I just got one of these recently. I've had the APHEX 204 2 channel rack unit for a number of years and loved how it makes my bass sound.
But this new stompbox by AHPEX is a wonder. It can give me every tonal variation that the the rack mounted 204 does, but it has far better input impedance for use with passive basses when used right off the pickups. The 204 has a 40kohm input impedance, with is kinda ~meh~ when running a passive bass into it like a J or P. But this new Xciter has a 10Mega ohm input impedance (!!!) which makes it WAY WAY better for use with passive pickups when plugging directly into it from the bass.
Aside from the obvious things ... like how frelling GREAT any of these APHEX Aural Exciters with Big Bottom sound ... this new Xciter is built better than any of the older stompbox exciters they've offered. The jacks have nuts on them, indicating that they have the support of the all metal chassis. The pots also have nuts on them under the real machined aluminum knobs (no plastic knobs on this one!). This new Xciter is just far and away a better product than any stompbox APHEX has offered before.
I opened it up to see what is really going on inside one of these. The main pcb is supported by the pots themselves (a common practice) as the pots are soldered directly to the pcb without the use of flying leads. While not what I considered optimal, it is certainly far better than having jacks or pots soldered directly to the pcb while not securing the pots or jacks to the chassis, relying on the solder joints to support those parts. This APHEX is made the other way around. The pots are secured to the chassis very solidly, and the pcb is soldered to the pots, which means the pots are holding the pcb in place. This is just fine. The jacks are Marshall style "easy insert easy retract" jacks that are not soldered to the pcb and use flying leads to connect them to the board (this is EXCELLENT to see, especially these days). The footswitch uses the same setup as the jacks, with flying leads to connect it to the board. That's excellent. That way any forces applied to the footswitch are not transferred to the pcb at all. The DI output is also secured to the chassis with screws and attached to the main pcb with flying leads. And the chassis itself is a very thick die-cast enclosure, giving it weight and a confident, solid feel.
It even has a recessed flat area on the bottom cover for using velcro (which is even supplied!). The battery access panel is also located on the bottom and is easily removed without tools. These units run on anything from 5vac to 32vac .. OR .. 7vdc+/- to 48vdc+/- ... so you can use either AC or DC, and when DC is used either polarity is a go! So nearly any type of PSU is ok to use with the Aphex Xciter. Killa.
And the sound ... do we really need to talk about the sound? I mean, it is SO good. I've always really loved how you can raise the low end levels with any of the Aphex units that are equipped with Big Bottom circuits ... and raise it a LOT .. and it's very focused low end, with totally adjustable frequency and level. But not just that, it's the fact that when you add more bottom end, your speakers aren't being taxed, nor is your power amp. At least not like they are when you just use EQ to boost low end. You can add a bunch of tight bottom end and watch your output level meters on your amp not even budge! That Big Bottom circuitry is really something. And the Aural Exciter that is built into these things sounds amazingly good. There is no "cut" with these APHEX designs, all you can do is add. So to create scoop, just dial in low end and upper end and you've created scoop. It's best to treat these Aphex units like two separate processors, one for bottom, one for the top.
I tend to prefer that 70's rock bass sound, so to get there I set the aural exciter at around 800hz or so, and add however much "amount" as I deem as good. For the low end, I usually set it at around 80hz or lower, and add "amount" accordingly.
Instant huge rhino balls.
With a freq range of 700hz to 7khz on the aural exciter side of the unit there's plenty of freq range to create whatever type of sound you are looking for.
This new Xciter provides Hardware Bypass (aka True Bypass) was well.
They will even run on friggin 48v phantom power! There's a balanced XLR output jack on the back for what AHPEX calls "DI output". It also has a ground lift button on the back to help with any loop issues. This DI output is setup to be used with the "mic" input of a mixer or recording device.
So I just wanted to blabber about this unit a bit. It's really nice. And in spite of what the pictures of these things suggest, they are all metal designs, with all metal machined aluminum knobs, pots that are secured to the chassis with nuts, and jacks that are secured to the chassis with nuts. I've been an Aphex fan and user for over ten years, and I'm very .... ahem ... ~excited~ about this device.
You can find them for less than $150 if you do your homework.
L8r T8rs!
EDIT: I'll be adding a Soundcloud track to this thread to demonstrate this thing when I do my next recording session, a few days maybe a week from now.
