MI Audio 'Revelation' Valve Amp

[michael_ibrahim]

Hi guys,

Been keeping my head down for the last 6 months or so, working on our new Amp. In fact, I've been slowly developing the amp for the last few years in the background. but the last 6 months has been a pretty intense process for me, hence the delay in the release of some of our other pedals.

I'm really excited about the amp. I'm hoping to bring something a little different to the table. It's a 'boutique' amp (completely hand built in Sydney), but features quite a few things which are beyond 'boutique'.

It features:

valve amp with 2*EL34 power amp, and 4 *12ax7 preamp valves
4 completely independant channels, each with gain, bass, middle, treble and volume.
each channel is voiced differently, so there is no redundancy
each channel can run in low, mid or high gain. So you can (for example) set up 4 clean channels, or 4 high gain channels etc. There are no limitations on the configs.
dual master volumes
presence and depth controls for the power amp, with 3 levels of power amp feedback for different power amp responses
3 power levels (100%, 60% and 30%) as well as triode/pentode switching
4 series/parallel FX loops, each with independant send level, FX level switching (line/guitar) and FX mix.
MIDI switchable.We're very close to releasing the amp, and hope to have it out by January. We'll definitely be bringing the amp to NAMM. I'll try to post some pics when I get a chance (although we don't have faceplates as yet, so she's a bit naked), and hope to have a few video demos up by next week.

[Twin63]

Hey Michael - I've been checking your site almost everyday for developments - this is very exciting! Sounds like my idea of a "desert island" amp! Can't wait to see the demos.

BTW, congratulations on the other addition to the MI Audio family (Anastasia)!

[mr.mattphisto]

:worried

Wow....sounds like an amazing amp.

If the quality of the amp is like your pedals, this is going to be a sweet amp.

Looking forward to seeing more on this amp....as well as your new pedals too

[gkelm]

"Wow" is right, sounds cool, Michael.

[guitarist58]

Sounds very interesting! :)

[michael_ibrahim]

BTW, congratulations on the other addition to the MI Audio family (Anastasia)!

Thanks!

She's a joyous handful!

I'm taking the video camera in today and will have a go at filming a few demo clips of the naked amp.

[pgurlea]

Great news Michael. If this amp sounds as good as your pedals it will be a big hit. I sold about $1500 (used value) worth of high end overdrive pedals and now exclusively use your Blues Pro, Classic Distortion and Tube zone. Can’t wait to hear your new amp.
Best of Luck,
Paul

[bluesdoc]

I love flexibility! Footswitchability?? Any ball park price point, Michael??

jon

[BoyMambo]

Hey, Michael, thanks for letting me play with my own guitar yesterday, can I just say that the new amp all that a gigging guitarist will need. Love the tones, clean or dirty, excellent headroom and very usable switching. Nice.

:dude

PS: Like the little amp as well, great tones for the study!

[sethmeister]

I like the idea. Look forward to hearing more!

[fyrwyr]

Sounds very cool! It's funny to see a pedal maker come out with a tube amp, at the same time a tube amp builder (me) is getting ready to release our first pedal(s):crazy

Looking forward to clips:RoCkIn

[foomoola]

Hello Mike,

Just needed to hop on the band wagon ....Your Tube Zone is my go to pedal , replaced 3 "other" drive pedals ...If I need 1 pedal to grab to cover ANY style "the zone" is the one !!! Cant wait to hear and see this amp ....I will be holding my breath so hurry .....Thanks for the TONE ...Dave :munch

[michael_ibrahim]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the feedback.

Things are going slower than expected. We should have some photos and clips next week or the week after. The process of tweaking is never ending, but I'm really happy with the way it's turned out.

Price,... that's a tricky one. The Aussie dollar has gone through the roof in the last few months. When I started MI Audio just 5 years ago, the exchange rate was AU$1=US$0.55. At the begining of the year it was AU$1=US$0.75. It's currently AU$1=US$0.9, and economists are predicting that the Aussie dollar will overtake the US dollar. We know that the Australian price for the amp will be AU$3,500. I would love to see the price under US$3,000, but that's looking more and more unlikely. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Footswitchable? Yes. There are two ways to use the amp. You can use the standard 6 button FS (Channels 1-4, FX and Master), or a MIDI controller. The MIDI controller gives you a greater depth of editing options.

[michael_ibrahim]

Hi guys,

Some pics of #001.

http://www.miaudio.com/Images/Pc047720_2.jpg
http://www.miaudio.com/Images/Pc047725_2.jpg

[j_m_s]

looking good.

[Stressfest]

Damn, that looks sweet. Is there gonna be a cab to match? :AOK

[samtheman]

Hi guys,

Some pics of #001.

http://www.miaudio.com/Images/Pc047720_2.jpg
http://www.miaudio.com/Images/Pc047725_2.jpg

OH MY ..........:BOUNCE:BOUNCE:BOUNCE

[foomoola]

Hey Mike,

WOW , GREAT look ....As soon as you get some clips PLEASE share !!! I know it will sound good coming from you ...Now lets see I have 3 "other" amps already being built , and 1 guitar on the way ...Hmmmm , well whats 1 more amp ....Keep us in the loop when they are availible ...Thanks ..D.P. :D:D:D

[michael_ibrahim]

Just shipped off two half stack to NAMM, so we have some breathing space. We've also just booked in a few hours at a rehearsal studio tonight, so we'll get some samples done at last.

