Mike, perhaps you could share your link to your Abox II write-up.
Rick here's Mikes write up I just moved it to this thread, it's in the Acoustic Box II thread
I'm also looking forward to Chris Fitzgerald's upcoming review of the Abox II.
PS. If you see this Chris, please comment on the Abox for BG also, although I don't actually know if you play slab.
"Review of A Box II
Thanks to Rick for setting this up.
Ok--I'll start with the good news. It's very good news. The Abox II gives me the best sound from my piezos that I've ever gotten. I tried it combining the mic which sounds great but I don't use a mic. I've abandoned trying to combine a mic. Even ones with great feedback rejection pick up way to much drums for my taste. So my review is based on using two Yamahiko pickups.Each Yamahiko is going into a separate channel. All going through a powered MAS18.
In comparing the basic sound with two other amps I've used, the EA Doubler and the AI Clarus---the Abox definitely wins. By a lot. I prefer the sound to the Grace Felix. It has a tube-like warmth by comparison, but not at all bloated. Note envelope is right on the money. The two Yamahikos combined is my favorite and the Abox is my fav with the two.
Other plusses
Midrange eq is very good as well as highs.All semi-parametric. (not parametric--no Q control). I was easily able to dial out offensive mid frequencies and the semi-p made it a breeze
Phase switch--does what it should
Compressor--ok to good
Overall gain--ok---a bit more would be good---not at all enough through the 1/4 out but the xlr is ok. That being said, the class D module in the 18 ( Icepower 700) does not have the most sensitive input. Right now there are about 30 guys using the Felix through powered 18's. The Felix has more overall gain. The Abox works, but a bit more gain would be good. I had to run the channel that uses the Yamahiko at the higher gain at about 2 o'clock with the master cranked. Since piezos have crazy dynamic range, I worry about whacking the E string and having too-much-gain fartout. To get top volume I'm at the edge of the gain structure.That being said, I was going for max volume on the 18 before fartout.In practice I'd likely not go nearly that loud with a single 18.The powered MAS18 is a worst case scenario, though. The 18 is pretty low efficiency and the 700 is not too sensative. But the Felix wrks fine with enough gain. I'd feel more at ease with a bit more.
OK--criticisms
This was not designed as a bass preamp, so some of the eq points could be improved
HPF---good but only goes to 40hz. I'd prefer 30 for bass. Also--what is the slope? I suspect not 24db/octave. Should be 24db. This is really helpful for bassists to cut out piezo subharmonics and only subharmonics. For bass it would be better to have a HPF on both channels. With a mic it's nice to have the ability to cut at a higher frequency, but for piezos (the big culprit on bass for subsonics) fixed at 30hz is fine. As a matter of fact--a 30 hz 24db/octave HPF with no controls would be fine. I would offer the ability to go higher on the mic channel. For bass you definitely need to have HPF on both channels--fixed on one is fine.
phase switch--one area where the Doubler wins (this feature was my suggestion to EA) is that the phase is variable from 0 to 180 degrees out of phase. This is very useful in combining two pickups or a mic. The chances that 0 or 180 degrees out of phase will yield the best sound in combining is very slim. To be able to vary the phase is very useful.
Notch filter--works well but the Q is too wide. Takes out the nasty frequencies, but too much of the adjacent frequencies
Effects---fun but bassists will never (Maybe not never) use them. Extra dough spent on features not needed for bassists.
Bass eq--I really like the semi parametric feature. I had to run it at about the 3:30 o'clock position---likely around 10 db boost. Not really a criticism--the Clarus needs the bass cranked about the same.
As it stands, I'd seriously consider getting one. The ability to have 3 places to tame mids is really nice. If these guys did one dedicated for bass---they would sell a ton. Getting the basic sound and envelope is the hardest part IMO. They nailed that. Now if it were more bass-oriented-----WOW. But--as it stands, it's already ahead of its competition. The fact that the low eq is semi-parametric puts it ahead of the Felix. And it sounds better!
BTW---while I don't use a mic live, the mic pre sounds great. With the Chuck Israels mic---amazing sound.
p.s. if the manufacturer wanted any assistance in designing a bass-specific pre I'd be happy to offer any suggestions
BTWWW---it sounds really nice with electric bass, too. Better than the AI or Felix. As good as the Doubler
