ProAudio Review - October 2008 - (Page 22) STUDIO | REVIEW cerned, it’s a mandatory piece of studio gear. I’ve noticed that, understandably, many of the young bands I work with often have less than desirable gear. Their budgets are tight and they have limited cash flow; as a result, gear quality is often compromised. The MW1 lets me record their guitar and or bass tracks the same way I always do but it also lets me easily capture a direct signal so if I run into tone issues during my mix, I can easily re-amp the part capturing an entirely different sound with the exact same performance. Anyone who has tried to Y their guitar signal to feed two amps while tracking knows that this can be the start of all kinds of ground noise issues. Another reason I love the MW1 is that is lets me feed multiple amps while providing isolation for each signal making it easy to attain a noise free tone. I don’t know how many times I’ve sat with a guitarist going through pedal after pedal trying to find an EQ or compressor that will work for a particular tone — all while sitting in front of my racks crammed full of GML, Daking, Neve, Tube-Tech, Empirical Labs and Pendulum equalizers and compressors. Now, I insert my high-end gear between the guitar and the amp to open an entirely new pallet of sonic options. While mixing, I use this concept in reverse. The MW1 lets me easily use my instrument level guitar pedals on line level signals and, again, I’ve had a whole new realm of sonic options open up. I’ve found that my ElectroHarmonix Black Finger works well on acoustic guitars and some vocals and the MXR Phase 90 is an entirely different beast when used on electric guitars after the amplifier rather than before. Another one of the MW1’s great features is the ability to drive an instrument level signal long distances without any signal degradation. When overdubbing guitar parts, I typically find myself wanting to put the guitarist in the control room with me while placing the cabinet in the studio. This can often mean running a cable 40 or more feet. Running a thirty-foot speaker cable isn’t a problem but if I’m recording through a combo, there is significant signal loss to run instrument level cable that great of a distance. Using the impedance control on the MW1’s instrument level output allows me to use an instrument level cable that’s dozens of feet long without any loss of sound quality. SUMMARY The MW1 is a highly flexible studio tool that literally fosters creativity in the recording process. The MW1 addresses and solves the age-old problem of getting instrument level signals up to line level and getting line level signals down to instrument level without losing signal quality. The box’s transfomerless DI section provides the means to track the direct signal of an instrument while adding powerful tone shaping functions including variable input/output impedance and up to 30db of clean boost. Pro studio gear can easily be inserted in front of an amp and instrument level pedals can be used on recorded tracks. Initially, $1,245 seemed a bit pricey for the MW1, but once I came to the realization that it has become one of the most used pieces of equipment in my studio, the price tag seems to be a bargain. Between its versatile routing and functionality and its extraordinary audio specs, the MW1 Studio Tool perfectly lends itself to becoming an indispensable addition to the studio or the stage. Russ Long, a Nashville-based producer/engineer, owns The Carport recording studio. He is a regular contributor to Pro Audio Review. Visit him online at www.russlong.ws. CREATION Continued From Page 20 for its 1/4-inch instrument level output jack. Included with the MW1 is a well-written manual that divides the box into two sections appropriately titled “Going To” and “Coming From” that simplifies the box’s circuit flow. The unit also includes the MW1 Studio Tool Quick Reference Card, which is extremely helpful to first time users. The front side of the card has a large block diagram that further simplifies the signal flow of the unit and the back side of the card provides basic routing for eight common uses of the MW1, including “Transformerless Instrument Level DI,” “Record DI & Amp Tracks at the Same Time,” “Use Stomp boxes as Effects During Mix,” “Solve Ground Loop Problems,” etc. The card is a lifesaver for first time users of the unit. The MW1 is RoHScompliant and it uses a standard IEC cable to operate on 100VAC-240VAC 50/60Hz. IN USE I’ve been using an MW1 for nearly a year now and I can’t imagine engineering a tracking session again without it. As far as I’m con- 22 | ProAudio Review | October 2008 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.acousticsfirst.com http://www.acousticsfirst.com http://www.russlong.ws http://www.proaudioreview.com
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