HLabs Launches Limited Edition Mic Preamp

Lyon, France (May 7, 2025)—There’s limited editions and then there’s the approach HLabs is taking: an ultra limited-edition series. “Ultra” as in just five. The French audio manufacturer is marking its fifth anniversary with the PRE169S Haufe Limited Edition—a run of only five 2-channel preamplifiers, based on the design and electronic circuitry of its PRE169.

Aiming to recall the sound of the 1970s with the new units, HLabs sourced a handful of Haufe transformers, a manufacturer known for having supplied Siemens, Telefunken and Neumann—among others—since the 1950s.

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As a result, behind its retro-looking “Siemens Grey” front panel is a pair of Haufe RK443 vintage output transformers taken from a 1970s German mixing console. Combined with the Studer 169-inspired input circuit, the result is said to offer musicality, soft lows and detailed highs. The transformers bring a classic vibe to all your instruments through the high-impedance DI inputs on the front panel.

The limited-edition units offer an input gain up to +65 dB, which makes them appropriate also for dynamic and low output ribbons microphones. The combination of input gain and output attenuation potentiometers allows a wide range of colors to be created, and the  input PAD (-33 dB) provides a line-level input appropriate for re-amping. Elsewhere, the variable High Pass Filter ranges from 20 to 315 Hz.

The five-unit series is hand-built in France. Currently in production and expected to ship by the end of May, the units carry an MSRP of $2,399.