JHS Colour Box 500S

Released in 2013, the Color Box pushes the boundaries of what pedals can do. Over the years, we've seen countless engineers, producers, players, programmers, studios, and more around the world using Color Box in every conceivable way. He has been active in major albums and recordings in various parts ranging from vocals, bass, keyboards, acoustic instruments and beats, to even narration. JHS Pedals has created a great Color Box, but at the same time it was natural to create an even better Color Box by using a format that could essentially be redesigned. The Color Box 500 is a “Lunchbox” type preamp / equalizer that incorporates a core circuit that is even more powerful, flexible, and more controllable than the Color Box, in the same way as major professional audio companies.

There are more preamps and EQs on the market than ever before, so what's the difference and better compared to what you own? You will be wondering. However, the Color Box 500 is completely different, and you'll find colors, tones, features, and sound images of sounds you've never had before. This circuit is inspired by some of the legendary gear we respect, but is designed with the idea of ??keeping the classic goodness but improving everything. At the heart of the Color Box is the cascaded circuit of the two Neve BA283 stages used in the Neve 1073 preamp. This unique approach to the series stage brings a dignified clean tone and a destructive gain sound with some control tweaks. The output stage adopts the style of a Class A discrete op amp design like the Neve 1272, and the EQ is a classic with some styles and ideas. All of this, including top-notch components such as selected Carnhill transformers, audio-grade components, and rugged construction, make up the unit's non-negligible power in a studio or live environment. The Color Box guarantees that it's not like any other preamp or EQ you've come across. In the following, we will divide the Color Box design into four sections / blocks, and the main points of each block will be explained below so that you can get a deeper understanding of what each unit has.

The Input Section
is the beginning of everything. The signal input can be selected from DI (front INSTRUMENT jack), Mic (Lunchbox rear panel), and Line level (Lunchbox rear panel). It also features a -20dB Pad switch that damps high-output signal sources and a + 48V phantom power supply for powering condenser microphones. In addition, this section uses the Carnhill VTB9046 input transformer and also has a toggle switch to switch the input impedance.

The Gain Stages
are the beginning of magic. There are two discrete stages connected in series here. A feature of this section is that it has separate gain and volume level controls. Most Neve-style preamps and their cloned products use a combination of traditional step gain / level controls. These are great for pair matching and setting recall, but I understand that there is a frustration that if you need a step-to-step setting, you can't set it to a range not included in that step control. I am. JHS Pedals has added a unique Pre Volume control that allows you to adjust the volume level by sweeping instead of stepping. This allows for fine-tuning not possible with preamps that have only a wide range of tones, gain levels, and step controls. Adjusts the level between two cascade stages that produce a distorted and destructive gain level from a clean, natural gain level. The step control can set the overall gain at 18dB, 23dB, 28dB, 32dB, or 37dB for each stage. The combination of these stages yields a clean gain of over 60 dB and an incredible distortion gain. If necessary, you can destroy the original sound so that the prototype cannot be determined.

The EQ Section
EQ section is a very powerful 7 control EQ that allows you to easily equalize any signal. The TREBLE control is a fixed peaking style control that boosts / cuts at 12 o'clock as OFF / flat position. The AIR band can be boosted by + 26dB very musically at the 50kHz point, perfect for room mics, vocals, or if you want to extend the high end with other sources as well. This control is OFF / flat when zero or completely counterclockwise. MID is a sweep style with a MID control and a MID SHIFT control. The SHIFT control changes the frequency range, and the MID control boosts / cuts the 12 o'clock position as OFF / flat position. BASS is a complete parametric style with BASS, BASS SHIFT, and BASS Q controls. Use the SHIFT control to change the frequency range and the Q control to change the width of that range. The BASS control boosts / cuts the 12 o'clock position as OFF / flat position. The final EQ control is the High Pass Filter (HPF), a powerful tool that can be varied from 50 to 150Hz to smoothly and comfortably cut unwanted frequencies in the low register.

The Output Section
last is the output section. Here is the final stage of the Class A Discrete Neve 1272 style. The Carnhill VTB2514 transformer is adopted, and it is also driven as a Master control which controls the whole volume, and the polarity (phase) can be switched.

The Colorbox 500 stands out from other clones, replicas, or traditional preamps with a striking design that gives you the best power, options, and abilities in this price range. It will bring a new breath to your palette in mastering, mixing and tracking.