out to be a 16-year-old kid
who is more interested
in smoking outside with
purple-haired Barbie-punks
than running a proper
desk—anyone who tours
and isn’t a rock star yet
knows what I’m talking
about. The MixingLink
can be a godsend in these
situations.
When I first got the ML,
I boldly strapped it to
the board and patched
in my H9 to the FX Loop
for some classic Eventide
vocal treatments like my
studio hero Tony Visconti
would do. I’ll take this
opportunity to say that
though the included
universal power supply
states 500 milliamps,
one can run the ML from
200-milliamp nine-volt
outlets if no phantom
power is required, making
this box play well with
one’s board power supply.
I jacked into the Phones
input with my Sennheiser
bins and lost an hour or so
scrolling through Space,
Modfactor, Timefactor
and Pitchfactor patches,
tweaking and sculpting
unreal vocal treatments
all the while. This activity
revealed the limitless
scope of sonic range on
tap. I attempted aping
classic Eventide vocals
such as H949 and H910
modulated doubling,
detuned and destressed
Ministry-like angry alien
vocals, wet and wild
‘80s treatments with
SpaceTime’s simultaneous
echo, modulation and
reverb palettes—the list
goes on. Like a certain
old blue Boss stomper,
there is a switchable Hold
and Latch selector for the
footswitch, which enables
one to simply hold down
the switch for a vocal
crescendo break in a song
if desired. I also had fun
patching in my console-
type gainers and vast
array of delay pedals. The
Source Audio Nemesis
and GFI System Specular
Reverb combo was
particularly tasty on my
vocals through the Mixing
Link.
WHAT WE LIKE
The MixingLink does so
many things and I have
only had a short amount of
time with it, but for those
looking for an all-in-one
studio and stage routing
solution in a compact
form factor, this is the
finest option out there.
Electronic musicians and
guitar players will find
equal use for this one-of-
a-kind stomp box. Another
21st Century activity that
the MixingLink enables
is IOS rocking straight
into the PA. For example,
I have been really into
the Echo Pitch App from
Avi Bortnick and the
MixingLink can take this
experience out of the
headphones and onto
the stage with no amp
required.
CONCERNS
This is probably not that
big a deal to most, but
the battery clip inside the
pedal might as well not
exist as the wires are too
short coming off the circuit
board. I couldn’t get a
battery fitted at any angle,
which seems strange.
Obviously, most of us run
a pedalboard, so this isn’t
too big a concern.
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