Art

I've had it for a year. I use it with an electric guitar inserted before the effects chain or a programmable Marshall MG or Fender Mustang V v2 amp. It's a tube preamp/opto-compressor combo with comprehensive connections, all within a compact and sturdy package. The PSU is external, it's like a digitec (rp155), so it's easy to replace if you ever need to. It features an XLR input with 48V phantom power, if needed, a jack instrument input on the front panel (for a standard electric guitar, for instance), one balanced XLR output, (transformer-isolated), and one unbalanced jack output with line/instrument level switch (which is great to input a guitar amp directly without any level issues). The buttons are backlit, which is indispensable and well thought-out. And it's analog, obviously. It has an on/off switch. USE I use it as a guitar player and it's easy to use and effective without racking your brains. You only need to find the right dialings for the compressor section. I, for example, use these settings: Compressor and phase invert engaged, the pots set to 3, 9 and 2 o'clock, and instrument level selected on the rear. My goal: I have lots of different guitars, so I needed a leveler to avoid having to fiddle with the rest of my setup, which is much appreciated with dialed-in amps, obviously. And to get some sonic advantages while at it. SOUND QUALITY My guitars benefit from more warmth and more precision, too. It's huskier and more aggressive, even though I use the built-in compressor (it can't be compared to my compressor pedals, which simply flounder in comparison). The ART substantially enhances my programmable Marshall MG, be it with clean or distorted sounds. It's a real treat. What's more, the ART reins in a bit the bridge pickup of my Telecaster, making it less shrill, but still incredibly useful with distortion. It really embellishes sound. Once the compressor has been set I don't need to touch anything else, except the instrument input to change guitars, but that's it. OVERALL OPINION It's a real treat for what I use it and it doesn't produce any noise. Do note that it's better to let the tube warm up for about twenty minutes before you start dialing in, because it does have an effect on sound. The days when it was a pain to switch guitars with my programmable amps are now gone thanks to the ART (by the way, I don't understand why none of the modern programmable multi-effects/amps feature a simple analog input gain control). Regarding the use with headphones within a home studio, the quality that the ART brings with it is obvious. It's great for those endless winter afternoons (I used an excellent Autocom via insert before, but for guitars you don't want hi-fi!). It's simple but comprehensive, versatile as hell, with a distinctive and nice sound, and it doesn't generate any unwanted noise. Plus, it's sturdy, inexpensive and looks sexy. I would probably buy it again, even though the Presonus studio channel is tempting me, because it offers more possibilities, but it's also more expensive and less sturdy.

Let me start by saying that this unit has been more than just a simple 2-channel tube microphone preamp. It is a tone monster! With selectable impedance, 3 gain stages, 2 choices of High and Normal Plate Voltage and a really useful and transparent Low Cut Filter, this unit will perform with any kind of source and provide you with a kaleidoscope of sounds. On top of that, you have the option of running the 2 channels with only one set of knobs through its Stereo mode, for Room micing applications or even running stems through it! It also processes your Mid-Side micing setups for that really wide stereo capture. And it just sounds better than doing it ITB. There is somehow more coherence between the center and the side channel, and you can really push the side more for that HUGE drum sound. The construction is top notch, and as a testament it has stepped knobs. I’ve owned this unit for almost 5 years now, I’ve travelled with, and it just feels like the first day. Other features include Phase Invert and +48v switch, a 2 set of High-Z Instrument inputs, as well as your standard XLR inputs and outputs, and a set of balanced TRS outputs. Oh and a word of caution, there's a tiny little button on the back to switch between Pro (+4 dBv) and Consumer level (-10 dBu). It tripped me off the first time because I had it disengaged and was getting minimal signal level coming into my interface. So, to most users, just leave it pressed. UTILIZATION As I said before, this preamp is versatile. Through its different gain stages you can really shape your sound: 1. Gain: controls your signal going into the tube amplification stage. 2. +20dB: more often than not, I have it engaged. It pushes the signal going into the valves to really color your sound. By means of the “Tube Warmth” display, you can easily measure the input drive of the tubes. I’m generally driving it when I’m for instance, recording a soft passage of a vocal take. When I go into the chorus of the song I back it off to give it a little more room, but even if you go into the red, it’ll give you a really nice distortion. I recorded a Bass Guitar for a reggae song and it sounded great by having it on red almost all the time. 3. Output Level: gives your final level control going into whatever you’re recording with. There’s always plenty of headroom in this unit and this is where the VU meter come in handy. But even so, it’s not that important, as with anything in the analog world, it is more about the tone. The Impedance knob has a range that will work with most condenser and dynamic microphones. It’s really tough to describe what it does to the sound, but sometimes I feel it like it gives you a more focused mid-range on one end, and on the other a more rounded, balanced response. Lastly but not least, is the Plate Voltage switch. It will give you shimmering highs that for female vocals works wonders. It feels like an aural exciter, but works only on the upper end of the frequency response. You may feel that you can achieve the same effect with EQ’ing but trust me you won’t. It is about commitment with this one. SOUND QUALITY Even when you pair this amp with a cheap mic, it’ll give that warmth and that extra percent that is hard to put a finger on. Really I have nothing to say but good things about it. Obviously you have to consider that this is a tube preamp, so it will color your sound substantially. Now, one thing that really blew me away was when I ran a full mix through it. For lack of a better word, the sound just became real. And when pushed, it rounded the transients kind of like the effect of a tape machine. OVERALL OPINION It may seem complicated to work with, but believe me it is not. Plug in your favorite mic and there’s no way you’re going to make it sound bad going through this preamp. You will have instead, colors and colors to choose from. Pros: - Great tube warmth - Great construction - Stepped knobs - Stereo Mode and Mid/Side Matrix Cons: - I really had to look into for this one but you may have to calibrate your VU meter needle from time to time. But this could be even considered normal.

