Whirlwind

The Whirlwind IMP2 is a direct box that has an XLR output and a ground lift switch. The Whirlwind IMP2 is very portable and small, it can fit in the small pocket of a gig bag. It sounds really clear and can take your sound to new levels. The Whirlwind IMP2 is built to last because it is made out of metal and the text on it is a really light blue color that is almost neon so you can read it easily if you are in a dark setting. UTILIZATION There is no set up process involved with the Whirlwind IMP2; it was one of the easiest pieces of gear that I have ever used. It only cost 50 bucks and it is used to take your instrument line in and make it a low impedance balances signal. Any musician or DJ that gigs must have one of these handy because you will never know when you need it. It is a great addition to have to your sound setup especially in a live setting. It works great and has never given us any issues at the club. SOUND QUALITY The sound is clear, bright and clean. OVERALL OPINION I wish I would have got this when it first came out. I have only been using it since March of this year. I do not use it a lot because a lot of times I just don’t need it. But when I do need it, it is always there and it works great. The Whirlwind IMP2 only has 1 channel and 1 ¼ input; also 1 XLR output and 1 ¼ thru output. There are other models that have more inputs and outputs but I just needed something small. Whirlwind makes a few of these styles of boxes in all price ranges. But the Whirlwind IMP2 is the best one you can get for the money and the quality.

The Whirlwind A/B Box is a two way selector in the form of a foot pedal.<span> </span>It simply allows you to send your signal to two separate locations, with the ability to either choose one or the other, or have both on the same time.<span> </span>I’ve used this pedal with an electric guitar and two different amplifiers, which is probably what most people will use this for.<span> </span>However, it can be used for any configuration of your choosing, as there are a number of different ways that I can see this being useful.<span> </span>You can also use it in reverse if you want to send two different signals to one place I believe, but I’ve never used it for this purpose.<span> </span>As far as connections go, you’ve only got ¼ inch connections.<span> </span>There are two for A and B, and an I/O port as well.<span> </span>The box has two foot switches – one to choose between A and B, and one for having both at the same time.<span> </span>It can be powered by a standard nine volt power supply.<span> </span>I don’t find that using the unit is hard at all, and I can’t imagine that anyone would since it is such a basic piece of equipment.<span> </span>I’ve never had a desire to seek out a manual, and really don’t think that anyone will be needing one anyway.<span> </span>This won’t color your sound at all, and doesn’t make any sound on its own.<span> </span>I didn’t have a problem with noise or anything like that either.<span> </span>The price of the unit is about right for something of this type, and really won’t cost you all too much money at all.<span> </span>If you’ve got multiple amps or multiple signals, and want to send one signal to them, this is a reasonably priced A/B box that is worth a look into.

The Whirlwind EDB1 is a single-channel, passive direct box, capable of converting a high impedance, unbalanced signal from a 1/4" connection into a low impedance, balanced signal through an xlr connection, which is commonly used with microphones. The EDB1 also has a pad switch, which can lower the output signal by -20 db and -40 db. This is useful for hot input signals, such as headphone connections, but I find the pad to be too extreme, and I would love to have a -10 db option. Also, the pad switch is a little hard to see, and it is easy to accidentally toggle it during a live show setup, which can cause problems with the house receiving a lower than expected signal level. This passive direct box, like most, also contains a ground/lift switch that can help eliminate feedback hum. All of these features are pretty standard on a passive direct box, but the Whirlwind is an industry standard, and it is very rugged and does it's job. The box that I own is very worn, but it if hefty, and feels very solid. The sound quality is absolutely perfect, there are no artifacts, no hissing, no additional noise, and no loss of clarity. However, I have had a few problems getting the direct box to work on stage. Twice, I tried using the Whirlwind EDB1 for a quick live show setup, only to find out the box did not seem to work. I was unable to recreate the problem, and I suspect it might've just been a bad cable or an unplugged connection. Overall, if you need a basic direct box (who doesn't?), and you can find this item cheap, it is worth purchasing. I may have had some odd problems with this box, but I suspect my problems stem from other factors.

The Whirlwind MIC-25 is a 25 foot mono microphone cable for uses of all purposes. I've only used a few of these cables in the recording studio, but of course it's suitable for being used in any environment where you need an XLR cable. The professional studio that I work at has a few of these cables, as well as some that are ten feet in length instead of 25 of the same variety. While these are pretty decent cables, they're nothing to really write home about. They'll do a fine job for basic purposes when you need a ton of XLR cables at once, but I certainly wouldn't single it out if I was just using one or two mic cables. Obviously, being that the mic cable is 25 feet in length, it's going to be pretty versatile and should be able to reach most places in your studio. The quality of the mic cable overall isn't great, but when compared with most decent cables out there it's going to be right in line and I don't believe you're going to see much of a difference. You're only going to see a difference when you compare this one to really high end cables and those are going to cost you a good amount more than this one will. You get what you get with the Whirlwind MIC-25 and that's a decent mic cable that will get the job more times than not. It's not incredible but any stretch, but unless you have a really bad or really good cable, it's going to be hard to tell the difference between them most of the time anyway. At least with the MIC-25 you're getting something on the cheap that should last at least a decent amount of time for you without breaking...

