User Manual

Congratulations on your purchase of an MIDI Preamp E580!
Marrying tried-and-true all-tube technology to state-of-the-art microchip-powered
technology, this groundbreaking guitar preamp sets new standards with its sheer
audio brilliance—tone, authenticity and sonic variety is what this baby is all
about. Fully programmable control features and ten sound-shaping buttons put
an arsenal of voicing tools at your fingertips. Many of these features shape the
soundscape in ways we believe you have never heard before, and the virtually
infinite variety of options boggles the mind.
You'll soon discover that this preamp conjures up extremely sophisticated tones
that nonetheless sound earthy and authentic courtesy of its tube-driven
circuitry. To make this marriage of two disparate worlds work, the sound-shaping
features are controlled by a multiprocessor computer system equipped with three
microcontrollers that work hand in hand with advanced multitasking software.
What all this means to you:
1. utmost ease of use and remarkably intuitive handling
2. excellent sound-shaping options and greatest flexibility courtesy of its many
special features and programming possibilities
3. one preamp for every gig - live, studio and home-recording - featuring
an onboard programmable speaker simulation system
4. extremely wide range of sounds produced by custom-designed, programmable
filter systems in the individual tube stages
The different sound-shaping buttons actually shape the characteristic curve.
This technology can't be realized with conventional tube preamps, which is
why this preamp is literally one of a kind.
5. processor-controlled knobs and buttons allow stored sounds to be reproduced
with absolute precision any time, anywhere, under any operating conditions
6. You are now the proud owner of an ultra-advanced sound-generating machine
that will give you years of playing pleasure and value to boot.
Features and Functionality at a Glance
-> 256 presets. Directly selectable via MIDI and freely programmable, these
presets are grouped in two banks, A and B, and addressed via different
MIDI channels. This affords you the convenience of using one bank for
live gigs and the other for studio work.
-> 40 factory presets with preprogrammed audio examples that you can edit
and copy to MIDI presets as desired.
-> Manual mode in which the preamp operates just like a conventional preamp.
-> A shadow preset is assigned to each MIDI preset, serving much the same
purpose as the trash basket you may be familiar with on computers.
-> Non-programmable Master that may optionally be controlled in real time
via an external MIDI volume foot pedal.
-> The knobs are rotary encoders with an infinite control range. The advantage
of these knobs is that you can access a stored setting directly no matter what
the knob's actual position may be and adjust the setting in real time.
-> 11-segment circular LED chains. One of these surrounds each knob, indicate
its current setting. The LEDs flash when a MIDI preset's settings are changed.
The display also shows steps in increments while you are changing a setting.
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