the a.r.t. sla1 in a nutshell is "thinnish, but incredibly articulate with exceptional separation between channels!" when pushing 90 db spl sensitivity drivers that meter out @ 6.7 ohms (not 8 like posted), the 100 watts rms per side easily created deafeningly loud audio, and the amp doesn't appear to break up before my ears tap out. the most noticeable improvement was in the stereo sound field both "widening" as well as an apparent "more accurate stage placement," meaning the instruments/voices sit in the pan stage where i put them on the dial, and LCR mixing just sounds terribly lacking now. my ONLY complaint about this amp is a VERY QUIET buzz that exists even when inputs are disconnected, and ground lift makes no difference. this buzz is consistently ~ -100 db @ 1 meter, regardless of front volume pot settings, and does not increase with current push. it is only noticeable in a quiet treated studio when there is NO other noise. the cat meowing drowns out the buzz.... despite the buzz and thinnishness, i still call this a 5 star amp, because it sounds better (read as more transparent with better staging) than power amps twice the price. i am so happy with this unit, that i will be BORROWING a bryston 4b pro off a friend to verify that the extra $800 (used in CDN funds) has enough merit to validate the upgrade. there is OCD, and then there is PRO-CD; below are my attempts to be pro-cd with backstory and testing: i bought the a.r.t. sla1 as a temporary amp until i can afford either a bryston 4b pro or the avantone cla-100. i have a small home recording studio with the following signal chain: win 7 pc (i have lots of legacy firewire hardware that is incompatible with win10) echo audiofire 12 sound interface (on par with rme fireface for d/a & a/d conversions) audient nero monitor controller (passes null tests down to about -105dbFS, INCREDIBLY transparent) a.r.t. sla1 power amp for monitor set 1 cla-10 mid-hi's (avantone's replica of the infamous yamaha ns-10's) running full range (passive crossovers) twin polk audio 10" powered subwoofers toggled to check subsonic frequencies. i have done quite a bit of room measurement and treatment using s.m.a.a.r.t. v7 and a rta-420 calibration mic. there is still work to be done, but i've got main reflection points, ceiling cloud, and rear deflection/diffusion handled fairly well with a mixture of roxul afb and fabric. in a nutshell, i've got my playback room to the point where the only real issues are a dominant bass node @ ~47 hz and a secondary @ ~70 hz - both of which go away with subwoofers off. for sake of comparison, i'll be comparing it to the denon avr-788 in "direct" mode (no eq or processing), the rotel ra-810A (flat eq), and the crown xls 602. i tried to find a frequency response chart of this unit but failed - just going by ear i would GUESS that there is a -1 or -2 dip between 80 & 250 hz, and then it would be above unity by a db or two from 1khz to 5khz, then the top seems a tiny bit diminished as well, but this is all speculative! as anyone who travels down the audio fidelity road knows, this is a game of diminishing returns, and the returns on high investments are NOT linear, they degrade logarithmically, so i can say with confidence that anyone who wants great fidelity will not be disappointed with this unit! below are the direct comparisons between various amps i own: when compared to the denon avr-788 (home theater amp), it was improvements in all fields (using pre-amp in's, bypassing denon's pre amp phase), but when using the denon with the on board pre amp (in direct mode) i found the denon to be a bit fuller in the low mid range. but very "flat" sounding compared to the improved staging and brighter upper midrange. when compared to the rotel, the "colouring" of the rotel has never been more apparent! to be fair, i was unable to bypass the pre-amp/eq stage on the rotel, so for this i compared apples to fruit trucks. the rotel dramatically "smooths" out the top end, boosts the lower mids, and has a bit less staging. this comparison really doesn't count because the two amps are engineered for totally different tasks - the art sla1 is meant to stay out of the way, whereas the rotel is very opinionated about how sound should sound. the rotel is more "pleasant" to listen to for it's "hifi" eq stance, but is TERRIBLE for critical audio work. the rotel sounds amazing with my b&w 601's as it "fixes" the deficiencies of that speaker, but the sla1 just makes the b&w's sound "boner tone." (the b&w 601 s2's ARE boner tone speakers, ie: deficient bass & mid bass, exaggerated top end.) finally the most fair comparison was between the sla1 and crowns xls 602: even though the sla1 is about 1/4 of the power output of the 602, both amps could reach deafening levels in my room. i incorrectly assumed that the larger headroom of the crest meant that it would sound better at high volumes. the opposite was true! the crown had quite a bit of staging issues, ESPECIALLY at higher volumes. the sla1 was WAY more linear in its staging throughout all volumes. at matched volumes (roughly) the sla had better stereo separation, and much "faster" response in the higher frequencies (quite noticeable in ride bells and hi hats). the crown DID fill in the lower mid bass area better but at higher volumes an apparent loudness curve in the crown really kicks in and the bottom end becomes "murky and saturated." the sla1, while i complained about the "thinnishness" earlier, definitely retained that characteristic through the different output volumes. in conclusion (if you made it this far), the a.r.t. sla1 was a temporary purchase that MAY just be my final amp, at the VERY least, it is a wildly overqualified unit for my 2nd monitor chain. what started out as a short term placeholder amp will now HAVE to be a/b tested against its more expensive cousins before i can justify the expense! i've attached a photo of my setup taken right before i bought the sla1.

