Building upon its 25-year legacy producing revered recording studio equipment; Manley Labs has distilled its core technologies from this lineage. 2014 delivered the Manley CORE, an innovative channel strip that combines Manley’s Greatest Hits with fresh technology.
The remarkably intuitive front panel combines musical and forgiving circuitry that allows the musician to concentrate on his performance instead of being lost in a sea of knobs. Ease of use and intelligently chosen operating points make it virtually impossible to cut a bad sounding track!
Manley’s experience and insight working with the industry’s top recording engineers and musicians culminates in the CORE. At this price, there is no other channel-strip with higher headroom or more seductive sound than the CORE. Handcrafted in the USA, built like a tank, built to endure, the epicenter of your recorded art will be the Manley CORE.
The signal enters through our renowned hand-wound MANLEY IRON® input transformer with nickel laminations in a mu-metal can. The tube amplifying stage is the latest implementation of our famous Class-A circuit topology found in the VOXBOX® and Manley Dual Mono & Mono Microphone Preamplifiers. This all-triode vacuum tube circuit runs on a regulated 300 Volt B+ supply yielding huge headroom and relentless output drive capability.
MADE WITH MANLEY IRON®
DRIVEN BY MANLEY POWER®
ALL CORE VIDEOS
Video
"On the basis of its price and performance alone, I’d have no hesitation in keeping the Core as the primary channel strip in my studio."
- Sound On Sound, December 2014 -
DETAILS
FRONT PANEL CONTROLS + DIRECT INPUT
48V Phantom power switch
120Hz High Pass Filter switch
Phase Invert switch
Input Attenuator (Variable Pad)
Mic Pre Selectable Gain 40dB or 60dB
Line Amp Selectable Gain 20dB or 40dB
DIRECT IN: Similar to the DI in the Manley SLAM!®, this all-discrete solid-state circuit with 10 Meg Ohm input impedance is perfect for guitars, bass, keyboards, etc.
COMPRESSOR
Featuring our successful ELOP® technology also found in our famous Manley VOXBOX®
Compressor is uniquely before the Mic Preamp making it virtually impossible to clip
Ratio 3:1
Continuously variable Attack, Release, and Threshold controls
Silent Bypass switch
EQUALIZER
Low and High Baxandall Shelves (80Hz and 12kHz) with ±12dB range
Sweepable Midrange Bell EQ (100Hz – 1kHz) or (1kHz – 10kHz) with ±10dB range
LIMITER
Fast attack FET “brickwall” limiter
Continuously Variable Threshold and Release controls
Peak Limit LED indicator
10dB range output gain control
METER
Large illuminated analog display
3-way meter-select switch shows Compressor Gain Reduction, Micpre Output Level, and Main Output audio levels.
INPUTS & OUTPUTS
Balanced XLR Mic Input
Balanced XLR Line Input
Front Panel Direct Instrument 1/4" Input
Insert point between Mic Preamp and EQ/Limiter via ¼” TRS jack
Balanced XLR Direct Output (after Preamp/Compressor section)
Balanced XLR Main Output
Deluxe CNC-machined 1/4" thick faceplate with inlaid laser-engraved inserts adorn the rigid 2U steel chassis – all locally sourced in Southern California.
SPECIFICATIONS
- ALL-TUBE preamplifier audio path using 1 x 12AX7 for gain and 1 x 6922 White Follower
- Balanced Transformer Coupled XLR Microphone Input Impedance: 1200 Ohms
- Balanced XLR Line Input Impedance: 10 kOhms
- Unbalanced 1/4" Direct Input Impedance: 10 Meg Ohm
- Hi-current drive Direct XLR output Impedance: 50 Ohms
- Silent conductive plastic INPUT attenuator
- Microphone preamp high pass filter starting at 120Hz with a 6dB/8va slope
- Compressor Maximum GAIN REDUCTION: 16 dB
- Compressor ATTACK time: 60ms slowest CCW, 30ms at 12:00, 5ms fastest CW for 6dB compression
- Compressor RELEASE time: 1.5s slowest CCW, 1s at 12:00, 100ms fastest CW from 6dB compression
- Maximum Input Mic input (Low Gain Setting): -5 dBu or 435mV RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Input Mic input (High Gain Setting): -25 dBu or 44 mV RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Input Line input (Low Gain Setting): +13 dBu or 3.5V RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Input Line input (High Gain Setting): -8 dBu or 300mV RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Input Direct input (Low Gain Setting): +24 dBu or 12V RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Input Direct input (High Gain Setting): +17 dBu or 5.5V RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Input Insert return: +20 dBu or 7.8V RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Preamp Output (Insert Send): +35 dBu or 43V RMS @ 0.5% THD
