MOOER ENSEMBLE KING EFFECTS PEDAL
Having made a big impact on the pedal market in recent years with small, affordable ‘clone’ pedals (i.e.- pedals that tend to be based tonally on historically popular brands of pedals) that still evoke boutique aesthetics, the Mooer range continues to grow, offering more sonic solutions for budget-conscious guitarists than ever before. Yet ever since Andy Summers from The Police and The Edge from U2 ruled the airwaves in the early ‘80s, a chorus effect has been a staple for most guitar rigs regardless of style and genre.
One of Mooer’s original series models, the Ensemble King provides chorus effects from the subtle to the extreme. Manipulated by fairly standard controls: two small knobs for level and depth with a larger knob for rate. Running everything in a fairly standard ‘middle’ position provides smooth, lush, commercial sounding body to a clean signal without too much obvious compromise in terms of original signal. Increasing both the depth and the rate creates more indie / psychedelic effects, right out to the point of those ‘underwater’ modulated warbles that are occasionally just what the doctor ordered.
Finished in a light blue that will no doubt bring to mind a certain other famous chorus pedal, the Mooer Ensemble King will find its way onto many a pedalboard, especially those owned by guitarists conscious of space and budget. The pedal, like all Mooer products, uses very little power and runs on a 9-volt adaptor only.
The Mooer Ensemble King retails for $89.
YAMAHA MG16XU MIXER
The Yamaha MG16XU is a 16-channel passive mixing console, split into a maximum of 10 microphone or 16 line inputs (eight mono plus four stereo inputs).
Yamaha’s D-PRE microphone preamps with inverted Darlington circuits provide a powerful warm tone when microphones are connected, with the excellent feature of a one-knob compressor effect on channels 1-8, enabling easy and effective smoothing out of vocal and acoustic guitar signals. For condenser microphones, phantom power is also available on these channels.
Renowned for high-quality digital effects, Yamaha have packed in 24 effects options into this unit, and the reverbs provide excellent lift and ambience to both vocals and instruments if they require some finessing.
Beyond live applications, this console also features 24-bit/192kHz 2in/2out USB Audio functionality, making it a solid choice for a small studio mixing console for those preferring to manipulate actual faders and controls rather than utilizing screens. The unit is compatible with the iPad 2 or later through the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit or Lightning to USB Camera Adapter. For those wanting to start their first home studio, the console even includes Cubase Al DAW software.
Featuring an internal universal power supply for worldwide use and a rack-mount kit, the Yamaha MG16XU Mixer is hard to beat in terms of both sound and price at a SRP of around $699.
CHRIS GIBBS