For the money this tube does a pretty good job. I tell my students that want a tube preamp for their home studio www.comia.us that this is a great way to learn the art of tube pre amps. The sound is colored but in a pretty good way. Trust me I use top of the line pre amps all day but this unit for a desktop unit is very good. In the old days of recording we use to "ride the input" meaning controlling the signal as it is being recorded. This unit is great in that it sits on the desk and it so reasonable it really does the trick and it can take a hit. There are settings that are all over the internet that a lot of guys share or post but there is really not much to the unit. It has a simple design to it. I recommend this unit for my beginning students that are not aware of any uses for tube or that may over do it and not recognize the sound of a tube pre amp. Most younger guys have never use a tube at any time in their lives unless they play guitar and know the difference. Most can't even hear what tube can do for the sound. Sometimes I get a bit of a buzz from the stock tube but it goes away. It is not to noisy for the money but it does have a bit of noise. Always watch the way you use this tube pre amp. If you are slamming the tube you will hear everything including the noise but if you just use it in moderation it will bode well for you. Don't try to saturate the unit with really hot levels of inputs. UTILIZATION Very easy to use and not hard at all to get use to. Great sound for the money. I like it for simple vocal tracks and it is a good starting point for people that do not know how to use pre amps with tubes. It is extremely simple to set up and use. I do like the table top aspect of the unit. I like the fact that you can use it and ride your input stage right by your right hand. I ride the input all the time when recording vocalists and I wish more tube pre amps and or pre amps that other companies would make table top units. As engineers having the input gain right at your finger tips is a real plus when I record vocalists. SOUND QUALITY Colored sounding but not in a bad way very decent and the tube is fine. Don't waste money switching it out. The sound is somewhat like a gritty tone that is not real high quality but in no way does it sound bad. It is like the blue tube or the old blue tube presounus tube amp pre amps that you could get for about 150.00. OVERALL OPINION For the price I would really consider this unit. It gives you a tube sound for a very low price. You can't beat it. Again for the price what is out there that can even compare. I saw a review where they were saying the MPA II was ten times better but I have them and they are not 10 times better than this pre amp. I would say the main difference is the gain input stage and in some ways this unit is very much like the MPA.

