The design begins with a rugged extruded aluminum enclosure and steel slide-in inner tray with recessed zones at each end to protect the switches and connectors. At one end, left and right ¼” instrument input and thru-put are wired in parallel with a handy 3.5mm mini TRS for laptops and tablets. A mono sum switch enables the Concert-1 to take two inputs from the input and thru and mix them together, allowing two input signals to be summed mono to a mixer. A -15dB pad decreases input sensitivity for greater signal handling when interfacing line level sources. At the other end, a XLR male output with ground lift makes for easy connection. This is supplemented with a 180º polarity to help phase align the signal and reduce feedback caused by acoustic hot-spots on stage.

Inside, a high-performance Jensen JT-DB-EPC transformer provides galvanic isolation as it passively lowers the impedance and performs the balancing. A high 140 k? input impedance reduces loading, enabling low-output instruments such as a vintage Fender® bass to be connected without losing tone. As hi-Z instruments are particularly sensitive to noise, internal Faraday shielding protects against interference from RF. An external MuMETAL® can further protects the sensitive internal workings to ensure a quiet interference-free performance even when surrounded by magnetic fields from amplifiers, power supplies and stage light dimmers.

With over +22 dB of signal handling capacity, the Concert-1 direct box gracefully handles extreme signals such as those produced by digital pianos while producing a warm Bessel response that is often referred to as ‘vintage’ sounding. These features combine to make the Concert-1 the ideal choice for studio or live use.