Phil O'Keefe

Korg XVP-20 Volume / Expression Pedal A dual-purpose pedal - redesigned and updated by Phil O'Keefe Volume pedals are rarely considered sexy or exciting. However their usefulness is hard to deny, whether for adjusting volume while your hands are otherwise occupied or for volume swells, solo boosts and even muting your instrument in between songs. For over 20 years Korg has offered their popular XVP-10 volume / expression pedal, but now it has been discontinued and replaced with an updated and completely redesigned model called the XVP-20. Let's see what changes have been made with the new release and who might consider getting one. What You Need To Know The XVP-20 is a dual input, dual output volume pedal, with the I/O on 1/4" jacks. It can control the volume of two individual instruments at the same time, or a single instrument or effect with either mono or stereo outputs. The XVP-20 can also function as an expression pedal, and has a dedicated 1/4" TRS expression jack for that purpose. Like the rest of the I/O and controls, it's located at the "toe" end of the pedal. Korg thoughtfully includes a 1/4" TRS cable for use with the expression jack. The aluminum housing is a bit more compact than the XVP-10, measuring 3.54" W x 10.55" L x 2.44" H, including the rubber feet. It's also somewhat lighter than its predecessor, weighting in at 2.87 pounds. The XVP-20's black anodized finish matches their flagship KRONOS workstation. Unlike some volume pedals that use strings to rotate the control pot, the XVP-20 uses a gear mechanism. Additionally, it has more teeth than its predecessor, giving the user a better degree of control over fine adjustments and the new pedal a subjectively smoother feel. Rubber pads have been added under the pedal to help prevent it from slipping away from you, even on a wood, tile or concrete floor. A rubber pad covers the treadle itself, which helps keep your foot planted firmly for better control. One really great feature is the adjustable torque. Adjusting a screw underneath the pedal's treadle can firm up or loosen the pedal's feel, as well as the amount of force required to manipulate it. Another very useful feature is the XVP-20's Minimum Volume control. This can be set anywhere from 0% to 50% of full volume, which allows some signal through even when the pedal is in the fully heel-back position. This is wonderful for pre-setting a minimum level for rhythm parts, and a boosted level for solos. Limitations Using it simultaneously as a volume and expression pedal is not recommended - use it as one or the other. Since it's a low impedance pedal (50k - 100k input impedance), it's ideal for use with keyboards, but less well suited for use with high impedance instruments like guitar. You can certainly use it as an expression pedal with guitar pedals, and it will also work well if you place it after an effects pedal (most of which have low impedance outputs). But if you want to feed it a guitar with passive pickups and run it first in the chain, or without any other pedals, it's not the volume pedal you want. While lighter than the XVP-10, at 2.87 pounds it's still a fairly heavy pedal. The upside is it tends to stay in place better than a lighter pedal. Conclusions This is a very well-designed volume pedal, but you need to know what you're getting. If you're a keyboardist, you can buy one with little worry, since it should work well with the low impedance output of your instruments, but guitarists need to carefully consider where and how they want to use the XVP-20. If you want to use it at the end of a chain of pedals it will work fine, and it will work well as an expression pedal too, but if you want to use it first in the chain (before any other pedals) or without any other pedals at all, this isn't recommended due to the impedance mismatch. Of course, low-impedance or active pickups render this a non-issue, but that doesn't apply to the majority of guitarists. Hopefully Korg will consider releasing a high-impedance version for greater compatibility with guitar rigs, but in the meantime, keyboard players will find the XVP-20 to be an excellent option for both volume and expression control. -HC- Resources Korg XVP-20 Volume and Expression pedal ($200.00 MSRP, $159.99 "street") Korg's product web page You can purchase the Korg XVP-20 from: Sweetwater Guitar Center B&H Photo Video Musician's Friend __________________________________________________ Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.

Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 Taking the direct approach to great bass tones by Phil O'Keefe Tech 21's SansAmp line has been hugely popular with musicians. These handy boxes are often considered as direct recording tools and they're very good for that, but there is far more to them than that alone. One of the most popular boxes in the SansAmp line has been the Bass Driver DI. Now Tech 21 has updated this essential bass accessory in version 2 form. Let's have a look at what makes it so cool, what's new in the latest version, and some of the things you can do with it. What You Need To Know The SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 is packed in a all-metal case that measures 4.75" W x 3.75" D x 2.0" H and weighs 14 ounces. The Bass Driver DI v2 has the classic SansAmp color scheme of golden yellow lettering on a black powder-coated background, making everything easy to read, even in low light conditions.The basic tone and circuit of the pedal remains the same as its predecessor, but the v2 version has a few added features to make it even more flexible. The 1/4" Input jack is mounted on the right side of the pedal. It has a nice high 1megOhm input impedance, and also turns on the battery whenever it's plugged in, so always unplug it when you're not using it to preserve your battery life. Right next to the Input is a hardwired parallel output jack that passes your input signal out un-effected; similar to the thru jack you'll find on many ordinary direct boxes, it allows you to connect to an amp and use the Bass Driver DI v2 for a direct feed simultaneously. There are a total of seven knobs at five pushbutton switches on the Bass Driver DI v2. Level sets the overall output level of the pedal and this applies to both the XLR and main 1/4" output. Drive sets the amount of gain and the level of overdrive. Presence adjusts the amount of upper harmonic content, and higher settings can give overdriven tones more edge and attack. For smoother overdrive and clean tones, Tech 21 advises lowering this knob to taste. There are three EQ controls (Treble, Mid and Bass), and all three are active and can cut or boost by up to 12dB. Treble is centered at 3.2kHz, while the midrange center frequency can be switched between 500Hz and 1kHz with a pushbutton switch. Likewise, the center frequency for the Bass EQ can also be user adjusted with a switch, with 80Hz and 40Hz options offered. Other pushbuttons switches provide a -20dB setting for the XLR output, a +10dB option for the main 1/4" Out, and a ground lift / phantom power connect switch for the XLR. The SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 also includes a Blend control. This lets you blend in a little (or a lot) of the clean, unaffected signal to go along with the SansAmp tube amp emulation. The Treble, Mid and Bass tone controls, as well as the Level control remain active even when the SansAmp amp simulation is essentially turned off by running the Blend at its lowest setting. Bypass switching is handled by a no-click footswitch and the Bass Driver DI v2 features Tech 21's excellent buffered bypass. A red LED illuminates whenever the pedal is active. The SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 can be powered with a user-supplied 9V alkaline battery (the battery compartment can be accessed through a tool-free hatch mounted in the bottom of the pedal), through phantom power over the XLR cable, or with an optional Tech 21 Model DC2 9V DC power supply. The 9V DC power supply port is mounted on the left side of the pedal near the output jacks. It uses the industry-standard 2.1mm center-negative format. The SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 draws about 100mA of power at 9V DC. There are two output jacks on the SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 - a 1/4" and an XLR. Both output jacks work simultaneously, and both switch between the SansAmp tube amp simulation and the unprocessed signal, depending on the status of the footswitch. This allows you to use the pedal with amp simulation, or as a regular active DI box. This opens up lots of possibilities and things this versatile pedal can be used for. Some examples include using it as a stand-alone preamp for a power amp and speaker cab, active direct box / direct recording tool, tone-shaper pedal, running it direct to the PA for live use, and using it as a bass overdrive pedal in front of your bass amp are just some of the potential applications. The included manual (which is also available online as a PDF file) includes lots of sample settings to get you started as well as blank layout sheets for you to write down your own favorite settings. The Bass Driver DI v2 comes with a cool "cookie tin" metal storage box. Limitations There is no separate switch to deactivate the onboard speaker simulation; it's always part of the SansAmp tube amp emulation. However, since bass rigs tend to be full-range anyway, this poses no significant issues in real-world use, even when running the pedal into a bass amplifier. The labeling and placement of the five pushbutton switches can be a bit confusing at first but you'll quickly figure them out, and chances are you will set and forget most