Soldano X88-IR Preamp

La mia recensione riguarda l'utilizzo del preamplificatore in un contesto dove collegato (alla vecchia maniera) direttamente a un finale di potenza stereofonico (VHT) e non utilizzando la IR.
La macchina è splendida, bellissimi suoni di stampo Fender sui puliti mentre la parte distorti non ha bisogno di commenti… Ha fatto la storia!
Il suono mio parere è ulteriormente migliorato rispetto alla prima versione degli anni 90 e l'avere due canali identici da poter configurare a piacimento la trovo davvero una genialata!!
Complimenti a Michel J Soldano, a mio parere ha fatto un capolavoro!
Le uniche pecche che sottolineo sono l'impossibilità di comandare via MIDI gli switch bright e fat, peccato!
Il raggiungimento del paradiso lo si avrebbe avuto con la motorizzazione dei potenziometri ma mi rendo conto dell'aumento del costo e della difficoltà di gestione del post vendita.
Se ne avete la possibilità, consiglio l'acquisto a mani basse!!

I recently purchased this legendary preamp and wanted to share my review.

First of all, Soldano should have prepared a better product lunch for this. We started seeing paid promotions online from the best YouTube review channels out there, however, it wasn't in stock for a long time.

It's still not in stock constantly and you have to wait for the revised supply date constantly (this is absolutely not Thomann's fault).

Also, the price tag is too aggressive in my opinion. It's one of its kind and I'm so happy to see a legendary guitar amp manufacturer finally come up with a tube amp featuring an integrated IR and power amp simulation in the same unit. This should be the standard for every big amp brand.

I would expect at least a simple 3-way footswitch with a standard TRS jack included in this price tag.

The packaging is pretty solid, however, I detected some QC issues. All the knob positions were all around the place and it gave me the impression someone just quickly tested this and packed it urgently.

I also noticed some stains on the front panel which can be easily wiped off. I was ok with this mediocre first impression of an almost 3K preamp.

But then I realised the top right screw slot had a minor anomaly. You could see a tiny bit of chrome colour underneath. It was eye-catching because of the super sweet purple front panel.

I was still OK as it was a very small cosmetic issue. However, as soon as I grabbed the unit, I felt the bottom chassis was bouncing very easily (just by lightly pressing with a single finger, it was moving a couple of millimetres and when you released the pressure it'd fall back and this was visible. That's why I tested this and immediately started an RMA with Thomann).

I contacted Thomann and in parallel Soldano as well. Soldano acknowledged this and said these were not acceptable so I returned it back to Thomann.

Soundwise, it is an excellent-sounding unit. Clean channel with Altered mode and Normal mode is so sweet. It plays and feels like a classic Fender clean.

2nd and 3rd channels are identical and offer crunch and overdrive modes. Both are very good, the EQ section is very musical. No harsh frequencies and feels great under the fingers.

It immediately projects through my Genelec monitors and fills the room easily. I enjoyed it so much.

However, I'm not sure if I get the replacement one. I can't justify this price tag. But it definitely sounds so good and sweet.

In my opinion, there's so much gain on tap. I usually don't just rely on preamp gain but like to boost the preamp signal with classic boost pedals such as SD-1 or Tube Screamer. It works just as expected with this preamp too.

With a simple pedal board and preamp, you can have a lot of sounds in your arsenal, ready to be directly recorded.

As I mentioned, I think all the big amp brands should do the same. ENGL, Marshall, Boogie...etc, please just use this template and give us your preamp circuits with integrated IR and power amp simulation. :)

Edit: I couldn't resist and justified this lovely unit again. This time, main out and FX return jacks and bolts were in the plastic packaging, roaming free.

Not sure if Thomann allows, but see the unboxing video here
that they have started painting the top right screw place holder with purple-ish paint.

Endlich ist die Neuauflage des "legendären" X88 wieder da, nur besser. 3 Kanäle, jeder Kanal mit Bright Switches und Fat/Altered Modi, IR mit Powerampsimulation (die wirklich gut ist) sowie der von B.A.D. (Soldano, Friedman, Synergy, . . .) bekannten Software (wer einen IR-X probiert hat, dem fällt die Verwandtschaft auf). Natürlich kann man die exzellenten Möglichkeiten der Direktaufnahme (via XLR ins Pult) auch "klassisch" verwenden (Klinkenausgänge ohne IR etc) und ne Endstufe oder den Return eines Röhrenamps befeuern. Kopfhörerausgang (IR) inklusive. Midi selbstverständlich (für grundlegende Kanalumschaltung). Stereoreturns/Monosend (= Loop) gibts auch . . .
Wie klingt er denn nun? Lead wie ein SLO (plus zus. "fat" Möglichkeiten), Crunch ist in "normalen" Potieinstellungen (6-7 beim Gain) deutlich verzerrintensiver als ein SLO (plus "fat" Möglichkeit und clean? Da tut sich eine ganz andere Welt auf (anders als im Ur-X88, wo der clean Kanal analog SLO ein "runtergeregelter" Crunch war - ich meine damit die Schaltung, nicht den Klang) . . . Fender lässt grüßen. Ein klassischer Fenderkanalzug ist drin und liefert blackfaceartige Resultate - oder auch deluxeartiges in der "altered" Stellung. Zudem können Kanal 2 und 3 entweder im Crunch oder Overdrivemodus betrieben werden. Also live 2 Leadkanäle oder zwei Crunchkanäle zu haben ist kein Problem.
Ich bin schlicht begeistert . . . Da ich 3 andere Soldanos besitze (Astro, SLO30, SLO100Mk2) konnte ich gut vergleichen (direkt wie auch im Loop des SLOs) und auch im "oldfashioned" Betrieb überzeugt.
Zwei Kleinigkeiten habe ich zu bemängeln: Der Crunchkanal hätte auch weniger Gain vertragen können (vermutlich bin ich schlicht zu alt) und die Eingangsbuchse für die Spannungsversorgung eines Midipedals (Phantompower) ist etwas zu lang geraten, so dass man mit Standard-9V Teilen a la Boss etwas frickeln muss, damit das Midipedal (Tech bei mir) mir Strom versorgt wird.
Fazit: Lange mussten Soldano Fans warten, viel Kohle muss über die Theke gehen - aber es lohnt sich. Mehr braucht man eigentlich nicht, zu Hause direkt oder live.