But this new stompbox by AHPEX is a wonder. It can give me every tonal variation that the the rack mounted 204 does, but it has far better input impedance for use with passive basses when used right off the pickups. The 204 has a 40kohm input impedance, with is kinda ~meh~ when running a passive bass into it like a J or P. But this new Xciter has a 10Mega ohm input impedance (!!!) which makes it WAY WAY better for use with passive pickups when plugging directly into it from the bass.
Aside from the obvious things ... like how frelling GREAT any of these APHEX Aural Exciters with Big Bottom sound ... this new Xciter is built better than any of the older stompbox exciters they've offered. The jacks have nuts on them, indicating that they have the support of the all metal chassis. The pots also have nuts on them under the real machined aluminum knobs (no plastic knobs on this one!). This new Xciter is just far and away a better product than any stompbox APHEX has offered before.
I opened it up to see what is really going on inside one of these. The main pcb is supported by the pots themselves (a common practice) as the pots are soldered directly to the pcb without the use of flying leads. While not what I considered optimal, it is certainly far better than having jacks or pots soldered directly to the pcb while not securing the pots or jacks to the chassis, relying on the solder joints to support those parts. This APHEX is made the other way around. The pots are secured to the chassis very solidly, and the pcb is soldered to the pots, which means the pots are holding the pcb in place. This is just fine. The jacks are Marshall style "easy insert easy retract" jacks that are not soldered to the pcb and use flying leads to connect them to the board (this is EXCELLENT to see, especially these days). The footswitch uses the same setup as the jacks, with flying leads to connect it to the board. That's excellent. That way any forces applied to the footswitch are not transferred to the pcb at all. The DI output is also secured to the chassis with screws and attached to the main pcb with flying leads. And the chassis itself is a very thick die-cast enclosure, giving it weight and a confident, solid feel.
It even has a recessed flat area on the bottom cover for using velcro (which is even supplied!). The battery access panel is also located on the bottom and is easily removed without tools. These units run on anything from 5vac to 32vac .. OR .. 7vdc+/- to 48vdc+/- ... so you can use either AC or DC, and when DC is used either polarity is a go! So nearly any type of PSU is ok to use with the Aphex Xciter. Killa.
And the sound ... do we really need to talk about the sound? I mean, it is SO good. I've always really loved how you can raise the low end levels with any of the Aphex units that are equipped with Big Bottom circuits ... and raise it a LOT .. and it's very focused low end, with totally adjustable frequency and level. But not just that, it's the fact that when you add more bottom end, your speakers aren't being taxed, nor is your power amp. At least not like they are when you just use EQ to boost low end. You can add a bunch of tight bottom end and watch your output level meters on your amp not even budge! That Big Bottom circuitry is really something. And the Aural Exciter that is built into these things sounds amazingly good. There is no "cut" with these APHEX designs, all you can do is add. So to create scoop, just dial in low end and upper end and you've created scoop. It's best to treat these Aphex units like two separate processors, one for bottom, one for the top.
I tend to prefer that 70's rock bass sound, so to get there I set the aural exciter at around 800hz or so, and add however much "amount" as I deem as good. For the low end, I usually set it at around 80hz or lower, and add "amount" accordingly.
Instant huge rhino balls.
With a freq range of 700hz to 7khz on the aural exciter side of the unit there's plenty of freq range to create whatever type of sound you are looking for.
This new Xciter provides Hardware Bypass (aka True Bypass) was well.
They will even run on friggin 48v phantom power! There's a balanced XLR output jack on the back for what AHPEX calls "DI output". It also has a ground lift button on the back to help with any loop issues. This DI output is setup to be used with the "mic" input of a mixer or recording device.
So I just wanted to blabber about this unit a bit. It's really nice. And in spite of what the pictures of these things suggest, they are all metal designs, with all metal machined aluminum knobs, pots that are secured to the chassis with nuts, and jacks that are secured to the chassis with nuts. I've been an Aphex fan and user for over ten years, and I'm very .... ahem ... ~excited~ about this device.
You can find them for less than $150 if you do your homework.
L8r T8rs!
EDIT: I'll be adding a Soundcloud track to this thread to demonstrate this thing when I do my next recording session, a few days maybe a week from now.