of them anyway. You can either ground lift the XLR connector, or phantom power the pedal. You can not do both simultaneously due to the way phantom powering works. Conclusions This is a very useful and versatile box. Not only is it great for its intended purpose as a tonal shaper and as a bass overdrive, but it also works well as a Bass DI box too. In addition to its excellent amp simulation capabilities, it's also a very quiet pedal with loads of cool sounds onboard. The added features compared to the first version of the Bass Driver DI add further to what was already a solid pedal, giving the pedal more control and added reach in the bass region and making it better suited to the needs of modern five and six string bass players. Likewise the added Mid control allows for even more flexibility in dialing up your sound. The SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 is not just for bass players - acoustic guitarists, Chapman Stick players, as well as baritone and 7/8 string guitarists will also find uses for this pedal too. Studio owners should consider this a must-have accessory as well, since it makes getting consistently solid recorded bass tones a snap, and does it without the bleed or hassles of a miked amp. Having a hard time waxing great bass tones? Then you need this box! Owners of the original Bass Driver DI will have a tougher choice on their hands. While the basic functions and tone remain the same, the added Mid EQ, along with the Bass shift EQ switch give it added capabilities that the previous version lacked. Whether they are important enough to justify upgrading will come down to the needs of the individual user, but if you don't have one of these pedals already (either version), you really do owe it to yourself to give one a try. It really is a bass essential that just about any bass player will find extremely useful. -HC- Resources Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver v2 ($275.00 MSRP, $209.00 "street") Tech 21's SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 product web page Tech 21 Bass Driver DI v2 manual (PDF file) You can purchase the Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2 from: Sweetwater Musician's Friend B&H Photo Guitar Center __________________________________________________ Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.

KRK V6 Series 4 Can you get truly professional reference monitor performance at a project studio price? by Phil O'Keefe What You Need To Know In terms of size, the V6 is the middle monitor in the new V Series generation 4 lineup, with the larger V8 and slightly smaller V4 filling out the series. The V6 is a two-way nearfield monitor with a 6.5" woofer and 1" dome tweeter. The cabinets on the 4th generation V6 are made from MDF with an aluminum front baffle plate, and feature a front-ported bass reflex design. Each monitor measures 13.89" H x 9.09" W x 11.34" D and weighs 20.72 pounds. On the bottom of the cabinet, a non-skid EVA foam pad helps isolate the speaker acoustically from the surface on which it sits. You'll also find threaded universal mounting points installed on the bottom of the cabinets. A large port located on the bottom of the monitor's front face, just below the woofer, looks roughly rectangular at first glance but is actually shaped as a isosceles trapezoid. The shape, coupled with the large size, really does a good job at all but eliminating distracting wind blasts that often accompany front-facing round ports. The KRK custom-designed 6.5" woofer is made from woven Kevlar, which translates to low weight and incredible strength. It uses a ferrite magnet and has a cast aluminum frame to help reduce the weight of the V6 Series 4. Unusually, the 1" dome tweeter is also made from Kevlar. Like the woofer it was custom designed by KRK and features a ferrite magnet. The woofer and tweeter are bi-amped, and driven by lightweight and efficient Class-D amplifiers with 125W dedicated to the woofer and 30W for the tweeter for a total of 155W per speaker. This drives the KRK V6 Series 4 to a maximum peak SPL of 115dB. The KRK logo on the front panel is illuminated and serves as a power-on indicator. You can dim or even turn off the illumination with rear-panel switches. The logo slowly dims and brightens cyclically to indicate when the monitors have gone into their low-power standby mode (i.e., when they haven't received any signal for more than 30 minutes). You don't have to think about this feature or "do" anything - when you're not using the speakers they go to low-power mode, and once they start receiving signal again, they wake up. The monitors include optional metal grilles. You simply remove the six bolts from the monitor's front, lift off the aluminum faceplate, place the grille and faceplate into position, and then re-attach the bolts. Those who travel with their speakers will appreciate the grilles, but just about everyone else will probably leave them off. The rear panel has not only the XLR input jack, IEC power cable port, and power switch, but also various controls for adapting the monitors to your room and preferences. KRK gives a lot of options; There are a total of 49 different combinations of EQ voicing variations. A -dB Level