- Maximum Preamp Output (Insert Send): +22 dBu into 600 Ohms
- Maximum Main Output: +20 dBu
- Insert Send output impedance: 50 Ohms
- Insert Return input impedance: 13 kOhms
- Main Output Impedance: 50 Ohms
- Direct Output Headroom (referenced to +4 dBv): 31 dB
- Main Output Headroom (referenced to +4 dBv): 16 dB
- Dynamic Range: >90 dB
- Frequency Response: 10 Hz to 20 kHz ±0.5 dB
- Large LED illuminated VU METER
- Meters switch to read Direct Output (1) from preamp, Output (2) from Main Out, or Compressor Gain Reduction
- THD & Noise (1kHz @ +4 dBm): 0.02% at Low Gain setting
- Noise Floor (Gain set to minimum): -70 dB wideband typical
- Gain via Microphone Input: 40 or 60 dB
- Gain via Line Input: 20 or 40dB
- Maximum Gain of EQ & Limiter section: 10 dB
- AUTOMUTE warmup delay: 30 Seconds
- Power consumption: 35 watts
- Operating mains voltage: 90 to 254 VAC (internal universal supply)
- Mains Voltage Frequency: 50-60Hz
- Dimensions: 19" x 3 1/2" x 7" (occupies 2u)
- Unit Weight: 8.3 lbs.
- Shipping weight: 11.5 lbs.
Specifications subject to change because they just might.
REVIEWS
"The Manley CORE is a really nice, versatile tool manufactured from only top components. It can enhance the sound of every signal you put into it…the beautiful sound is definitely worth the investment.”
"...extremely intuitive and in the best sense [foolproof], so that due to its fast and direct usability, it should soon be a place among the classics."
- Felix Klostermann, Bonedo, September 2014
"I simply love recording with it…this unit, to me, is the perfect fusion of classic pedigree and modern implementation."
- Eric Vinc3nt, Sweetwater Customer
"This is an outstanding channel strip that deserves your serious consideration if you're looking to take your home - or studio - recordings up a notch or two."
- Harmony Central, August 2015
"On the basis of its price and performance alone, I’d have no hesitation in keeping the Core as the primary channel strip in my studio."
- Sound On Sound, December 2014
"What really makes Manley standout from others are the builds of the devices. These are incredibly solid."
RESOURCES
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What are the differences between the mic preamp circuits of the CORE, VOXBOX, and FORCE?
All three designs share the same basic topology of a cascaded pair of triodes direct-coupled into a White Cathode Follower.
Global negative feedback is deployed and GAIN is changed by altering the amount of Global NFB via potentiometers or switched resistors.
The input transformer provides around 20dB of gain while the tube amplifier provides the 20dB to 40dB of amplification.
CORE = closest adherence to the original Mastering Lab preamp schematic which was the inspiration for David Manley's 40dB (Mono) and Dual Mono 1RU units
VOXBOX = David Manley's departure from original Mastering Labs schematic also similar to stand alone Manley 40dB (Mono) and Dual Mono 1RU units
FORCE = input stage same as CORE, output tube replaced with MOSFET version of the same circuit.
Q: I have a hard time believing I got a defective unit but I’ve stripped my chain bare bones and the Manley CORE is the only thing that replicates my issue. I’m getting semi digital sounding white noise/fuzz when introducing the CORE to my chain. How do I get rid of that?
A: Try first removing the GROUND LIFT JUMPER as described in your Owner's Manual on Page 10 and Page 11.
Try that first and let us know if that cures the problem. That Ground Lift is there to help with system grounding issues!
We had another customer whose USB hub was causing a ground loop hum in his audio setup with his CORE. The solution for him was to install an ART DTI, which isolates the audio cables from the USB/Thunderbolt hub.
Q: How do I use the INSERT jack to be able to add my Aural Exciter into the path?
Yes, you can use the Insert on the back of the CORE to insert your Aphex Aural Exciter or any other piece of outboard gear.
The Insert on the back of your CORE is a mono TRS connection.
The TIP = SEND and the RING = RETURN with the sleeve as Ground.
You would need to have a cable like this one available from Sweetwater
The 1/4" TRS plug would connect to the CORE Insert on the back and then you'd plug the TS plugs on the other end of the cable to your Input and Output on just one channel of your Aphex Aural Exciter with SEND going to the INPUT of the Aural Exciter and the RETURN coming from the Aural Exciter’s OUTPUT. Keep reading your Owner’s Manual to learn more about your Manley CORE!
