Warm Audio WA-2MPX Dual TUBE Preamp Saturator - Official Review

foreign [Music] [Music] I'm so excited for this one it was so hard to keep my mouth shut about this unit Another World premiere for mixbus TV we are the official demo review of the new warm audio wa2mpx and they knocked this one out of the park let's get to it hello everyone welcome back to Memphis TV hope you guys are having a great day let's get right into it warm audio is known for bringing classic legendary designs to the market at an affordable price and I had positive experiences with their microphones in the past but the 2mpx is the very first outboard piece of gear that I actually had for an extended period of time I actually had this thing for over a month and I could test it and try it into some actual work with it in my own environment and I'm not joking I was tempted to release a clip that same day for you guys to hear it just because I was genuinely excited and I was having so much fun with this but of course the unit was embargoed until today so I had to wait but so what the heck is this well it's several things in one box first this is a tube Duo mono preamp but it does not stop there this is a stereo or dual mono saturator tube saturator of course is a tape emulator and the design was inspired by one of the the most iconic pieces in music history the Ampex 250 251 I'm pretty sure you've seen the original unit either in person or in picture or in plug-in forms because they made plug-in version of this and this bad boy here completely surprised me in a positive way in the preamp World sometimes it's easy to get lost into two fine details right but this thing is not subtle and that's the fun of it that whether you use it for the preamps or the saturation slash tape part this is a unit and a collar that you can hear very clearly and the beauty of this unit is not just that you can dose the collar with the input and output knobs but as you will see in a second it has a ton of options all those switches in the front for different colors different degrees of saturation and Distortion from saddle to full-blown vintage tube Distortion so without further Ado let's take a look at the front panel and the controls I want to start from the back each channel has both both XLR and a quarter inch inputs and outputs you can see the tubes inside for each Channel being a dual mono slash stereo unit the front panel is split in half and you have mirror controls for the left and the right the first knob is your Source selector mic line and instrument and each channel has an instrument direct input in the front you use this input to plug a guitar a bass straight into it this is an amazing tube di you use the line input to run tracks from your Daw or entire mixes if you want to use it as a tube slash tape saturator and you use the mic of course if you want to use it as a preamp the first knob is the preamp gain and the second knob is the output level first switch is the phantom power and here this clicks these switches are solid this unit has weight and it feels like it's built well the second switch is High Gain this of course will drive the tubes harder will give you more saturation and a different collection hover monics then we have polarity switch self-explanatory and we have the tone this might be my favorite control when you engage it you have more saturation overall but the curve of the saturation changes and everything becomes I hate the word but warmer is the right word here in fact after that you have an 8 Hertz h-pass filter in it because it had so much weight that in some scenarios you might want to use this to kind of contain all that low end again if you used as a preamp or on single tracks the next switch is at 2000 Hertz 2K Hertz LPF yes it cuts the high corner frequency at 2K this is great in two scenarios one you want to create a Lo-Fi very greedy drum beat or a guitar or a vocal especially if you start driving High Gain and push the preamp it will avoid the excess top end and the harshness that comes even if it's real tube from high Distortion but even if you don't drive it that hard this is really cool to create that Lo-Fi band pass kind of sound you will hear it and then the last one tape saturation this is the cherry on top between the high gain the tone the variable preamp this adds a different stage and type of saturation very reminiscent of tape it will add a natural compression that we expect from tape and this is not subtle although you can control it because it works in Synergy with the tone the high gain and the level itself then we have the power button here in the center and all the controls are mirrored for the second Channel without further Ado Let's Hear It In Action I guess I kinda like the way you feel shape another day we it and tonight fall and you're not here to give me the Widow I guess I kinda like the way you help me escape now the day bleeds and tonight it fall and you're not here to get me through it all I let my guard down and then you pull the rock I guess I kind of like the way you helped me escape I guess I kinda like the way you help me escape now the day bleeds and tonight fall and you're not here to get me through it all I let my guard down then you pull the rock I was getting kind of used to being someone you loved I guess I kinda like the way you help me escape now the day Beyblades and tonight fall and you're not here to get me through it all I let my guard down then you pull the rock I was getting kind of used to being someone you love foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] all right [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] touch me another player I crave you cause I never did before I hold you [Music] on the floor [Music] foreign children [Music] I'm standing outside in the rain I'll take the physical pain I stand outside in the rain I think the physical pain happy end of the day the girls went out what you see this world that we're living in I see all other life just giving things [Music] you're so hot that you can turn something blind on the mysteries of love and fear she's got me working through the night it I'll take the fortune and fame don't need the critics to claim at the end of the day the girls would I want I stand outside in the rain I'll take the fears that could play at the end of the day the girls went out what you see this world that we're living in I see all the other life just giving them you're so hot that you get turned some blind on the mysteries of love and fear she's got me working through the night you killed me and I'm still bleeding heart is broken Soul has left me this should be a felony the way you made me believe everything brought me straight down to my knees say you're broken not as broken as me showed you my weak spots at the middle of Blood Out apologies won't fit these wounds that bleed on repeat why do this to me violence with my kiss poison on your lips never again will I let someone in working within my soul tragedy and my bones violence with my kiss poison on your lips never again will I let someone in it can within my soul tragedy and my bones showed you my demons you shook them out left me to weep how could you do this for me showed you my dark spots you kicked them out left me down I thought that you loved me you killed me and I'm still bleeding heart is broken Soul has left me this should be a felony the way you made me believe everything and so this was the new warm audio to MPX dual two preamp slash saturator tape emulator I really think it's a fun unit to use definitely a color box I find it really great to warm up since and I did a couple of examples I didn't want to make the video too long but I feel weather is synth bass or lead sounds since really benefit from this kind of saturation you heard it on drums but I want to say even more on vocals when it's on the verge of breaking that for me is The Sweet Spot of course if you use it on Parallel you can go full blown with the tape saturation on or high gain as you notice sometimes it's a little bit tricky to find The Sweet Spot and it's easy to go overboard and there are going to be abrupt changes in gain when you engage either the high gain or the tube saturation so at first you need to be aware of that and maybe lower the output before switching I tried my best here but sometimes you know when you try things and you move knobs just just going by feeling a little jump in volume can happen what I like the most about this unit yes it's fun to run tracks to it and all of that and there's a lot of cool options for tone and the filters to make it like really low-fi Loops or guitars but I really like it as a preamp this has a very bold tone a lot of low end Rich low mids and you hear it immediately and I feel especially female vocals will definitely benefit from it I really like it I think warm did a great job with this unit the link is going to be in the info box down below let me know what you think in the comments down below if you like the video please don't forget to leave a like consider using the Super Tank to support the channel thank you for watching subscribe if you haven't already see you next time [Music] [Applause] [Music] don't you know [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Channel: MixbusTv

Views: 25,372

Keywords: mastering, audiomixing, producer, mixbustv best youtube channel mix mastering, david gnozzi best mix engineer producer, david gnozzi best vocal producer, david bella mixbustv, david bella kelly relationship, bella kelly, bella kelly official, bella kelly david gnozzi, how to record vocals, how to mix vocals, loudness master

Id: YcEK13mism8

Length: 20min 47sec (1247 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 21 2023