This is a compression pedal made by Whirlwind, which is a company that makes some of the original MXR products, but has updated them for the new millenium. This compressor is one of the nicer guitar compressors I've played. It has a really sweet tone and is easy to use, as well as being true bypass. It has 1/4" input and output, an adapter for a 9V power supply (could also use a 9v battery), and it has an LED switch to indicate when it's on or off. UTILIZATION This pedal couldn't be much easier to use. It has two knobs, output and sensitivity. Sensitivity is more or less the same as threshold on most compressors. While it certainly doesn't have the extended features that most newer compressors do (attack and release are quite noticeably missing) it tends to make up for it in tone. Besides, this is just for guitars, and isn't really meant to be used in the studio as there are plenty of other compressors that would work better in that capacity. That is where the need for such extended parameters really lies. SOUND QUALITY I love the sound of this pedal with my Strat and Tele, as it doesn't rob them of the crisp clean tone I achieve with them. On the contrary, it is actually incredibly close to the same tone. While I do like some of the other compressors that I've used, I've noticed that many of them really squash my tone when it comes down to getting a nice clean tone. This is why I rarely if ever use a compressor on clean tones to play rhythm, I would much rather use it on leads. Hence my love of this pedal, as all my leads come out crystal clear, bright and bouncy, just like they do without the pedal, but louder and more consistent in volume. For solos, with even a light distortion, I get a great sustain when I need it. This is simply the most transparent compressor I've played for guitar. OVERALL OPINION I really like this compressor a lot. I will certainly be looking into more Whirlwind products in the future. I feel as though this was a pleasant surprise, and at such a good price, I feel like it'll be a great purchase for anybody. It has such a smooth tone and a transparency to it, that I think it will appeal to a lot of people. This is a highly awesome pedal that I think deserves a bigger name than it has!

Whirlwind's Leader Instrument Cable is a standard 1/4" cable that can be used in any situation desirable. I've used these in the recording studio, as we've got two or three of them on hand at the studio where I'm working. While these definitely aren't the first instrument cables off the shelf, they still do see a good amount of action on a day to day basis. The cables that we have I believe are somewhere between 12 and 15 feet, but I think that they come in a few different lengths. The ends of the cables are pretty secure, but these aren't gold tipped cables or anything like that. I like the way they are closed in as it doesn't allow any room for accidentally twisting the end. While they probably make for gigging cables best since they aren't the best overall cables, they'll still definitely get the job done in the recording studio. If I were going to buy some new cables I probably wouldn't think to get these first, but they're definitely good enough and cheap enough that they make for a good deal. I have mostly Planet Waves cables at home, and we use Monster instrument cables at the studio primarily before we go to these cables. So while the Whirlwind Leader Instrument Cable isn't on par with some of the better made cables out there, it's still very solid in it's own right and should last a pretty long time if you treat it properly. It isn't expensive at all as it's priced right for a cable of this caliber being that it's somewhere in between a great cable and a decent one. If you are looking to pick up a couple of mid sized instrument cables at a cheap price, the Whirlwind Leader cables are definitely the worth taking the time to check out.

The Whirlwind MultiDirector is a simple four channel passive direct input box. Each of the four channels has a 1/4" input/output and an XLR output. Each also has a pad and a ground lift switch. The whole unit will fit in a single space on a traditional rack casing, which is pretty impressive considering there are four DI boxes in here. UTILIZATION Setting up and using direct input boxes in general is very simple, and the Whirlwind MultiDirector is no exception. There isn't anything complicated about it at all as everything is self explanatory. Even if you don't have much experience in the studio, this is about as simple as a piece of gear can be, so I don't believe that manual is necessary. SOUND QUALITY In my use of the Whirlwind MultiDirector, I've found it to do nothing but give a faithful reproduction of what I send into it. I've used it a couple of times for a few different applications including electric guitar, bass guitar, and keyboard. For all three applications I was very pleased with the results, as I don't think that I could have asked for too much more. This is really as good sounding as most of the other DI boxes that I've used. OVERALL OPINION I really have no complaints about the Whirlwind MultiDirector. For those who are doing large sessions where you'd need four DI boxes at once, this is really the perfect unit. I've used other DI boxes with more features for sure, but this isn't a bother here considering that you're getting four of them in one unit. I don't think that I've ever used all four of these in one session, but I've used at least three of them at once and I know that the studio where I used it does end up using all four often. The price is very reasonable, especially when you break it down to price per DI. If you need four DI boxes, there's no reason to buy them individually when you can get the MultiDirector for a fraction of the price.