It has balanced 1/4" and XLR inputs and sounds great for the money. I have used it in my studio www.chrislieckstudios.com daily for a year. Sounds great and don't waste money putting any new tubes it. Simple controls on the front, look at the photo I have attached. Pretty self explanatory if you know compression. If you are looking for a great compressor for a great great price then this unit might really serve your needs. I think that it is a great compressor. The tubes sound fantastic and although it is a bit noisy on the output stage and at times it can be a bit erratic in that it makes some very strange sounds that I cannot describe but that is not constant and that could be just a bad tube but it does not stop me from recommending it nor does it stop me from using it. I like this unit a great deal. There is massive headroom on the input stage and the compression is really nice. The sound is really nice and the compression sounds really good. For really heavy hitting instrumentation it is a bit colored like kick drums. I first tried this on a room mic on the kick drum and it was a bit to colored but on vocals it shinned. I was pleasantly surprised that it sounded so good right out of the box. I was not expecting it to be so solid. The construction is very solid and the unit much to my surprise was very well made. The body is full metal and the knobs are metal as well. The large VU meters are great and remind me of an older unit. ART did a great job designing this unit. Most compressors in this price range don't even come close to the sturdy construction of this unit nor do they come close to the sound of this unit. I will say that there is a bit of coloring but only on extreme inputs of heavy levels and even then the sound is very clean and authentic. UTILIZATION Very easy to use and very nice looking and is an A Class pre amp. I use it on vocals and overhead drum mics. That is the best uses for me personally. The set up is really easy and most beginners will love this compressor in that it is simple to use and the sound is not like a DBX sound or even like a real over compressed cheap compressor. The compression is not that noticeable and is very smooth for a unit costing only this much. SOUND QUALITY I use it on vocals and overhead drum mics. That is the best uses for me personally. Does not color the sound on vocals which is surprising for a pre amp at the 250.00 range. I got mine on EBAY. Great deal, Great Pre. OVERALL OPINION I like it and would recommend it for anyone that wants a compressor under $300 then this is the best one out there. I like the construction and the large VU meters and the sound. I tried a great deal of these out and this one by far has the best all around sound for the money. We use it on vocals and overhead mics and it really shines.

The Art Pro VLA II is affordable and delivers great compression and leveling. It is a rackable unit that will take 2 rack spaces. It has 2 XLR inputs and 2 XLR outputs. There are input threshold, attack, ratio, release, and output controls on it. This 2 channel rack has a great sound and has worked its way into a main part of my studio. Being that the price was only 300 dollars I had major concerns because I was not sure if it was just going to be a piece of “budget” gear that would sound decent or if it could really work for me. So I decided to purchase it knowing that I could return it within 30 days if I didn’t like it. Immediately I fell in love with it. It is very easy to use and it does a great job of showing the input, outputs, reduction and gains so I can level both sides out easily. UTILIZATION I have only used this in the studio which is where I feel most comfortable with it at, but I have talked to other users that love using it live. Being that we don’t perform live a lot there really is not a need to take it live. But while in the studio there is not 1 negative thing that I can say about it, it has never gave me a single issue! SOUND QUALITY This rack makes many of our instruments and tracks sound rich and full with minimum effort. I have used it with Bass (electric) a lot and that is probably my favorite way to use it. OVERALL OPINION The VLA II's sound is just incredible and at this price I do not know why people pass on this or say that it is not very good but it is “cheap”. This unit is very clean and I recommend it to anyone with a studio.

The Art Voice Channel is an all-in-one channel strip and interface, with a built in microphone preamp, equalizer, and preamplifier. In terms of connections, it has an XLR/1/4" input on the front, as well as both 1/4" and XLR connections in the back. It also has ADAT, word clock, and a USB output to send it to your computer. It is rackable, as will take up two rack spaces in a traditional rack mount. UTILIZATION While there is definitely a lot of parameters and features to work with on the Art Voice Channel, after breaking down the unit a little bit I think you'll see that everything is pretty straight forward and that there isn't anything too out of the ordinary here. The mic pre has gain and impedance knobs as well as phantom power, a pad, invert (phase), and a lot cut option. The compressor has parameters for threshold, ratio, attack, and release, as well as de-esser with parameters for de-essing frequency and gain. There is also a gating feature available. The equalizer is made up of four bands, with the mid bands having both frequency and gain parameters, and the high and low just having gain. Lastly, there is an option for sample rate and an overall output leveler. As you can tell, there is a lot going on, so if you feel like you might need some assistance, the manual is probably a good thing to have around. SOUND QUALITY While the Art Voice Channel doesn't boast the most impressive tones available, it definitely makes up for this in versatility. While it is called a 'voice' channel, this most certainly can be used in a variety of situations as I have used it for both electric guitar and bass guitar in addition to vocals. Since it is tube based it does have a good amount of warmth, but isn't the cleanest sounding unit in general as it goes with thickness over clarity. Don't be fooled by the title though, this is an extremely versatile piece of gear... OVERALL OPINION Considering the price, the Art Voice Channel is definitely made for home studio owners more than anyone else, as it is a great deal. Having all sorts of signal processing in a single unit at this price is really a great thing for home studio owners, but the sound quality isn't up to par for professionals. Having said this, if you're a home studio owner looking for a versatile channel strip that will give you some outside of the box warmth on a number of different fronts, definitely scope out the Art Voice Channel.

