Description
What if you had a Neve Channel strip in one pedal ?
What would you do with it ?
Plug your guitar into it, use it as a mic preamp for vocals, acoutic guitar tracking, drums tracking,… You could use it on inserts with your DAW to put some analog flavors into your productions.
You could also use it as if you had one on the most expensive preamp on earth as a booster on your pedal board.
This box brings the colours… you make the paint !
The Colour Box V2 has all the same functionality of the V1 with many new and improved additions like expanded EQ controls, a Hi/Lo switch for massive clean headroom, and the ability to pass phantom power to your condenser mics.
The most significant improvements are:
- Addition of an Output transformer
- Safely Passes 48v Phantom Power
- EQ Shift Knobs for precision EQ control
- Hi/Lo Switch for ultra clean headroom
- 100% available clean signal even on acoustic guitar
- Silent switching, aka no “switch-pop”
- Runs on standard 9V DC Neg power
FEATURES & CONTROLS
The Gain section in red has three controls: Master, Pre-Vol, and Step. The Master volume controls the overall volume of the unit. The Pre-Vol controls the amount of gain between the two internal gain stages. This acts as a “drive” or “gain” control, adding more grit, distortion, and even fuzz as you increase the gain.
The Step control increases the gain of each preamp stage in five stages. Rotating the Step knob from left-to-right will increase the gain by the following: 1st is +18 dB, 2nd is +23 dB, 3rd is +28 dB, 4th is +33 dB, 5th is +39 dB.
The Colour Box V2 has a new Hi / Lo switch to control the amount of clean headroom you have available. In the Lo mode, you will easily be able to get ultra clean sounds without breakup. Lo Mode is excellent for tone shaping when distortion is not needed. In the Hi mode, the Colour Box V2 will distort much more readily, giving you a broad spectrum of overdrive, distortion, and fuzz sounds.
In addition to the Hi / Lo gain switch, there is a -20dB pad switch on the right side of the Colour Box V2. This function only works when in XLR input mode and can help tame the volume for high output microphones.
MOST POWERFUL EQ YET
The EQ section in blue has three new Shift controls correlating to its standard Treble, Middle and Bass controls. The Shift knobs adjust the range of frequencies that the Treble, Middle, and Bass knobs control. The center frequencies for the Shift knobs are Treble 10kHz, Middle 1kHz, and Bass 120Hz, while the Treble, Middle, and Bass knobs boost or cut with +/- 17dB of control. If you want to boost high-mid frequencies, turn the Mid Shift knob to or above and increase the Middle knob above . If you want to cut upper treble frequencies, turn the Treble Shift knob to 3 o’clock or above and set the Treble knob below . The Shift knobs give you precision control over the EQ for anything you put through the Colour Box V2.
Frequencies controlled by Shift Knobs:
- Treble: 1kHz – 15kHz +/- 15dB
- Mid: 160Hz – 2.5kHz +/- 10dB
- Bass: 20Hz – 400Hz +/-15dB
- HPF 160Hz – 650Hz 3dBper octave filter
The Hi-Pass section is enabled by the toggle switch below the Hi-Pass knob. Just flip it up to engage the Hi-Pass knob, which spans from 60Hz to 800Hz with a 6dB per octave slope.
XLR AND OUTPUT
The Colour Box V2 has a combination XLR and 1/4″ input jack to use either an instrument or microphone. Select your input with the input selector switch on the right side of the pedal labeled INST/XLR.
THE COLOUR BOX V2 RUNS ONLY ON STANDARD 9V DC NEGATIVE POWER (DO NOT PLUG IN ANYTHING GREATER THAN 9V) AND MEASURES 5.7” X 3.75” X 1.85″
