In 1990, Michael Grace began building single order custom audio products for a small, devout following of recording engineers and artists . Before long, the word had spread about these custom microphone preamplifier designs, which were said to outperform anything else that was commercially available. In 1994, Michael partnered with his brother Eben and Grace Design was founded and began production of the model 801 microphone preamplifier. Not only did the model 801 provide a new level of audio performance and functionality, it helped to establish the outboard microphone preamplifier as a new keystone in professional audio production.
Over the years, Grace Design has maintained a steady, methodical pace to developing new products and technologies. Our product line has evolved into a definitive collection of microphone preamplifiers, monitor controllers and other unique hardware. We pride ourselves on providing audio professionals and enthusiasts with some of the finest tools imaginable.
As our company grows, we continually strive to improve our production methods to make sure they are exact, efficient and environmentally sound. Our employees are treated like family and we strive to maintain our business relationships as friendships. And above all, we remain driven by the original passions that founded the company- the love of music and the art of recording it.
We have always enjoyed the transparency and versatility of our Grace preamps and have used them for years for our “static” staff inputs with great success. Having built in mute, boost, gain, amp send, and impedance options have been very useful to send consistent quality Lo-Z signal to our mix engineers.
We have other inputs on the Opry used for dynamic festival style inputs where gain structure is fluid and things like a mute and boost are more of a hindrance than a help in a plug and play atmosphere…when we plug in to it, we need to to work well immediately and with all sorts uses. We have daydreamed of a no-frills minimal switch DI option in a rugged more traditional chassis with a wider range of inputs signals before distortion and the same Grace transparency we have grown to love. Needless to say, we were very excited at the announcement of the m303.
Out of the box we first noticed it is heavier and feels very rugged compared to other traditional options on the market. The built-in ground and pad switches are sturdy and have resistance to prevent accidental switching. The blue and silver chassis feels strong and rugged and of a familiar size. Recessed connectors, led indicators and a through jack finished checking all my utilitarian boxes in what I look for in a Di box.
We’ve deployed the m303 on a variety of instruments including Banjo, Acoustic guitar, Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass, Dobro, and fiddle. First sonic observations were that the Di seemed to have similar sonic characteristics of other Grace products, with a wider range of headroom. We were able to use something as soft as passive pickup acoustic to an active electric bass in the same input and the Di produced quality Lo Z signal without any distortion or clipping on the front end. Low-end feels clear and true while maintaining natural and not over-hyped high-end brilliance. So far, we haven’t found much that the m303 can’t do.
-Nic Faddy, Supervisor of Audio Services, Grand Ole Opry
46 products
