Hi everyone,
My quest was to find a decent preamplifier for my bassamp, a Markbass Combo Head II, to amplify my acoustic upright bass.
Being never satisfied with the sound of a piezo pickup alone (definition but no 'acoustic' sound) or a microphone alone (feedback), it seemed obvious to search for a 2-channel preamp. Besides having a mixable piezo and microphone (with 48 volt phantom power) input, it was essential for me to have a separate parametric eq on both channels. Besides the Markbass amp, I'm using a DPA 4090 omni microphone and a Realist 'original' pickup.
After looking at everything on the market today, I came to the conclusion that only product fulfilled all my wishes: the 'Acoustic Box live' from Vintage Revolution, a company based in The Netherlands.
I took the risk, ordered this preamp and the box arrived last friday. After playing with the unit this weekend, I can honestly say that I am extremely pleased with this preamp. It's the first time I hear a sound coming out of my amp which has a true acoustic character to my ears. A full body with a great attack and more than loud enough for my needs. Changing the balance between the pickup and microphone gives you a lot of great and useful options.
Besides the 'essential needs' mentioned above, this box has also some other nice features such as low pass filter, 3 band eq on the master channel, phase switches, notch filter, ground loop switch, separate and adjustable output for your amp and PA, built in power supply, ...
No critique? Well, yes, but minor: the box has not the same 'cosmetic' appearance (like paint treatment,…) as a 'major' brand. But that's very easy to live with when you see that the box has a very solid case, Neutrik connectors, electronic parts well soldered etc.
Conclusion: thumbs up for the Acoustic Box live!
More info:
http://www.vintage-revolution.com/products/acousticbox/
Patrick
