Tech 21 QStrip - Bass Preamp

Product Information

In reality all audio going into an ADC is going to be squeezed down to a 5V range or less. But attenuating directly before the ADC gives best SNR. This cookie stores user-like settings for the chat system provider, which are required for our online chat service. Trusted Shops

The knobs are precise and smooth, but without snap to the middle position. Anyway it sounds quite neutral with knobs at about a noon position and this is good. The high pass filter works to de-emphasize the lower pitched E and A strings that dominate a 12 string's sound. The 2 sweepable midrange bands dial in the octave strings and the first octave harmonic. Finally, the low pass filter tames the higher harmonics that sound shrill while adding sufficient energy to the signal to eat up an amp's headroom and start clipping. The HPF and LPF give added control over the frequency spectrum whether you’re going direct with your bass, guitar, fiddle...or even a vocal. The Q\Strip is limited only by how far you are willing to push your creativity and how much of that juicy vintage tone you crave. The cost of this product is mainly because of the fact this is a analog pedal, which requires quite another level of engineering. The size for value proposition is pretty good in that regard.The grain of salt: I have only played this unit for an hour. I have played 12 string guitars for 17 years. Zum Aufnehmen würde ich den QStrip selbst nicht einsetzen, da ich hier mehr auf spezifischere Lösungen setze, doch wenn jemand mit dem QStrip genau seinen Sound findet, dann spricht da grundsätzlich auch nichts dagegen. FEATURESHPF cuts unmusical rumble associated with many instruments when going direct.LPF rolls off undesirable frequencies. Can also be used as a speaker simulator. When used in conjunction with the studio-grade EQ section, you can recreate different speaker cabinet curves so you can go direct with your favorite distortion and effects pedals.Very high impedance accommodates piezos and handles low impedance sources equally well.XLR is capable to drive power amps and has a -20dB pad to accommodate mic level inputs on mixers and pre-amps.1/4-inch output has switchable +10dB boost on tap, which is useful to drive power amps or push tube amps into overdrive.Three modes of operation: I've got one. Super duper powerful eq, the lpf and hpf are a great touch however the lpf is based at 3k which I would usually think is a little low for me but the other controls make up for it and from what I understand, the drop-off isn't as steep as on some other lpfs. So it all balances out and allows me to get some cab-sim sounds when I DI. A DI is to take line or instrument level and bring it down to mic level, lowering the impedance and balancing the signal to match, usually, a mic preamp on a sound board.

But now that mixing desks / interfaces etc often have proper Line Level inputs there's often no advantage and some disadvantage in deliberately attenuating a signal when you don't need to. There are, of course, good reasons why mic level might be preferred eg the user simply likes the sound of a particular mic pre working at some gain.

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Also worth noting that signals that are impedance balanced or 'Ground Cancelling' are likely to be at -2dBu nominal level. Since the -ve leg of the signal isn't driven.

This little box - busy looking on most sides - is very competent at what it says to deliver : a vintage inspired but accurate true parametric equalization which some creature comforts.

The low pass filter (LPF) is going to be useful for guitarists but also bassists who like using ‘gainy’ distortion. We often have problems when it comes to cabinets with tweeters in, or sending the sound of our pedals directly to the PA. Being able to emulate the sound of a paper cone speaker really smooths out the top end of heavy distortion. This button will go a certain distance to making that a tap of a foot rather than reaching for tweeter attenuator knobs on darkened stages to tame excessive top end fizz! The Q\Strip was inspired by those old vintage console EQ's but it is a unique design. The intention was that it would be a "musical" vs "surgical" type of product. While having different Q parameters might come in handy for a mastering engineer we chose a medium Q that makes the most sense for musical instrument applications. The 100% analog MOSFET circuitry in the heart of the Q\Strip provides the warmth, girth and larger-than-life tones for which vintage consoles are revered. Add in four bands of pro-audio-quality equalization, two parametric mid bands, as well as high and low shelving filters, and you have incredible control over how your instrument cuts through on stage or in a mix. Q/Strip isn’t just an EQ pedal. It’s a DI, a volume boost pedal, a speaker emulator, a classic equaliser strip, a ‘second amplifier channel’, a recording pre-amplifier and probably a whole host more of options I’m yet to think of. Dan Veall

Darüber hinaus habe ich es mittlerweile auch für die Kalimba und den E-Kontrabass benutzt und bei all den Instrumenten war der QStrip gut brauchbar. The last three buttons are for the two separate outputs: You may wish to use this pedal instead of in front of your amplifier’s input on the front but rather directly into a slave amplifier. The +10db button will ensure that you can drive such a unit correctly with a strong enough signal. On board, the Q/Strip has an XLR ‘balanced direct injection’ output and the next button offers the option of changing the output gain should it need to be attenuated. Finally, again for the XLR output, a ground lift switch but also to allow phantom power connectivity, which means a mixing console will be able to power your pedal rather than an internal 9v battery or additional ‘wall wart’ supply. A convenient option to include.

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Much depends on what goes on 'under the hood' of the receiving channel in terms of gain/attenuation - but in general it's not a good idea to attenuate then amplify. It's all about 'Gain Staging' really. Die Möglichkeit für den XLR-Out und den Klinke-Out den Pegel zusätzlich noch über einen Schalter an das nachfolgende Gerät anzupassen, ist auch ganz praktisch. Auch wenn die Instrumente am Eingang zu Extremen neigen, was den Pegel betrifft. Underneath the equaliser are some ‘fast access’ switches. A high pass filter (HPF) that will help to cut down on rumble for microphone users and maybe sub ‘boom’ from excessive EQ elsewhere in the chain. The roll off is gentle and actually, as a bassist, I would have preferred to have seen a 24db per octave roll off at say 25hz which is a great way to alleviate speaker flapping and really tightening up the sound of any bass, even extended range instruments. Build quality is decent, but not perfect: XLR output is a bit misaligned, soldering quality is average, internal board is thin and a bit bent. And I think it's a shame for such price!