Today, we’re going to go to a place where we’ve only ventured a couple of times in Pedal of the Day’s history – AcousticTown. Now, while the acoustic guitar and its vast array of sonic weapons don’t get the spotlight all that often, that doesn’t mean we don’t love the sounds they all make, especially when the gear sounds like today’s machine. The ALiX from Grace Design is a studio-quality preamplifier EQ Boost DI pedal, one that is absolutely a one-stop-shop to make your favorite dreadnought come alive and sparkle, in live and studio situations, exactly as it should. Let’s see what this little box is made of, shall we?
Bringing “open, musical and nuanced sonic character to any performance situation,” the ALiX is the younger brother pedal to a larger, 2-channel preamp, the famed FELiX. Utilizing a single channel, and stripping down a bit of the control section, ALiX still gives you a ton of tonal options and ways to sculpt your sound, all in a convenient, pedalboard-friendly and roadworthy chassis. Use the 1/4″ Input to connect to any instrument with a pickup or line out jack, and the Amp Out will send an unbalanced, isolated signal out to a stage amp or anywhere else you might need. There’s a DI Output, too: XLR, balanced and transformer isolated, for use with a FOH mixer, monitor console or interface.
There are Low and High frequency controls, as any EQ has, but the Mids here are what really make ALiX shine. There’s a parametric Mid adjust knob, but there’s also a Mid Hz control, to select the parametric midrange frequency, as well as a Mid Q parameter, which adjusts the midrange Q factor, determining the sharpness of the bandwidth that’s being adjusted. These independent controls allow for specific and exacting mid settings, to get your tone sounding top-notch with ease.
Speaking of top-notch, the HPF/Notch knob contains dual uses, as the name suggests. The High Pass Filter is used to cut any unwanted bass frequencies out of your signal, and helps to control feedback, too. Switch the DIP switch to get to the Notch filter, and you get even more in-depth when wanting to cut out any problem frequencies. This control uses a frequency range sweep of 20Hz – 1.0kHz, the same as the HPF, for deep, sharp cuts to those nasty feedback frequencies.
Still more controls on the back panel give you a plethora of options when setting up ALiX: there’s a Ground/Lift switch, a Mic/Line level select, an Input Impedance Z selector (choose from Hi, Med or Low) and even a Phase Reverse switch. Want more? There’s an FX Loop insert as well, buffered and unbalanced, allowing you to plug other effects into ALiX’s brain, and utilize its tonal shaping while adding in new sounds. The DIP switches on the side will let you control the HPF or Notch selection, Mid EQ range Lo or Hi and even 12V power on and off.
The Mute/Tune footswitch is a welcome addition to any preamp, providing silent operation that mutes all outputs EXCEPT the dedicated Tuner Out, for no more Grateful Dead-like audible tuning in between songs. Powered via 100-240VAC supply, there’s also a 9VDC, 500mA aux power output, so you can power the rest of your board directly from ALiX (we tested it out, using a multi-effect, a Strymon Timeline and a looper, and it was DEAD QUIET). The Boost footswitch gives you an added bit of zest as well, with an available +10dB of clean boost on tap. This function follows the FX loop, and will affect both the DI and Amp outs.
The ALiX uses ultra precision 0.5% thin film resistors, along with a unique power supply design and grounding, for an ultra-quiet signal path, complete with professional level headroom. The jacks on the back are super rugged with heavy duty metal bushings as well, to ensure the long life of this beautiful piece of gear. For the demo below, we used our trusty Alvarez AD60SC that we’ve had forever, and ALiX made it absolutely radiate and blow us away like we haven’t heard in a long, long time. Check out our humble demo below to listen to how this preamp enhances any signal you can throw at it – cheers to the crew at Grace Design for making this smaller, more affordable option so packed with features, it is truly a work of art.
*If you really want to hear ALiX in action, through an incredible set of fingers, check out our friend Willy Porter, and don’t miss the chance to see him and his preamp when they come through your town!*
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