ABOUT US
OVER 15 YEARS
MCAudioLab designs and hand-builds professional audio equipment
The tone and the quality of our equipment comes from an open mind about audio design and intelligent circuit layout as well as high quality components and keeping things small enough to offer both great prices and direct contact with our users.
Open mind
about audio design
The goal is designing and building the gear we’d use every day as audio engineers. And we do it with a free state of mind, trying to keep clear of dogmas and trends and esoteric approaches. We started off building vintage-style class A tube gear. Classic tone is great, but legendary units have their quirks and drawbacks so that’s we design things our way starting from the ground up. The design of our own tube power supply is something we are proud of and thanks to it you get a 100% pure vintage sound.
But then why commit to old-school tone monsters? It’s not all about vintage or tubes just because it’s “cool”. We had some ideas for a tube enhancer and drive and a M/S ambience tool, and we went for it. Then it was the turn of discrete audio op-amps. And who knows what’s next.
our only rules
Tone and performance
Tone and audio performance are the only things we don’t discuss. When designing a unit, we need to choose the right design and components to achieve tone and character when needed, and pristine audio performance to meet modern professional audio production standards. We painstakingly design audio paths to be as short as possible. If a component gets us the tone we’re after, we’ll use it. We choose components and design solutions for their quality and functionality, not for the sake of name dropping. Every single component is carefully selected, compared with others and tested. This guarantees our gear provides top level audio quality while minimizing unwanted artifacts and noise.
Our units are designed to sound great for a lifetime. They are all hand-built and tested in-house with top quality components, so the chance we won’t be able to service them in the future are close to none.
You pay what you get
When you purchase a MCAudioLab product, you’re paying for design, high quality components, extensive testing and just enough for us to keep on designing great stuff. We’re happy to be the small guys: this means a lower price for you and keeping a direct contact with our customers.
We care about clarity and avoid marketing blurb: we won’t try to talk you into buying something that’s not what you’re looking for. We believe word of mouth is a powerful way to spread the word around, but it only works if we’re able to interact with customers in a transparent and honest way.
If you have any special requests for a custom product or a variation on a stock unit, we’ll be happy to help you out. And once you’ve become a MCAudioLab user, your feedback is precious to keep us getting better. Contact us if you have any suggestions on requests, or just share tips and tricks on how to get the best out of your gear. And in the unlikely case you encounter any problems, we’re here to help you out: your MCAudioLab product will be constantly supported.
Company history
Since I was young I have always been interested in both music and electronics. My very first approach with music was listening music on cassette tape player by a headphone set. That definitely shaped the way I listen sound. Experiencing the stereo and how it provides the illusion of space and directional realism – not to mention how every detail was clear – that was amazing and the game changer: music turned into physical experience, as well.
The subject about electronic is after my father. He was an amateur radio operator and he used huge and unbelievable stuff with odd lights inside: That was around the early seventies and his equipment was an all-tube German radio transmitter – vacuum tubes equipment were still around at that time for both radio and Tv. My father had some projects he was dealing with, in order to improve his mic performances. Getting a clearer voice signal to ‘send’ around the world was mandatory. He was actually making mic preamps and equalizers. I was there looking at him soldering electronics components, boxing the units then connecting them with his microphone and Radio Tx. That was the trigger to lear more about that obscure magic he was dealing with. That old schematics my father received from the United States thanks to another amateur radio operator he was in touch with. That guy was working as a recording assistant (later turned into sound engineer) in a recording studio in New York. The schematics he provided were adaptations of an Altec mic preamp and equalizer.
The beginning
I started playing music when 15 and the bass guitar was my instrument. The rock band – I was playing with – decided to record a song as a demo for a contest. We went into the recording studio and that environment literally enchanted me. That was the moment I get addicted to sliders and switches as well as knobos – I literally loooove them!. Try to imagine the impact of a such stack of audio gears on a young guy (in the 80s there were tape machines around and fully analog recording studios). The listening experience first, then the curiosity about electronics and the direct music experience as palyer later, all those elements together pushed me to build my own audio devices (I used for playing bass). Just customizing that mic preamp and eq my father used for his radio equipment in the very beginning. My own small recording studio was equipped by my devices and some other time I started builing them for customers.
My name is Manuel. I’m the designer and proud owner of the MCAudioLab company.