WAZZAT?
One can easily imagine what happened in the workshop of the engineers who laid the material that occupies us today ...
"We have to invent a new thing there.
-Yeah, uh ... guitarists who have a big amp, they put what behind, like to record, or live, all that?
-Hmmm chaipas, reverb, delay, EQ, boost, a loadbox, an HP simulator, an audio interface?
-Well here! We'll make a box, we'll put EVERYWHERE IN! "
(Translated from Japanese by Dansonka Toutétaki.)
Well I probably romance a little history, it's my theatrical side. But the idea behind the Waza Tube Amp Expander (TAE) really seems to be this: having a device that does everything you can to go with your tube amp. Let's look at it more closely.
The black box
Once the open package and the meager accessories (mains cable and user manual, plus a pair of legs to rack the thing in a fly 19 inches) out, the first observation is that we have a very beautiful beast! the TAE is a heavy metal block weighing almost 7 kilos that inspires confidence, in a sober and elegant design that will not denote on your favorite amp head. A review of the beast shows us a very well connected, and a number of controls a little more sober, we'll come back.
I enjoy finding on the top cover the diagram of the screenprinted beast, which was a fashion in the 80s on the racks, and which is very wise to understand the internal routing of the machine!
And since we are talking about routing, let's follow the path of the signal step by step in order to understand a little better the operation of the bouzin. So, first operation: we get out of the HP output of his amp and we enter the loadbox, which allows to use his amp without cabinet without risking burning lamps. In the back, there are also settings power and impedance to adapt the system to the characteristics of your amp. The loadbox is responsive like most models in the competition, and features four-position presence and resonance settings, which will allow you to tailor the response in bass and treble.
Rig (s) to lots
Then we go back to what makes the real originality of this utility box Boss version: a set of effects and utilities memorizable within 10 presets, the famous "rigs".
First there is a detachable effects loop. We will appreciate the number of switches (series / parallel, loop level, ground lift) that will allow everyone to adapt their equipment, from the small pedal to the big rack in the line levels.
The signal then passes via a VCA (to make it simple, a volume controlled remotely, via an expression pedal for example) to then attack a multi-effects including compressor, delay, reverb, a volume boost / EQ parametric, and an HP simulator.
I pause in the path of the signal (much to the chagrin of the sondier!) To note an important point: The Tube Expander is REALLY designed to be computer-controlled. Without the software editor, you will not be able to access the various advanced parameters of the TAE, including all the parameters of the effects, MIDI settings (complete elsewhere, FC, CC, mapping ...), global EQ ... in short, almost everything! This is a choice that may displease the traditionalists, but I think that notwithstanding a desire for modernism, the engineers of boss have bypassed the technical pitfall of the hardware user interface, and probably earned on the reliability and the price of the machine.
In short, we will return to the interface, meanwhile let's finish with the signal path, which came out of the "rig" attack of global EQ, VCA post-effect, and outputs. Note that at the output of the reverb effect, the signal is split in two between a part that goes to the power stage of the TAE to attack a cabinet, and the other that goes to the outputs line / headset / USB. It's very clever, because it allows to set completely independently each part, if you need for example more mediums on the part that goes to your speaker to hear you on stage, but you want a its a little more homogeneous goes to the mixer, it's perfectly possible. Very well seen!
Numerical revolution
So, let's get back to the purists right away: the TAE, except of course the loadbox, the effects loop and the power stage, is fully DIGITAL (oh my god vade retroooooooo). On the other hand they do not make fun of us, it's 96 kHz 32-bit floating point, so we're in the serious. The USB port not only allows you to use the editor, but also makes the TAE a real high-definition USB audio interface, which would make us almost regret that it does not have other inputs than the one intended for the 'power amp.
Make sound without disturbing Waza
Well, let's plug in all that. I send the HP output of my good old Peavey Ultra in the machine, the HP output to the cabinet, the line outputs to my audio interface, and after installing the drivers that go well, the USB.
Oh, by the way, because we can not think of everything ... Gentlemen from Waza Craft, a headphone jack on the back of a device, especially a potentially rackable device, it's very ... well ... it's not great ergonomic, what. Think about it for a possible new version, the headset is THE thing that plugs and unplugged all the time, and there is plenty of room in front of the big button "phones"!
Well, after checking that I was good at 50w / 8 ohms, I increase the master of my amp until the LED "input sig / peak" brightly glows green when I play, then I adjust the Speaker Out listening volume and I set resonance and presence for my taste.
Already, it's very convincing, and I really feel like always "feel" my tube power stage while the power amp linear TAE allows me to go down to very low volume. I do not feel any digital "grain" or compression or smoothing of the signal.
I then launch on my PC the Tube Expander Editor, and there I tell myself that we still made progress on the publishers. Quick launch, fast detection, and above all a clear interface that does not need a user manual! I also note that the TAE answers the finger and the eye to the changes, we are almost on the snapshot. So even if I continue to regret the constraint that a stage guitarist must always have a tablet or a laptop on him to refine his sounds, I appreciate the comfort of work. In passing the different effects are complete, effective, and exhaustive on the parameters. We have two different compressors, 5 delays, six reverbs,
Regarding the effects of comp / reverb / delay, unsurprisingly, we are in the Boss, it's clean, pleasant to the ear, not really foufou but it's perfect for the sober guy (a sober guitarist? It's a myth , no?) who just wants to "dress up" his sounds a little. Others will use the effects loop to connect their favorite machines!
