Radial Engineering Cherry Picker Studio Preamp Selector

The Radial Cherry Picker is a unique tool designed to improve efficiency and workflow in the studio by simplifying the process of matching the best preamp with a microphone for a given track. This is most often done when recording vocals. This improves the sonic character of the track and provides the vocalist with a more comfortable sound, which in turn allows for a better performance.

Four front panel ‘radio style’ selector switches select the active preamp while automatically disconnecting the mic from the others. Completely passive and 100% discrete, the Cherry Picker features a ‘straight wire’ signal path. There is no active circuitry whatsoever in between the mic signal and the preamp. The audio signal switching is performed by a series of military-grade gold contact sealed relays for zero coloration and distortion to ensure a fair and honest comparison between preamps.

The rear panel is equipped with a balanced XLR input for the microphone and four balanced XLR outputs to feed the various preamps. When using a studio condenser, the Cherry Picker internally generates 48V phantom power so that switching between preamps will not disrupt the phantom power going to the microphone. This could otherwise cause severe popping in the audio system and headphones. Separate ground lift switches for each output help reduce noise by eliminating ground loops plus a handy mute switch turns all outputs off, enabling the engineer to leave the preamp settings untouched when testing out other mics.