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CONGRATULATIONS
on your purchase of the T-Rex Soulmate Acoustic and welcome to the manual!
The Soulmate Acoustic is an all-in-one preamp, effects unit, looper and D.I. box.
It´s meant to give you all the needed tools for "plugged in" playing:
•
Impedance switchable FET input buffer/preamp
•
High speed, high precision tuner with tuning pitch (435-445Hz)
•
Stereo multi-effect core with compressor, EQ, modulation, delay, reverb and auto-
matic feedback kill
•
5,8 min. looper with infinite layering
•
Unbalanced (1/4" jacks) and balanced (XLR) outputs for connecting to mixers,
amplifiers, audio interfaces, etc.
The Soulmate Acoustic can be used right off the bat, but there are a few things you
should know, in order to get the most out of it. This manual will go through each "sec-
tion" of the unit from instrument input to the outputs (in the signal flow direction) so
please take a few minutes to get aquainted with the features it has to offer. We will
walk you through what everything does, why it does it and what you can do with it.
Then it´s up to you to decide where to set all those knobs and switches for best sound.
IMPORTANT: Adjusting the unit for proper signal levels, phase and impedance is the
first thing you should do, because acoustic instruments differ in tendency to feedback
(either when using monitors or amplifiers) and in output levels/impedance. Also, vari-
ous stage environments (you DO plan on playing for others, right?) can have a pro-
nounced effect on the sound of your instrument - sometimes an unwanted one, and
this can be avoided to a large degree by setting everything correctly.
INPUT STAGE
Input gain/peak led:
This analog stage sets the operating conditions for the Soulmate Acoustic. The signal
enters the unit, hits a FET-based buffer (it´s okay, don´t worry. It is just a vitamin pill
for the signal) and a volume control called "input gain". This should be set so that the
"peak led" on the front does not light up when you play. More importantly, it should
be set as high as possible without lighting up the led when you play.
Confusing? Relax.
Just play as loud as you expect to be playing and watch the led.When it lights up, back
the input gain down until the led no longer lights up.
Phase switch:
This one is a bit special, because it doesn´t really do anything, soundwise. Well, noth-
ing that we humans can hear anyway. It is, however, important to use this if you get
strange resonances and/or feedback when playing, because then you CAN hear what
it does. Consider it a band aid switch for those situations. Often, a loud feedback or
an unwanted "coloring" of the sound can be remedied by switching the phase of the
signal. This will be most prominent when using onstage monitors or amplifiers.
Impedance switch:
Various pickup systems, microphones and transducers need proper input impedance
to sound their best and the impedance switch lets you set this to the most ideal set-
ting for your needs.
We hate to dissapoint you again, but in most cases, this switch also does absolutely
nothing. At least not anything we humans can hear. The good part is that if you play
an instrument that is particularly picky about this "impedance" nonsense, you WILL
hear a difference when pushing it in/out. If you play an instrument that already has
an active preamp built in, chances are you will hear no difference. But some pickups
on the market will benefit from this, so just A/B it: If IN sounds better than OUT, guess
where you should set it?
TUNER
The integrated tuner is a high speed, high precision tuner that takes its signal right after
the input stage.
When turned ON, the output of the unit is muted, but the looper will still be able to play
back any material recorded (see "looper" section).
The display will read out the note name and whether it is flat (left led´s) or sharp (right
led´s). The small dot in the display indicates the "#" in the note names, like G#, F# or C#.
Tuner pitch:
In most cases, your instrument should be tuned to a pitch reference of 440Hz, but in
some ensembles, it is a bit lower or higher. For example, some classical orchestras tune
to a lower/higher reference pitch.
To change this reference pitch, first turn the tuner on. Then press the small red button on
the back panel called "tuner pitch". The led´s will blink to indicate that you are calibrating
the pitch reference, starting with the two green led´s in the middle.
With each press, the button will scroll in a left-to-right fashion through the available
frequencies. These are, from left to right: 435Hz, 436Hz, 437Hz, 438Hz, 439Hz, 440Hz
(green), 441Hz, 442Hz, 443Hz, 444Hz, 445Hz.
Once the correct led is blinking (like, say, the third led from the left indicating a reference
of 437Hz) stop pressing the button and wait for the led to stop blinking. The tuner is
then re-calibrated and will allow you to tune your instrument to a concert pitch of 437Hz
instead of 440Hz.
(The tuner pitch will be set to 440Hz every time the unit is powered up).
COMPRESSOR
This effect reduces loud peaks in your playing. The great by-product of this is, that the
sustain of the notes you play seem to improve. It is effective at making everything you
play more equal in volume – you know how strumming with a pick is much louder than
when you pick the string with your fingers? -That sort of thing.
The ratio (it´s just a tech word that is to a compressor what the Scoville scale is to chilies)
is relatively peaceful, so it doesn´t squash everything to pieces. It just evens things out
and gives what you play a more uniform loudness.
Turn up the "comp" knob for more compression. Compensate for the effect by turning
up the "level" knob, so that the output is the same as when the compressor is turned off.
MODULATION
The modulation effect is actually two effects, both aiming at creating width or move-
ment in the sound. The Rate knob adjusts how fast or slow the chorus modulates, but
at zero, the effect is morphed into a detuning effect. No, it doesn´t make your guitar
go out of tune. It creates a slight pitchshifting effect, which resembles two players
playing in unison. Some people describe this as a "chorus without movement", and
now we do too. It´s nice if you think chorus sounds too warbly. Use the depth knob
to increase or decrease both effects.
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