Here's a picture of the three of our amps.

http://www.miaudio.com/Images/Trio.jpg

The top one is done in Australian woods, and was custom built for us by an Australian cab maker:

www.mccustomcabinets.com (http://www.mccustomcabinets.com)

[theHoss]

Are you coming to NAMM? What booth will your amps be at?

[michael_ibrahim]

Yep, we're going to be there. We're booth 1278, Hall E. Yep, we have two amps going there, the one at the top and the one at the bottom of this photo, both with matching quads:

http://www.miaudio.com/Images/Trio.jpg

Finally got some (very rough) samples done last night.

We used our oversized quad with vintage 30's, and stereo miced it at about 50cm away to try to capture the sound of the amp. Of course, this didn't come out like actually standing in front of it, but it gives a very rough indication of what the amp sounds like.

All samples, except the last were recorded with a Jap Strat with tex specials in the neck and middle, with a SD mini JB humbucker in the bridge. All samples were played by Matt Brown, except for the last sample, which was played by Dave Bijlsma.

Unless noted, all samples were played with everything pretty much at 12 O'clock. The power amp was in 100% power, pentode. We had the power amp feedback set low, with the presence and depth set to about 20%. We actually didn't record very loud, because the dodgy mics I had overloaded really easily, so all 'tone' is preamp tone. For the high gain tones, the high gain trimmer control was set to its minimum (lowest gain setting), except (I think), for the last section of the sample recorded by Dave. I'm note sure where he had that set.

I've grouped the samples according to gain levels as opposed to channels. It's kinda fun to download them and arrange the samples according to channel to see how the tone of each channel changes as the gain mode is increased.

http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M1.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M1.mp3) - Channel 1, Low Gain: This is my favourite clean. It's very rich and 3D sounding.
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C2M1.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C2M1.mp3) - Channel 2, Low Gain: This is a more forward sounding clean, with a bit more bite to it.
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C3M1.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C3M1.mp3) - Channel 2, Low Gain: This is the thinnest clean sound on the amp, and is great for funk. It's also good to use when you have the power amp cooking for a tight crunch sound.
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C4M1.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C4M1.mp3) - Channel 4, Low Gain: This is the darkest clean, great for Jazz. We rolled off the tone on the guitar very slighly (about 7/10), to try to tame some of that Strat snap.

http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M2.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M2.mp3) - Channel 1, Mid Gain: You can hear how responsive this mode is. With low output pickups and light picking, it sounds like a fatter clean. But dig in, and it growls nicely
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C2M2.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C2M2.mp3) - Channel 2, Mid Gain: Great classic crunch sound. I kep this one a little bit loose (as you can hear on the palm muting), in order to keep this channel sounding a bit more 'vintage'
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C3M2.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C3M2.mp3) - Channel 3, Mid Gain: Very articulate crunch sound. The neck single coil sounds very rich and retains its character, while the bridge humbucker, it sounds really bitey (especially in real life)
I forgot to record a sample for Channel 4's Mid Gain http://www.guitargear.net.au/discussion/Smileys/default/doh.gif

http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M3.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M3.mp3) - Channel 1, High Gain: This is my favourite channel for blues lead. I love the way that the high strings and notes, really snap, while the lower notes get mushy.
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M3b.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M3b.mp3) - Channel 1, High Gain: This is another example of Channel 1's high gain sound. This time, instead of leaving the gain at 12 O'clock, we cranked it, to really push this channel. The low end is huge and all over the place (in a cool way!). This is due to the position of the tone stack (at the front of the preamp).
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M3c.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C1M3c.mp3) - Channel 1, High Gain: As above, but instead of leaving the EQ flat, we turned up the mids and highs to 75%, and the bass down to 25% to really tighted up the low end. We also increased the depth to 50% to compensate for the drop in the bass.
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C2M3.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C2M3.mp3) - Channel 2, High Gain: Not as 'vintage' sounding as the Mid gain mode of Channel 2, but you can still hear that it has a certain momentum to it.
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C3M3.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C3M3.mp3) - Channel 3, High Gain: My favourite high gain sound. VERY tight and articulate. The Mids are really out there, which some may find confronting, but which I love.
http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C4M3.mp3 (http://www.miaudio.com/Samples/Rev/C4M3.mp3) - Channel 4, High Gain: This sample was recorded by Dave, and I spliced a few pieces together. Unfortunately, there was other stuff which was really cool, but the A/D input of recorder saturated! For the first two sections, Dave was using a P series Crossley Chambered guitar (handmade in Australia www.crossleyguitars.com (http://www.crossleyguitars.com/)), and for the last section, he used a BC Rich 7 string. I think Dave has the bass up about 70%, mids down a bit (about 30%??), and the highs at 50%. As you can hear Channel 4's high gain mode is huge, and the polar opposite of Channel 3's Mid heavy high gain sound.

[gkelm]

Wow, impressive clips.

[crisden]

I've been watching this amp's development for a while now. Looks and sounds like a winner. I can't wait to get my hands on one. I'm still looking for the amp that will topple my Hughes and Kettner Triamp mkII in terms of tone and versatility.

[Defendant]

Got a quick half hour on one last week. Really impressive. Easy to use for such a powerful amp, and there's something to like about each channel. Loved the first channel's pushed and cranked tones, reminded me of a slightly tighter cranked blonde/black bassman. The two marshall-esque channels were also superb. And so small and light...

[u12drag]

What constitutes small and light? Small, light and powerful is an impressive combination.

[Defendant]

What constitutes small and light? Small, light and powerful is an impressive combination.

About the same size as a Mesa Blue Angel head, but noticeably lighter.

[bstranathan]

any news on when this amp will be available in the USA?