Attenuation switch trims the response from 0 to -3.0 dB in half-decibel steps, which is handy for matching the KRK V6 Series 4 monitor levels to another set of speakers you may also be using as a secondary reference. The High and Low EQ Controls each have seven-position knobs, with settings of H1 - H7 for the highs, and L1 - L7 for the lows. The "flat" position for each is the 4 setting. Going from H1 to H7, the high frequency switch positions let you select among a high shelf with -2 dB at 10 kHz, high shelf with -1 dB at 10 kHz and a parametric EQ with -1 dB at 3.5 kHz, high-mid parametric EQ with -1 dB at 3.5 kHz, flat, high-mid parametric EQ with + 1 dB at 3.5 kHz, high shelf with +1 dB at 10 kHz and parametric EQ with +1 dB at 3.5 kHz and high shelf with +2 dB at 10 kHz. The low frequency switch offers a similar set of cut and boost options, with the low shelf being set at 75 Hz, and a PEQ adjusting the low-mids at 200 Hz. A panel of five DIP switches, labeled System Settings, control standby, ground lift, input sensitivity, input level attenuation (-10 dBV or +4 dBu), and the behavior of the front panel logo LED. With this many switch positions it would be easy to forget what everything does, but fortunately KRK has clearly labeled the rear panel so you don't need to hunt for a manual. Limitations You'll find a Micro USB port on the rear panel. KRK says that at some point they may offer user-updates to the onboard DSP (which is mainly used for the EQ adjustments) via this port, but it currently offers no user options, nor can it charge external USB devices. While it's easy to set up the speakers to run at -10 dBV levels, there are no unbalanced RCA or stereo 1/8" inputs. If you need to connect your mobile device or something using RCA connectors, you'll need suitable adapters. The EQ switches, while powerful and offering settings that are generally useful in a wide range of situations do not allow boosting the high mids at 3.5 kHz while slightly attenuating the highs at 10 kHz, or vise versa. In other words, the highs and mids can not be adjusted independently. Likewise, the low and low midrange EQ can not be adjusted individually, so you can't cut the low mids at 200 Hz while boosting the bottom at 75 Hz with the low frequency controls. Conclusions KRK says they sought the input of hundreds of professional engineers, producers and mixers in developing the 4th generation V Series monitors. This input obviously played an important role, and helped KRK dial in the sound in a way that is accurate and yet still widely appealing. These speakers were designed to provide the crucial monitoring accuracy that's essential in professional studios, and which will also be appreciated by professional sound design and broadcast facilities. With loads of options available for tailoring their response to your room and personal tastes, they're bound to work well in a variety of acoustical environments - although I do wish the high and low midrange parametric equalizers at 3.5 kHz and 200 Hz were adjustable separately from the high and low shelving equalizers. Fortunately that won't be a significant issue for most users. I really like the sound of these monitors. They're plenty fast in terms of the transient response, and you'll find ample bass too, especially for a mid-sized nearfield with only a 6.5" woofer. The treble is really rather unique from the Kevlar tweeter, with a very alluring and expansive stereo soundscape that's almost three-dimensional in character. A step up from the KRK Rokits, the KRK V Series is more refined, detailed and expensive sounding without costing a lot more money. I can see these becoming popular with discerning home studio users as well as with professional engineers, especially because the price is so surprisingly low for a professional reference speaker of this quality. -HC- Resources KRK V6 Series 4 powered nearfield studio monitors (each $799 MSRP, $599 "street") KRK's product web page KRK V Series 4 quick start guide (PDF file) You can purchase the KRK V6 Series 4 powered nearfield studio monitors from: Sweetwater KRK V6 Series 4 Specifications: Configuration: 
2-Way System type:
 Active Studio Monitor Low-Frequency: 
Woofer, 6.5" cast aluminum frame, Kevlar cone, ferrite magnet High-Frequency:
 Tweeter, 1", Kevlar dome, ferrite magnet Frequency Response:
 49Hz - 19kHz Frequency Range:
 40Hz - 24kHz Max Peak SPL:
 115 dBSPL Power Output:
 LF (125 Watts), HF (30 Watts), Total (155 Watts) High Control: 
H1 (High Shelf -2 dB 10 kHz, H2 (High Shelf -1 dB 10 kHz / High Mid Peq -1 dB 3.5 kHz), H3 (High Mid Peq -1 dB 3.5 kHz), H4 (Flat), H5 (High Mid Peq +1 dB 3.5 kHz), H6 (High Shelf +1 dB 10 kHz / High Mid Peq +1 dB 3.5 kHz, H7 (High Shelf +2 dB 10 kHz) Low Control:
L1 (Low Shelf -3dB 60 Hz), L2 (Low Shelf -1.5 dB 60 Hz), L3 (Low Shelf -2 dB 60 Hz / Low Mid Peq -2 dB 200 Hz), L4 (Flat), L5 (Low Mid Peq -2 dB 200 Hz), L6 (Low Shelf +1.5 dB 60 Hz), L7 (Low Shelf +3 dB 60 Hz) Enclosure Construction:
 MDF / Aluminum Grille:
 Included Dimensions (H x W x D):
 13.89" (353mm) x 9.09" (231mm) x 11.34" (288mm) Weight:
 20.72Lbs. (9.4 Kg.) __________________________________________________ Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.

