting for? Call us to order your very own and get ready to make history with your next session.

Technical specifications


Microphone preamplifier section
Gain 20dB–65dB
Maximum Input +22.5 dBu (@ 1kHz, THD 0.003%, 20 dB Pad In)
Maximum Output +24 dBu
Input Impedance 2,450 Ohms (@ 1kHz)
Output Impedance 50 Ohms
Frequency Response 10Hz – 20kHz (+0.5/-0.0)
EIN -126.5 dBu Typ. (10Hz–20kHz, 150 Ohm Source)
THD+N 0.0015% (20dB Gain @ 1kHz, +4dBu Out)
CMRR 65dB Gain 60Hz 108dB 1kHz 85dB 10kHz 65dB

Line driver section
Gain 10dB
Maximum Input +24 dBu
Maximum Output +24 dBu
Input Impedance 20k Ohms (Balanced)
Output Impedance 50 Ohms
Frequency Response 10Hz – 200kHz (+0.0/-0.25)
THD+N 0.001% (0dB Gain @ 1kHz, +4dBu Out)

Power supply
Power Rails -+24V
Phantom +48V
Power Consumption 10 Watts
Power Requirements 100–120, 220–240 VAC

Natural Sound Methodology

by Shawn Micheal - Martech Natural Sound Lab supervisor
When Shawn isn’t making the world safe for audio, he is using his creations to make better records.

Article summary: Critical Listening is the key to knowing when it’ s right.

Featured in Fall 1998 Audio Horizons 680k | Newsletter List
MSS-10 product information

Audio engineers take pride in being able to hear things that most others are incapable of hearing. In reality, the average citizen can probably hear just as well, it's just that they don't know how to listen. To understand what engineers do, we must differentiate between hearing and listening.

An analogous situation to hearing and listening is eating and tasting food. I thoroughly enjoy eating, but I perceive a dish as one, big, wonderful flavor, whereas my wife tastes the same dish as a collection of individual flavors. What this means is that I enjoy the dish and that's it, but my wife can go home and duplicate it. She has learned how to breakdown the whole into basic elements and knows how the details work together to form one magnificent piece of art. In many ways, great chefs are like top engineers. Chefs use their ability to taste while engineers use their ability to listen.

Engineers as a whole have developed their ability to listen so as to focus not only on the main subject, but also on the nuances of what is surrounding the subject, and even beyond. For the average engineer the subtleties of balance, eq, panning, reverb and/or echo of each element is almost as important as the song itself. Just as the chef must decide whether to sauté in butter or olive oil to get the right flavor, the engineer must decide things such as how wide the stereo spread on background vocals should be to give them impact without causing distraction. But for the top engineer, other issues such as spatial imaging or dimensionality and low-level detail are also as important, just as the master chef is as concerned with presentation as with taste.

The question is how well do we listen? This author once read a review where the reviewers agreed on the sound quality of a power amp, but one felt that it placed you in the fourth row of the audience, while the other thought it put you in the eighth. Half of the review was arguing this trivial(?), subjective(?) issue. The question should be, which row did the producer and engineer intend?

There are two issues that need to be addressed. First, does it sound good? This is a subjective decision based upon the emotional response of the moment. Second, does it sound as good as the original source? This is an objective decision based upon the evaluation of a device, component, etc., against the sound source. If a device sounds "better" than the original source then the coloration is termed "euphonic." If a device sounds the same as the source then it is termed as "neutral" or "natural." If the device sounds worse than the source then there are hundreds of esoteric or vulgar words that might be used to describe it, depending on how different it sounds. Objective listening is the main concern of this article.

When research and design began for the MSS-10 Mic Preamp, we auditioned many different manufacturers' preamps and realized that no two sounded alike. Many sounded good, but which sounded the most correct? We realized that we needed a listening system that provided a high degree of resolution, to most accurately assess each against a known source.

Bud Wyatt, Martech's electronic engineer on the MSS-10 project, had many years of experience in critical listening electronics design with The Mastering Lab and Sheffield Lab. After Bud gathered recommendations from fellow audio enthusiasts, we auditioned and chose equipment for our listening room. That was when the fun began.

Bud modified a CD player, replacing all analog stages with custom electronics to provide a repeatable sound source, allowing the listener to acquaint himself with a passage of music through looping. Repeatability was recognized as the only way to make honest comparisons.

After extensive listening we chose a rotary switch made from coin silver to use as the A/B switch. (The same switch we use in the MSS-10!) Careful attention was paid to the influences of wire and impedance. Connections were hard wired with silver solder, so that connectors would not influence the sound.

Finally, we could begin to audition amplifier technologies. Active and passive components were listened to individually and collectively, for timbre shifts and dynamics. Many devices that touted extremely low distortion didn't do well at all in listening tests. Most were found to cause changes in tonal quality, imparting a synthetic, edgy character and demolishing the depth and energy of the audio.

Components and topologies were tested for flawless audio reproduction. Daisy-chaining multiple 20dB amplifiers together with 20dB pads magnified any distinguishing footprint left by an amplifier design. We found this method to be a true test of how a system can deteriorate the audio, a test most designers avoid. This test also forced us back to the drawing board many times. When the right amplifier design was found, the whole process had to be repeated in the development of our custom input transformer.

