Triton Audio FetHead in-Line Microphone Preamp

Design & Build Quality 🧰 The FetHead is a compact and beautifully machined inline preamp that looks and feels like proper stage hardware, not a gimmick add-on. The steel body is solid and well-finished, with precisely fitted XLR connectors that click in snugly. The labeling is minimal and professional — this feels like a tool made for daily use, not a studio toy. The internal shielding is clearly doing its job, as there’s no detectable hum or interference even when plugged directly into a noisy interface chain. Ease of Use ⚙️ Using the FetHead is as straightforward as it gets — just insert it between the mic and the preamp, and you’re done. There are no switches, no power supply, and no fuss. It runs on phantom power from the interface or mixer, yet doesn’t pass it to the mic, so it’s fully safe for dynamic and ribbon microphones. The small size makes it easy to leave it permanently attached without straining connectors or interfering with stands. Performance in Real Life 🎙️ Noise performance is astonishing. With the preamp gain maxed out but no mic connected, the FetHead remains completely silent — no hiss, no hum, no trace of circuit noise. In a real setup with an AKG D5 dynamic mic, the self-noise floor sits below –80 dB, which is far beyond what most interfaces can measure accurately. The gain boost is clean and transparent, adding presence and clarity without changing tone or adding harshness. On stage, it behaves predictably and never overloads the input; in the studio, it makes low-output dynamics sound like they’ve come alive. Notable Issues ⚠️ None in practice. The only “limitation,” if one has to find it, is that the FetHead is a fixed-gain device — you don’t control the amount of amplification — but that’s part of its simplicity and reliability. Final Verdict 🔑 The Triton Audio FetHead is one of those rare tools that just disappear into the signal chain because they do their job flawlessly. It’s quiet, strong, compact, and built like it belongs on a professional stage or broadcast desk. For dynamic and ribbon microphones, it’s a true plug-and-forget solution that delivers a clean, silent signal boost every time. Absolutely recommended for anyone who values precision and silence over marketing fluff.

If you have a mic with a high noise floor (sounds like hiss when the gain is turned up), this is your solution. I've had a Rode NTG-2 which is a notoriously weak condenser mic that I've never been happy with. I bought a Tascam DR-60D MkII which still resulted in an unacceptably high noise floor. However, the FetHead completely solved this issue both with the Tascam and recording directly into a C100 Mk2. The NTG-2 now sounds GREAT and this purchase has breathed new life into it. This FetHead requires phantom power but does NOT forward the phantom power, so condenser mics either need to use the phantom version of the FetHead or a battery, if supported. Triton Audio recommends this version with a battery for the NTG-2. The FetHead itself is small and plugs inline with the XLR cable. I really like this form factor as it's very easy to use and doesn't require an additional XLR cable. The quality of the FetHead was bad enough I'm not sure mine is genuine - the logo is off center and the FetHead itself isn't completely straight. It seems to work just fine though. All in all, considering the price and form factor this is a must buy if you need some additional clean gain. If you have hiss, buy this before trying anything else and avoid my mistake of buying increasingly expensive interfaces!

Bought this for my SM7B and it works great. Basically plug and play for more gain!

As a professional voice over actor, the quality of my work depends heavily on the efficiency and sonic cleanliness of my studio equipment. My microphone of choice is the celebrated Shure SM7B. While it's a great sounding dynamic mic for vocal work, it has one big drawback. Its output is low when compared with condenser microphones, or even some other dynamics. Cranking up a standard preamp to the -60 dB of gain required by the SM7B can introduce unwanted noise -- especially noticeable on voice over tracks. The TRITON AUDIO FetHead in-Line Microphone Preamp resolves the problem. Installed in-line between mic and preamp, this nifty and very affordable device provides enough extra quiet gain to allow the preamp to silently "loaf" at a much reduced setting while cranking out a strong, clean signal. NOTE: the TRITON preamp does require 48 volts of phantom power, but isolates it from the mic, so no damage is done, even to fragile ribbon microphones. For a few dollars more TRITON even offers an identical looking in-line preamp model with a high pass filter that tames the sometimes bothersome proximity effect of some mics. As you might guess, I'm a big fan of TRITON AUDIO!

It could just have been my unit. The fethead did the job, and if that’s all you’re looking for then this may be a good option. With my SM7B I was able to reduce the gain to about 55%. However recently having picked up a cloudlifter CL1 and comparing the noise of both devices the noise floor on the fethead was considerably higher. Even though the cloudlifter requires about 70% gain on my interface. When comparing the noise for of the fat head at 55% to the cloudlifter at 70% the fethead was registering noise In the realm of -55 to -40 DB. Where as the cloudlifter even at the 70% gain did not register any noise on my sound level meter. Again this could just have been an issue with my unit, but the whole point of these devices is to add relatively noise is free gain, and in my experience cloudlifter does a better job of adding gain with lower noise. I will also say that in my testing it appears as though my fat head I was adding about 30 dB of gain. I am not saying that the fethead is a bad device however it did add a considerable amount of noise to my recordings.Obviously you could remove these background noises in post, but the whole point is to have clean gain added, which my cloudlifter does a better job of.

Works as intended, seems pretty durable. Quality is pretty good. It does the job and increases the audio of the microphone. Pretty clear no noticeable gain effects. Easy to use, plug and play.

Je ne connaissais pas ... et maintenant que j'ai vu le résultat, je ne peux plus m'en passer. Cela ne prend pas de place et est tout petit et surtout tout léger Qualité excellente sur mes micros (puissance, clarté et précision). Je rappelle quand même qu'il faut que votre micro soit sur un excellent amplificateur. Sur ce, je vais en acheter d'autres.

es un excelente dispositivo para microfonos dinamicos. lo recomiendo al 100%. el unico problema de comprarlo, es el tiempo de espera. se tarda hasta 4 semanas en llegar. pero valae la pena.

Good

Ok