nonlinearaudio.com

nonlinearaudio.com : interesting and useful analog studio gear made well by fanatics

October 26th 2011 - we've recovered (mostly) from the AES show, and we're back making more good things for your listening and musical recording pleasure.

The AES show was great - didn't see much past our own exhibit space and the area right around booth 256 because our stand was fairly busy. We debuted several new products - and we really mean "new" as we finished assembling the units that we took to the show about four hours before the exhibits opened. Then we had to figure out how to explain these things to people - because while we were pretty clear on what these things are and how they sound (we've had working versions since last January), we had not practiced telling people why they exist. By the second day we had some idea how to get it across.

The FlexiGuy 8000 eight channel mic preamp was present. Production is pretty much starting now. The only thing we have to wait on for Flexiguy is the shipping box and inserts. We also need to catch up with things like user manuals so, while we'll have demo and production units out pretty soon, we're telling people January.

We had several BLENDA 500 insert reblend modules in a Purple Audio Sweet Ten rack and showed how these can be used to do parallel insert processing in the analog domain without needing a mixer with open spare faders. These are in production and we have some units we can ship now. As with Flexiguy there are some things we need to catch up on - like side panels for the modules as well as getting a user manual together. So we have some we can sell now but we're saying January because the next batch (of 500) side panels are five weeks out.

The Orson 8000 eight channel mic preamp was in the rack but not turned on because... well - we didn't have time to finish building it... we were rushing it for the show and decided to just stop and complete it after aes. Those will probably be in production for real in Mid-December so I guess we should say February for ORSON just to be safe.

We will be selling direct and work with a few interested dealers. We will be setting up a web cart and order entry system, but we expect, people being skeptical about new products and companies and all, that sales are not going to be so heavy that we can't handle it by EMAIL for the time being... BTW "We" is John Klett (TechMecca) and Jens Jungkurth (Eisen Audio) ... Google us.

nonlinearaudio rack ear side bar

The "Drop Test" Video ...which shows why we went with a 6mm thick front panel and will soon be offering a rear rack ear kit for the ORSON and Flexiguy 8000 units.

NEW PRODUCTS shown at AES 2011 NY

Jacob Javits Center, NYC, 21-23 Oct, 2011 - BOOTH 256

Flexiguy and ORSON mic preamps

NLA Flexiguy and ORSON mic preamps

NLA FlexiGuy 8000 (FG8K) eight channel mic preamp: The Flexiguy preamp uses cascading IC op amp stages, with our ZUTT012j large core input transformer and NLA122o output transformer, to yield a detailed and flexible tone, with just the right amounts of harmonic contribution. There are two operating modes that we call "Guy" and "Gal". In Guy mode the gain ranges from 5dB to 65dB and the input impedance is variable with gain, making for a more saturated "compressed" character at high gains and more transparency at low gains. In Gal mode the gain ranges from 25dB to 70dB, with a constant higher input impedance. In either case, input impedance reverts to a fixed nominal value when the -20dB PAD is engaged. The overall sonic imprint in Gal mode is subtly wider, more open, delicate, and less colored. Tricolor indication of output level is visible through a light pipe button, which also does the mode switching.
PRICE = $4800 shipping officially in January but probably available sooner
demo units are available now...

NLA ORSON 8000 (OW8K) eight channel mic preamp: The Orson preamp is not only free of ICs, it doesn't even use op amps. A lone, unique, discrete transistor mini power amplifier, with "black box" input transformer and NLA122o output transformer, delivers a smooth yet authoritative tone. Gain ranges from 12 to 65 dB, with another 5dB of transformer step up available in the "Lo-Z" mode. The INput trim knob provides up to -20dB of attenuation between the input transformer and amplifier stage, allowing desirable core saturation from loud signals, without clipping the amplifier and whatever else follows. Tricolor indication of output level is visible through a light pipe button, which when depressed engages a gentle high-pass filter at 75Hz.
PRICE = $4800 shipping officially in February 2012 but probably available sooner
demo units will be available some time mid-November...

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BLENDA parallel insert loop processor BLENDA parallel loop processor

NLA BLENDA 500 (PLP500) Parallel Loop Processor: or, as we call it, "The Blend-O-Matic / Null-O-Matic". This is a handy in-line device that works in a Purple Audio Sweet Ten rack - utilizing the auxiliary i/o jacks. The BLENDA gives the user a split to any external processor and a reblend function, with phase reverse, for parallel additive or subtractive reblend within your outboard rack without the need for tying up additional console inputs or, for that matter, requiring a console or mixer at all.
It should be pointed out specifically that the BLENDA module is not a VPR alliance compatible module. It was designed specifically for the Purple Audio Sweet Ten rack which will hold and power any VPR or 500 slot compatible module (probably better than most VPR racks do). If you have an old VPR rack with no motherboard it's pretty easy to wire out the insert loop and we can provide some info on how to do that... otherwise we invite you to treat yourself to a Sweet Ten or wait until we do a version with the insert jacks on the front.
PRICE = $425 available in limited quantities now

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There will be "500 format" versions of the Flexiguy and ORSON as soon as we can settle on a control layout. We hope to have some in hand by the end of this year... maybe in time to use as a stocking stuffer but we are not promising. Officially I guess we are looking at March 2012 for a ready to ship date.
PRICE = $825 for either FlexiGuy 500 or ORSON 500
for now we are saying these will be available March 2012
demo/test units may be available mid-December...

THE STORY of nonlinearaudio.com

A number of odd and opinionated techs gather round the ol' camp fire on occasion and many stories are told... opinions are trotted out and reviewed like pure breeds at a dog show... there are disagreements and arguments... and sometimes a challenge or two...

nonlinearaudio.com is the result!

Non-Linear Audio, for our purposes, is about the difference between a "perfect straight wire with gain", or a "perfect equalizer with no phase or distortion artifacts", or a "perfect dynamics controller" (none of which exist, by the way), and what occurs in the real world. Non-Linear Audio describes the color and the sound we like in some gear, dislike in other gear and, most often, have mixed opinions about in a lot of gear.

WANNA KNOW MORE?

Well, so do we... now that we have gotten to the AES with real (or nearly so) product we'd like to hear from you so try shooting us an email - it'll go to both Jens and Klett so there is no telling what might happen...