Phatronics Heater W Spectrum Analyzer ©™ Analog Mixbus Enhancer Harmonic Coloration & Glue!

The Heater. Analog Mixbus Enhancer w/ Spectrum Analyzer. ©™ Patent Pending.

This has been an idea that has been floating around our heads for some time. Yes, there are many great plugins available that emulate analog sound. There is also some great hardware that you can run your mix bus through to make your sound warmer and fatter. The problem with the hardware is, that those types of boxes cost $3000.00 and up. They are out of reach for many of us.

Phatronics has figured out a way to make a box that sounds great, gives you that large format recording console sound, and it won’t break the bank.

THE HEATER

Introducing The Heater. The hand-made, point-to-point hand-wired box that runs your mix bus (or any source you want) through 600 ohm 1:1, isolated audio transformers. Now your DAW mix can REALLY sound like it is going through the center section of a vintage console.

A transformer is a component that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another via inductively coupled conductors — coils of insulated wire wound (most often) around a ferromagnetic core. Transformers are useful in audio recording, as they can block DC voltage and facilitate electrical isolation between gear, but they also shape the sound of signals sent through them by introducing subtle, often very desirable "coloration." This may be a result of any combination of frequency response, time response, distortion, or a number of other factors. These effects can be especially attractive when working in the digital realm, where sounds can be perceived as too "cold" or "digital."

The louder signals are applied to a transformer, the core saturates and clipping occurs. This distortion creates more low-frequency harmonics than high-frequency harmonics, leading to a warm, dense sound. Even at lower than clipping levels, the magnetic properties of the core change slowly, due to hysteresis7, which also leads to extra low-frequency harmonic content. Our transformer design provides its own unique flavor of harmonic coloration.

Somewhat like compression, a near-saturated transformer gives a mix some glue and air, an indescribable filling in of sonic gaps for a more cohesive sound with more character and density. I sometimes run mixes through transformers at unity with no increase in level or saturation just for some of that analog glue.

Features

Original Custom Designed Circuit
Spectrum Analyzer
Completely Hand Made
Hand Wired, Point To Point
Custom 3D Printed Case
Phatronics Custom 600 Ohm 1:1 Audio Transformers
Stereo analog meters with driver board
Stereo XLR In / Out
Warm, Fat, Harmonic Coloration (The more you drive it, the more saturation)
All top of the line electronic components
Completely tested on the bench and in the studio
Meter Calibration pots inside if need to adjust
Electronic relays with flyback circuit
Tested 50hz to 10k with no signal loss
Comes with a 9V Adapter