This here's my latest preamp acquisition. It was because of fellow TBer BongoMania (thanks man) that I first began communications with Max at [SFX] (
http://www.sfxsound.co.uk/mainpage.asp?page=home). After many eMails to&fro; working out details of functionability and musical taste, this is the result. (pics complements of Max himself).
This unit measures about 7.375"x4.375"x1.5" (w/feet). Don't know the weight, but how heavy could it be at this size, eh? It is constructed extremely well with very useful features. Some are pretty standard-- A 2-band EQ w/ by-pass, mute, LED, etc; others are somewhat unusual to have--Two channel outs, each w/their own Vol, unbal 1/4" & Bal XLR w/Grnd Lift; and a few are very unique--
- An [SFX] M:System-- A power supply out, where I can daisy chain another unit/pedal; and a 1/4" used for a through-out or a rear panel IN.
- An [SFX] Thumpinator-- A high-pass filter at 30hz which can be by-passed w/an internal jumper.
- Polarity selection-- Change ps voltage between centre negative & centre positive via internal jumper.
- Voltage selection-- Choose 9V or 12V power input via 2 internal jumpers.
BTW, Max threw in all these jumpers just to make my life easier. What a guy!
How does it sound? Freakin' awesome!! With the EQ bypassed, it's clean, quiet and solid ; with EQ engaged (to taste), add fat and smooth on top of that. According to Max, the frequency response is totally flat, the distortion is so low it is almost impossible to measure and the headroom is huge. At this time, I'm even diggin' this more than my IP777 and True Voice. Yeah, it's still new to me, but still... The EQ has +/-15db; which may be more than what could even possibly be used, but the peak frequencies fit my tastes...dare I say...perfectly. The bottom is full, fat and punchy, while the top (though admittedly I have no tweets in my cabs) is soft and smooth even when pushed all the way up. If I had any regrets at all--and this is not a complaint, for it was my choice--I wish I would've had Max put in a 3-band instead. For if his 2-band is this musically pleasing, I can only imagine his 3-band would be even more so.
The versatility is great too. I can use it as a preamplifier (XLR#1 to power amp & XLR#2 to PA), or I can use it as a Thumpinator processor in an fx-loop using either unbalanced out, or I can use it as a DI with or without pass-thru.
Just thought TB might want to know. Thanks for listening.