The ultimate test of the MSS-10 design was with a microphone on a live source. To say we were stunned by the results is an understatement. We expected to hear an improvement in quality, but what we actually heard was a lack of "gunk"! All the sound and character of the microphone was there, but that was it. No distortion, no blurring, no hype, no roll off, nothing.

The MSS-10 allowed us to experience the microphone like we never had before.

Quality audio is made up from performance, environment, and the audio tools used to capture it. Martech is developing audio tools, like the MSS-10, for engineers like you, to stand out among your peers. Critical listening enabled Martech to develop a markedly better microphone preamp, allowing you to seriously enhance any recording project. The beauty and clarity of the MSS-10 will provide a dramatic difference. Your clients will love that!
Deliver Awesome Sounds

by Shawn Micheal - MSS-10 product manager
Shawn is one of our top product design specialists. In addition to supervising the MSS team he contributed to the development of Flying Faders and MultiMAX.

Article summary: Industry giants are using MSS-10s on their sessions. The natural sounding mic preamp is also an AES TEC Award nominee.

Featured in Fall 1998 Audio Horizons 680k | Newsletter List
MSS-10 product information

By now many of you are aware of the MSS-10 mic preamp. Perhaps you've read an exceptional review of the unit, or paused for a moment to admire its sleek good looks in one of our ads. Maybe you noticed that the readers of Studio Sound magazine singled out the MSS-10 for a commendation in the Outboard Preamp category of the Audio Industry Recognition Awards earlier this year. More recently it was nominated for a TEC Award, in the category of Outstanding Technical Achievement in Microphone Preamplifier Technology.

But while you're reading the trade magazines your competitors, some of the top people in the industry, have taken the time to audition and evaluate the MSS-10. Some well-known names are now using the MSS-10 to help them deliver some truly awesome sounds, perhaps even to your former clients...

Of course it's a great honor to be recognized by our industry with award nominations, but it's the comments of our clients that really matter. No stranger to award ceremonies himself, Al Schmitt has accumulated seven Grammy Awards for his engineering work over the years, and was inducted into the TEC Awards Hall of Fame in 1997. Al was recently introduced to the MSS-10 when he used four of the mic preamps on the scoring sessions for the 20th Century Fox motion picture Hope Floats at Capitol Records in Hollywood. "I had a great experience with them," says Al.

Al also used MSS-10s on Vince Gill's new Christmas album. "I used them on his voice and a couple on the room," he says. "They were fabulous!" As we went to press Al was in session at Capitol with Diana Krall, using 5 MSS-10s to record Johnny Mandel's orchestra. He also reported that he used MSS-10s on a recent Monica Mancini album session, featuring guest vocalist Johnny Mathis.
Grammy Award-winning engineer, producer and mixer Bruce Botnick put his rack of 8 MSS-10s to good use on several Jerry Goldsmith scoring sessions, including Walt Disney's animated feature Mulan at Todd-AO Studios, and DreamWorks' Small Soldiers at 20th Century Fox. Most recently he took his rack of MSS-10s to England, to record the Goldsmith score for The 13th Warrior (Touchstone Pictures) at AIR Studios.

Sony Music Studios in New York City recently purchased a pair of MSS-10s. Assistant Director of Audio Engineering, John Williams, reports that the mic preamps are in constant use throughout the multi-room complex. "All the engineers are very happy with them," he notes. "We'll be picking up a third unit soon. We're looking forward to using them with our Neumann microphones on the Decca tree." Initially used on sessions with Branford Marsalis and Wyclef Jean, the MSS-10s have seen action with Hanson for Hard Rock Live, and on sessions with Fastball, Lucinda Williams, Harry Connick Jr. and Joe Pesci.

Let's take a look at the design of the MSS-10 and see how it can help you capture your mics' true excitement. The MSS-10 mic pre incorporates two stages of non-inverting amplification, providing 20dB to 65dB of gain, switchable in precise 5dB steps. A 20dB pad, phase reverse and +48V switching are included.

The line driver offers additional level adjustment from ( to +10dB of gain. A CAL switch bypasses the level control, providing unity gain output. A mute switch is provided. The source may be selected from either the mic pre or a separate balanced line input. The line input can be used for the insertion of a signal processor (e.g. EQ), maintaining the shortest, fully controllable audio path to the recorder. A professional, full-size VU meter indicates level at the line output.

The MSS-10 offers a pristine path to tape, bypassing the console, for the best possible reproduction of your source. At Retrophonics Studio in Florida, Jim DeVito prefers to use MSS-10s rather than the mic preamps in his main recording console. "The MSS-10 is a fantastic piece of gear," he says. "I use it on vocals all the time, but it can be used on everything."

Bobby Croft, former member of The Greg Allman Band and owner of The Grey Area Studio in Orlando, Florida, recently purchased an MSS-10 to use with his Augan 24-track digital recorder for record production work with up-and-coming talent. The MSS-10 has become the preamp of choice. Enthuses Croft, "With the MSS-10 I can really use my tube mics."

Natural Sound means that for the very first time you can hear every glorious detail from your microphones, giving you awesome sounds from mics you already use. This revolutionary technology is no substitute for talent and passion, but if you have what it takes to stand out, the MSS-10 delivers the sounds you have always dreamed of.