Peavey 6505 Piranha Micro Head A tiny head with a tiny price by Phil O'Keefe Mini amplifier heads have been all the rage, and they're available from a variety of companies. Many users find their small size and lighter weight great for portability, and the amount of power (typically 5W to 20W) from these mini-heads is ideal for home practice, band rehearsals, smaller gig venues, and recording. Peavey has been part of this downsizing trend; they've offered a mini-head version of their popular Classic series amps and even a mini version of their popular 6505 head, but today we'll look at a brand new micro amp head designed for those who like to rock hard, but want to travel as light as possible - the Peavey 6505 Piranha. What You Need To Know The Peavey 6505 Piranha is remarkably small for a 20W head. Its rugged metal chassis measures a mere 7" W x 5.2" D x 3.2" H, and weighs in at a featherweight 2.5 pounds. The head is vented on the front and rear, and the tube inside is illuminated with red/orange LEDs so the glow is visible through the vents. The Piranha injects the character of the Crunch and Lead modes of Peavey's larger all-tube 6505 amplifiers into a small hybrid amplifier head. The Piranha's preamp uses JFET and tube gain stages, with a single 12AX7 being the only tube. The power amp section is entirely solid state. Five screws hold the top plate in place, and provide for relatively easy tube access. Peavey recommends and encourages experimenting with different 12AX7s. A stylized Piranha graphic is textured onto the top plate. The controls on the Piranha are nearly as simple as you can get, with a single Gain knob setting the input level and amount of gain/distortion, and a master Volume control adjusting the overall output level to the power amp. The Crunch / Lead pushbutton switch further adjusts the amount of gain. The EQ is a bit different than what you might expect. Even though it sports a single EQ control, it allows you to call up many popular 6505 EQ settings. With the knob fully counterclockwise, it provides a "notched" EQ setting similar to a 10-0-7 setting on a traditional three-knob Low / Mid / High EQ. Turn the EQ knob to the noon position and you get a 7-7-7 setting, and a 10-10-10 setting when the EQ knob is dimed. It's far more effective and versatile than most single knob "tone" circuits. Front-panel jacks (1/8" stereo aux input and 1/4" stereo headphones) make the 6505 Piranha well-equipped for silent practice, even if you want to play along with your portable music playback device. Inserting headphones disables the main speaker output. The rear-panel speaker output jack provides enough power to drive a 4x12 cabinet, or any other cabinet (as long as it's 4 ohms minimum) that can handle 20 watts. The output power level (and overall volume) will depend on what speaker cabinet you're using and its efficiency. The Piranha can handle 4, 8 and 16 ohm speaker loads, and will deliver 20W RMS with a 4 ohm load, 15W RMS at 8 ohms, and 10W RMS at 16 ohms. I didn't have the opportunity to try the optional 6505 Piranha 1x8 cabinet as part of this review, but again, this head will work just fine with many other speaker cabinets. A buffered effects loop includes rear-panel 1/4"send and return jacks. The effects loop's send jack also makes it easy to use the Piranha as a preamp in front of a larger amp. Rounding out the rear panel are a pushbutton power button and the jack for the provided 30VDC 1.0A power supply. The power supply itself is a "line lump"-type adapter. A CD-ROM disk includes the manaul, a demo copy of Cockos Reaper recording software, and a demo of Peavey's ReValver amp modeling software. You also get a nice padded vinyl carrying bag and Peavey sticker. Limitations Unfortunately there's no way to switch remotely between the Crunch and Lead gain switch settings using a footswitch. This isn't the amp for you if you're seeking loads of clean