Q/Strip isn’t just an EQ pedal. It’s a DI, a volume boost pedal, a speaker emulator, a classic equaliser strip, a ‘second amplifier channel’, a recording preamplifier and probably a whole host more of options I’m yet to think of. Using these controls sparingly as I did in the video rewarded me with just the sound I was looking for. Watch how I zoned in on the frequencies I wanted to hear to accentuate the tone of my bass in the studio. The grain of salt: I have only played this unit for an hour. I have played 12 string guitars for 17 years. FEATURESHPF cuts unmusical rumble associated with many instruments when going direct.LPF rolls off undesirable frequencies. Can also be used as a speaker simulator. When used in conjunction with the studio-grade EQ section, you can recreate different speaker cabinet curves so you can go direct with your favorite distortion and effects pedals.Very high impedance accommodates piezos and handles low impedance sources equally well.XLR is capable to drive power amps and has a -20dB pad to accommodate mic level inputs on mixers and pre-amps.1/4-inch output has switchable +10dB boost on tap, which is useful to drive power amps or push tube amps into overdrive.Three modes of operation:

Strange manufacturer decision that when you power-on pedal it's always in the ON-state, so it doesn't remember its last state before power-off. According to the support it's normal behavior and you can switch it to default ON or OFF-state by re-soldering some elements on the circuit board! I don't think it's quite elegant and intuitive solution :) Also ground lift is cable dependent: if your cable has But I do hav[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]e a bit of a probl[/font]em with the description below: Beispielsweise bekomme ich Akustikgitarren an meinen Mesa Rosette DI-Preamps immer besser eingestellt als am QStrip. The low pass filter (LPF) is going to be useful for guitarists but also bassists who like using ‘gainy’ distortion. We often have problems when it comes to cabinets with tweeters in, or sending the sound of our pedals directly to the PA. Being able to emulate the sound of a paper cone speaker really smooths out the top end of heavy distortion. This button will go a certain distance to making that a tap of a foot rather than reaching for tweeter attenuator knobs on darkened stages to tame excessive top end fizz!Zum Aufnehmen würde ich den QStrip selbst nicht einsetzen, da ich hier mehr auf spezifischere Lösungen setze, doch wenn jemand mit dem QStrip genau seinen Sound findet, dann spricht da grundsätzlich auch nichts dagegen. The equalization part is, in a few words, excellent. The ranges for low-mid (40Hz-700Hz) and high-mid (300Hz-6kHz) frequency selection are totally usable. Did not measured the +/-18dB with precision tools, but seem accurate. The manual gives quite a few propositions for settings regarding if you intent using it as an equalizer or en effect, but gut feeling is not restricted as an option. HPF and LPF are useful whether you need to clean a bit of ramble or, again, use them as an effect. This little box - busy looking on most sides - is very competent at what it says to deliver : a vintage inspired but accurate true parametric equalization which some creature comforts. Die Möglichkeit für den XLR-Out und den Klinke-Out den Pegel zusätzlich noch über einen Schalter an das nachfolgende Gerät anzupassen, ist auch ganz praktisch. Auch wenn die Instrumente am Eingang zu Extremen neigen, was den Pegel betrifft. But now that mixing desks / interfaces etc often have proper Line Level inputs there's often no advantage and some disadvantage in deliberately attenuating a signal when you don't need to.

Dafür kann man aber mit dem QStrip sehr viele verschiedene Instrumente bewältigen. Ein Gerät zu haben, das eben genau in dieser Vielfalt stets ein gutes Ergebnis liefern kann, ist auch etwas wert.I'm reasonably familiar with the technology of such consoles from 60s/70s - both UK and USA origin - but not aware of widespread use of MOSFET devices in Channel EQs. Whilst small signal (as opposed to Power devices) MOSFETS can be used for audio work, in my experience the console EQs tend to be based around Bipolar transistors as the active components (maybe JFET but these used more for signal switching in desks toward the end of this era). Die Sample Settings im Handbuch sind übrigens vor allem bei den Bässen garnicht mal so schlecht, um einen Ausgangspunkt zu finden. Und selbst dann interessant mal anzuhören, wenn man es vom Arbeiten am Mischpult gewohnt ist den passenden Sound ganz selbstständig einzustellen.

I finally got around to playing with my Q/strip at home last night. Just Bass- Q/S - Zoom B3n in bypass mode and headphones. Ok, so its an EQ, not really much to expect. Plugged The Sire V7 in and had a play. Very powerful but i found the best tones were almost flat on the boosts. I never really had a 'wow' moment but i can see it potential. Saying that, even with it off and using my normal Zoom presets i wasn't feeling it last night.The use of Mosfets was intentional for the sonic benefits, low noise and also so the unit could be phantom powered. Bipolar transistors would be too power hungry. It does blur at the edges though as the Q-strip also includes HPF and LPF, albeit not sweepable, whereas it provides a variable/sweepable dual-band mid EQ which the RE/Q doesn't. I was just using the Q Strip as one example of preamp/EQ with DI, obviously there are loads of others similarly featured with a DI e.g. MXR M81 or the excellent value Laney DB-Pre. And then you have something like the Boss EQ 200 which is a 'pure' EQ and doesn't. But I have to doubt the bit about MOSFET circuitry to give the characteristics of vintage consoles. The high pass filter works to de-emphasize the lower pitched E and A strings that dominate a 12 string's sound. The 2 sweepable midrange bands dial in the octave strings and the first octave harmonic. Finally, the low pass filter tames the higher harmonics that sound shrill while adding sufficient energy to the signal to eat up an amp's headroom and start clipping.

Verglichen mit anderen DI-Preamps und kompletten Verstärkern, die spezifisch auf eine bestimmte Instrumentengruppe abgestimmt sind, ist der QStrip meiner Meinung nach aber klanglich im Nachteil. The knobs are precise and smooth, but without snap to the middle position. Anyway it sounds quite neutral with knobs at about a noon position and this is good. I did think at the time "why don't I get the vtbass DI instead? Or the two notes lebass" but this has a great eq and small footprint and isn't just for one instrument. Darüber hinaus habe ich es mittlerweile auch für die Kalimba und den E-Kontrabass benutzt und bei all den Instrumenten war der QStrip gut brauchbar.

Customer Reviews

I've got one. Super duper powerful eq, the lpf and hpf are a great touch however the lpf is based at 3k which I would usually think is a little low for me but the other controls make up for it and from what I understand, the drop-off isn't as steep as on some other lpfs. So it all balances out and allows me to get some cab-sim sounds when I DI. In reality all audio going into an ADC is going to be squeezed down to a 5V range or less. But attenuating directly before the ADC gives best SNR. In the end I would suggest trying one. Specifications are meaningless if you aren't happy with the tone or ease of use. Thanks for the reply. It does clarify things a fair bit wrt the transistors. I agree the specs' aren't the important thing but the advertising references the technology and 'inspiration' so the question arises.Good point about the limited power available via phantom. In the end it's always best to try both side by side if feasible, but I think I've covered the differences and similarities.