This is an analog, tube based preamp. There are a pair of 1/4" input/outputs and a pair of XLR input/outputs. The are no traditional effects. I guess you can say that the Phase correction is an effect. This comes in handy when setting up your mic correctly. Yes, it is rackable. Thats what its designed for. UTILIZATION This is all analog with all the parameters that you can edit on the face, so yeah, its very easy tweaking the sound. The setup/configuration is fairly simple. I had not had much experience with tube preamps before, but the manual is actually quite helpful in guiding you. After I read it, I felt pretty confident on this guy and was able to get some really good sounds out of it. SOUND QUALITY Yes, it is transparent if thats what you are setting up to be. It also colors the sound and warms it up a bunch if you set up to do so also. The quality of the "Tube" sound (if thats what you are going for) is highly dependent on the quality of the tubes you put in it. It comes with a pair of cheap chinese tubes (i forget what brand) originally. I got online and bought a nice pair of Gold plated Tung sols and it made a world of difference. Very warm sound now and much more transparent than the original tubes. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about this unit is the very good quality sound you can get out of it with the Right tubes. Even with the right tubes, this thing didn't cost me more than $400. Thats not bad for a quality preamp. What I didn't like...? Nothing really. When I got mine in the mail, one of the VU meter's Lights wasn't working. I called ART and they express mailed two new ones to me, free of charge and explained how to change it myself (they did say I could return it or have it serviced, but doing it myself was the quickest and easiest way). All good stuff to me. I was shopping around for a Tube preamp for awhile on a budget, and this was by far the best I could find for the price. The precision and quality of the sound is quite good for how much I spent on it. I used a really nice Avalon preamp in a studio a few years back. It was amazing, the sound was fantastic. I would have definitely bought an Avalon if I could afford it, but they are $2000 minimum. Other than that, I only read reviews to figure out which preamp to buy. I am happy to say that the ART Mpa is a pretty solid machine and I wasn't disappointed at all. Yes, I would make the same choice being as it is that I can't afford an Avalon yet.

This is what you might call the hot-rodded version of ART's famed, low-priced tube preamps. The hot-rodding here has to do with variable voicings, which means that you can change the way the tube affects the signal. I'm not sure exactly how they do this, whether they do it by modifying the signal itself with capacitors or by modifying the plate voltage in the tube or some other way, but it basically gives you a bunch of slightly-different midrange peaks to choose from. These are all labeled things like "bass" and "guitar," but I usually just turn the knob around until I find one that sounds good for the signal I'm recording, and ignore the labels. It's also got all the usual stuff for a preamp: phantom power on and off, boost, input level, output level, phase reverse. It has a cool analog output meter, though the input meter is just an led that turns green for signal and red for clip. It's powered by a wall wart. There is no on off switch, so when you want it off you just unplug it. UTILIZATION This is one of those somewhat-controversial "starved plate" designs. This means it's not what is traditionally meant by a tube preamp, even though it does have a tube in it and it delivers what many would call authentic tube sound. Basically it's a solid state preamp which also runs signal through a tube. The way I understand it (I'm no expert) the voltage on the tube is lowered to make the tube work harder in passing the little bit of signal it's given. This imparts a little bit of tube warmth and distortion, like a traditional tube preamp being driven really hard. In a traditional tube preamp you have lots of tubes and input and output transformers. This sounds a lot better, but can cost literally a hundred times what the V3 costs ($4000 rather than $40). SOUND QUALITY Many people don't like the whole "starved plate" thing because it imparts a kind of exaggerated tube sound. This can be good for some kinds of music and some kinds of signals, but not for all. It sounds terrible, to me, on the sound of a miced tube amp, because that sound is already plenty tube-y. It sounds pretty good on bass guitar when you're going direct, but less so on a miced bass amp. It sounds *awesome* on vocals. The starved plate design can generate a lot of noise, so you don't want to use this on every track of an 8 or 16 track project, the cumulative effect would be really buzzy/hummy. I've had great luck using solid state pres on most things on a song and using this just on the vocals, though. It gives the vocals a nice faux-60s sound which, because you're using it only on the voice and not on the instruments, never becomes a sad parody of itself. OVERALL OPINION The bottom line is: This is a great tool to have. Only use it on one (or at most two) tracks on a given song. It sounds best on vocals, especially with a large-diaphragm condenser. Don't use it on anything you want to be really clean, or anything that is already being tube amplified (i.e. electric guitar). It tends to make acoustic guitar sound really unnatural, but not unpleasant. People who complain about this thing are usual mad because either 1) they think it should sound like a $2000 "real" tube pre, or 2) they are using it on everything and don't like the amount of noise this generates. Use it once in a while on something you want to have a distinctly and unnaturally warm tone and you'll be happy with it.

