There are quite a number of DI options available to bass players these days, but Electro-Harmonix has just announced something a little different: the Battalion Bass Preamp and DI. It packs a fairly meaty set of features, including a four-band equalizer which has a 200Hz low cut/boost, 2kHz high cut/boost and two non-sweepable mid controls at 280Hz and 750Hz. It has a MOSFET distortion section which has three – yes, 3! – signal path options: pre eq, post eq and dry eq (partial by pass). There is a -10dB Pad Button to compensate for active versus passive pickups, keeping the sound levels under control for that ever-grateful soul on the sound desk.
The Battalion also includes a compressor, a noise gate and and, as you would expect for a DI, an XLR out with ground lift switch, as well as a 1/4 inch jack output (including a “headphone ready” socket). comprehensive I/O. They have posted a demo on the Electro-Harmonix youtube channel:
Quick Specs
– Four-band EQ tailored specifically for bass guitar. Includes controls for Bass (below 200Hz), Lo Mid (boost/cut at 280Hz Mid (boost/cut at 750Hz) and Treble (boost/cut above 2kHz).
– The Battalion’s distortion section delivers an awesome array of distorted bass sounds.
– Distortion section features Level, Blend, Drive and Tone controls plus a dedicated footswitch.
– Three signal flow modes yield unique tonal variations. Pre EQ, distortion comes before EQ. Post EQ, distortion comes after EQ and Dry EQ, only the dry signal mixed in with the Blend control is affected by the EQ
– Compressor with dedicated pushbutton, amount control and LED adds thump and sustain to your bass sound
– Noise Gate with adjustable threshold control eliminates noise and hum while preserving your attack and original tone
– Flexible I/O allows the Battalion to fit perfectly in any bass rig or application
– ¼” input jack includes switchable 10dB pad
– Includes a headphone ready ¼” output jack plus a hardwired ¼” dry output jack
– Balanced XLR output for use as a DI. The DI features dedicated level, bypass and ground lift controls
– The Battalion features all-analog circuitry and comes with an EHX9.6DC-200mA AC adapter
The Battalion is all-analog and comes with an EHX9.6DC-200mA AC adapter – I am assuming it doesn’t support Phantom Power, which is probably just as well, as “there be dragons“
There are quite a number of DI options available to bass players these days, but Electro-Harmonix has just announced something a little different: the Battalion Bass Preamp and DI. It packs a fairly meaty set of features, including a four-band equalizer which has a 200Hz low cut/boost, 2kHz high cut/boost and two non-sweepable mid controls at 280Hz and 750Hz. It has a MOSFET distortion section which has three – yes, 3! – signal path options: pre eq, post eq and dry eq (partial by pass). There is a -10dB Pad Button to compensate for active versus passive pickups, keeping the sound levels under control for that ever-grateful soul on the sound desk.
Leave a Reply
Subscribe to comments | Trackback URI