Studer built the tape machines that defined recording, then turned the same Swiss obsession to mixing. The 169 landed in 1978 as a compact broadcast desk for European radio and TV, and engineers quickly smuggled it into the studio for one simple reason: it sounds gorgeous. Ten transformer-balanced channels, a genuinely musical three-band EQ, switchable limiters on the bus, and headroom for days. These days it is prized as much as a summing mixer and a rack of boutique preamps as it is a console, the affordable way into real Studer sound. Comes with its external power supply. Serviced and ready to mix.

FEATURES & PROS:

• 10 Studer Channels: Transformer-balanced mic/line preamps with the clean, slightly sweet Swiss character people chase.
• Musical 3-Band EQ: Two shelves and a bell, voiced to reshape tone without smearing or colouring the sound.
• Bus Limiters: Two master buses with switchable FET-based limiters for gluing a mix together.
• Built for Summing: A favourite way to get real console glue and depth out of an in-the-box mix.
• Broadcast-Grade Build: 1978 Swiss engineering made for stations that could not afford failure. Quiet, reliable, tank-solid.
• Per-Channel Tools: High-pass filter, two aux sends, pan, solo/mute and PFL on every strip.
• External PSU Included: Original Studer power supply, keeping noise away from the audio path.

THE WORD: Funky Junk calls the 169 an impressive little workhorse: a transparent, musical, Swiss-built broadcast desk that engineers happily moved into the studio. Read more at Funky Junk.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Year: introduced 1978
• Type: analog mixing console (10/2), broadcast origin
• Channels: 10 mic/line strips, transformer-balanced inputs
• EQ: switchable three-band per channel (two shelves, one bell)
• Filters: high-pass filter per channel
• Sends: two aux sends per channel
• Master: two linkable mono bus channels with switchable FET limiters
• Per-channel: PFL, solo/mute and pan
• Power: external Studer power supply unit (included)
• Build: Swiss-made, professional broadcast grade