Excellent DI / Mic pre, with dial in valve warmth/saturation. Great for Re-amping techniques and Di signal from Bass / guitar, or providing phantom power. Ground lift, 20db pad, phase reverse switches. jack i/o, xlr i/o, simultainiously. 12AX7 tube dialed in via a pot. Good gain structure with extra 20db present if needed. However supplying the phantom power from a desk is a more stable alternative to battery power. The powersupply wallwart handles phantom requirements adequately if no mixer connected. Low self-noise and a set-and-forget item. excellent. Often use as Bass Di for added harmonics, boosting hi-mid presence whilst allowing all the bass through. Incredible for it's price, about 45€. Recommended as a cheap capable mic pre .

The Art SplitComPro is a small box, designed to both split and combine microphone signals passively. It has two inputs, two outputs, and two control switches. It has rubber feet that come up on the sides of the box, making it very sturdy and stable when placed on the floor or on a table. The rubber feet also isolate the metal box from the ground or any metal beneath the box, which is convenient. The two inputs on the Art SplitComPro are: Main mic input, and Isolated mic input (combined). The isolated input is used to combine a secondary mic signal with the main signal. There are also two switches on the box: a ground/lift switch, and a phase inverting switch. The phase switch inverts the isolated inputs and outputs, relative to the main input and output. The ground/lift switch has the ability to float the isolated input and output's ground; it has no affect in the main input and output. And finally, the two outputs on the device are: Main mic output, and Isolated mic output (splitter). Here is where you can split the combined signals (or just main mic signal) into two paths. This is what I find the most useful feature of this box, and that is the main reason I purchased it. For live shows, I wanted to tap into my main microphone line without affecting the signal feed to the house, so I could use that extra microphone signal for a headphone amp. And this box works great at doing that. It is solid, professional, and it will passively and discreetly function without affecting the main mic input and output. The Art SplitComPro can also handle phantom power correctly, but only through the main mic input and output. Overall, this is a simple, functional box that has it's uses, albeit a bit specific. Great multi-purpose tool that although I do not currently use, I keep around because it is always useful.

The Art PB 4x4 is an power conditioner for powering up the outboard gear in your home studio. Of course you can use it to power up whatever you'd like, but the fact that it sits in a single space rack mountable unit highly suggests that it's best place is sitting in your rack under all of your outboard gear and used for powering it all up. The unit has eight power outlets in the back of it. The nice thing about the Art PB 4x4 is that the outlets are far enough apart from each other where it's possible to fit power supplies that aren't of the standard IEC size. This probably isn't going to be a problem most of the time, but it's definitely something that I've run into before when I used to own a Furman power conditioner of the same ilk. This is definitely a lot more sturdy than it's Furman counterpart as well and seems like a more long lasting unit. It also helps that the PB 4x4 has a surge and spike protector system built in, saving your gear from potentially harmful voltage if something jumps up. You'll see this kind of thing in the Monster power conditioners but definitely not usually in something like this where it's so cheap. You can definitely find yourself a cheaper power conditioner like the aforementioned Furman, but I think that the Art PB 4x4 is worth just a small amount more in the long run. It's nothing fancy but it has everything you want and need in a power conditioner for a reasonable price. One day when I get a ton of outboard gear for my home studio I'll definitely pick up a few of these. Get a few Art PB 4x4's and you won't have to worry about a power source for a good long while...