headroom. It can generate clean tones by setting the Gain knob lower and the Volume higher and using the Crunch switch setting instead of the Lead position, but the volume level isn't going to be nearly as high as it can go when you're running the Piranha dirty. The single EQ control is more flexible than you'd expect from most single knob tone stacks, but still isn't quite as versatile as a multi-knob EQ section. However, I must emphasize again that this is an extremely small head. There simply isn't the room on the front panel for a three-band EQ. Conclusions Like its namesake fish, the 6505 Piranha is small, but it has an aggressive nature and big bite that belies its physically diminutive stature. The EQ is surprisingly effective for a single knob circuit and goes way beyond what you'd expect. You can always augment it with an EQ pedal if you need more options. While it may be expecting too much from a micro head with a similarly tiny price tag, my biggest disappointment was that you can't switch between Crunch and Lead except with the front panel switch - a supplemental footswitch jack to select them would be a terrific addition. Of course, if you really need features like a three-band EQ, more clean headroom and gain footswitching, you can always consider Peavey's 6505 MH head instead. There isn't much in the way of clean headroom, although it can certainly work for tracking clean tones in the studio, but that's kind of missing the point; this amp is all about crunch and lead tones. While it can't match the full fury of the larger 6505 all-tube models, the drive is bold and aggressive, and rockers will find plenty to like in this little beast's crunchy attitude. Fans of heavier metal styles may wish for just a bit more grindage, but you can always supplement the amp's significant distortion capabilities with a boost, overdrive, or distortion pedal. For a head that's priced lower than many pedals, the Piranha sounds surprisingly cool. I can see rockers getting one to use as a backup amp, for backstage warmup, to use on a tour bus, and of course, for home practice. It's also a good choice for recording. Regardless of which of these applications is most important to you, the Peavey 6505 Piranha will serve you well, take up a minimum amount of space, and leave you with plenty of cash left over for other gear. Resources Peavey 6505 Piranha micro head ($199.99 MSRP, $179.99 "street") Peavey 6505 Piranha micro head product web page Peavey 6505 Piranha micro head manual (PDF file) You can purchase the Peavey 6505 Piranha micro head from: Sweetwater Musician's Friend Guitar Center SPECIFICATIONS Power Amplifier Section: Rated Power & Load: 20W(rms) into 4 Ohms; 15W(rms) into 8 Ohms; 10W(rms) into 16 Ohms DC Supply (included): +30VDC @ 1ADC (positive tip); Peavey part #30908151 Preamp Section (specs are measured @ 1kHz with all controls set halfway, on the CRUNCH setting) Input impedance: 1M Ohms Nominal Input Level: -20dBV, 100mV (rms) Effects Loop Send: Load Impedance: 10k Ohms or greater; Nominal Output Level: 0dBV, 1.0V (rms)Effects Loop Return: Impedance: 1M Ohms Designed Input Level: 0dBV, 1.0V (rms) Switching jack provides preamp output to power amp input connection when not used Aux Input: Nominal Input Level: 0dBV, 1.0V (rms)Dimensions & Weight: 5.2” (132mm) L x 7.0” (178mm) W x 3.2” (82mm) H; 2.5 lbs (1.13 kg) __________________________________________________ Phil O'Keefe is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer / producer and the Senior Editor of Harmony Central. He has engineered, produced and performed on countless recording sessions in a diverse range of styles, with artists such as Alien Ant Farm, Jules Day, Voodoo Glow Skulls, John McGill, Michael Knott and Alexa's Wish. He is a former featured monthly columnist for EQ magazine, and his articles and product reviews have also appeared in Keyboard, Electronic Musician and Guitar Player magazines.