Masternaut is is a stereo line signal conditioner and a soft clipper that takes the concept behind our very successful Creamliner to the next level.
It “glues” the stereo image in a very musical way and smooths the rough edges that are often the result of a digital mix, in a studio or live situation. A pair of pentodes imparts its lush character to the signal and adds the subtle “dirt” that gives your mix that elusive radio magic. It can be subtler than the Creamliner but as you increase the gain, the coloration becomes progressively apparent. Once you take the unit out of the calibrated mode, things get more intense and you can use the input drive control to set the right amount of saturation.
Two pairs of output transformers and a 2-band, boost only EQ increase the flexibility even further. Like the Creamliner, the Masternaut is calibrated for a 0dB gain when in calibrated mode, so when you bypass it, there is no loudness change at any gain level or either tube mode.
Engineers have tried to get this effect from a plugin, but so far most of them prefer the real tube unit.
Each channel has separate controls, however the bypass switch affects both chennels. All the pots are detented, which makes recall easy. There are many more details that make this unit a very useful addition to your rack, so please see the the user manual for all the details.
Technical Specifications
Design concept: (tube) pentode hybrid line signal conditioner, transformer input and output
2 tube modes: triode and pentode
2 channels
Output mode: Transformer or solid state balanced driver
Operating level: +4dBu
Frequency response: 10Hz-50kHz
Harmonic distortion: <2% before clipping level, quickly decreases if driven less.
Maximum output level: 32dBu
Minimum output load: 600Ohm
Connectors: XLR, balanced only
Power consumption: 30W
All supply voltages regulated.
285V Plate voltage for huge headroom
Gold plated printed circuit boards with a double copper layer.
Gold plated tube sockets
We give a one year warranty on parts and labor.
