All products hand made in Denver Colorado, USA
PASSIVE MONITOR CONTROLLERS
Ground Control Deluxe MKII (4 chassis options)
2U rackmount ~ $725.99
1U rackmount ~ $699.99
desktop console ~ $699.99
Fully passive monitoring path… no active components to color your sound.
Features:
- 3 pairs of stereo inputs (2 rear, 1 front), 3 monitor pair outs, parallel/sub output.
- high quality stepped volume attenuator with precision 1% resistors for finest quality clean stepped gain control.
- Alps rotary selectors for source switching.
- Individual mutes for L/R and sub
- 3rd input is an “aux/client in”, which is a front/top access 1/8″ stereo input for every time a client wants us to hear something from their phone or laptop. I added this because I swear these days, clients always are saying “we are going for something like this…” and then they pull up some file on their phone.
- A braided white 1/8″ aux cable is included.
- All rear inputs and outputs are 1/4″ balanced TRS. Generally can be seamlessly used unbalanced gear as well, or a combo of balanced and unbalanced gear (units use balanced TRS input, unbalance internally and re-balance on the outputs for easy configuring with all types of source and monitor combos without introducing any added ground noise).
- Headphone amp (my take on a simplistic minimal signal path design that the hi-fi crowd raves about). While it’s not designed to be a ridiculously loud amp, it is designed to be clean and accurate.
- Quality VU meters for source monitoring (console version available without VU option)
Deluxe Chassis Styles:
2U RACK
1U RACK
CONSOLE
Wood End caps can be added added to any desktop console model for an additional $42 and are available in a variety of stains.
GROUND CONTROL – STANDARD
1U rack-mount OR desktop console ~ $312.99
- Same as the Deluxe, but eliminates the headphone amp, meters, phase switch, and individual L/R mutes (still has mute all, separate mute for sub/aux out).
- features stepped attenuator, 3 in, 3 out, sub out, and mono switching.
- available in 1U rack-mount or console versions.
GROUND CONTROL – MICRO
$235.99
- a stripped down small format version of our premium controllers
- 2 switchable stereo inputs, 2 stereo outputs
- high quality stepped attenuator
- mono & mute switching
- compact desktop chassis
- All rear inputs and outputs are 1/4″ TRS and generally can be seamlessly used with any combo of balanced and unbalanced gear (units use balanced TRS input, unbalance internally and re-balance on the outputs for easy configuring with all types of source and monitor combos without introducing any added ground noise)
three to three – passive source/monitor switcher
$235.99
For those that really only need input and output switching. Same as the standard ground control but eliminates the attenuator for those that attenuate from close proximity interface or console.
- 3 stereo input (2 dual TRS on rear, 1/8″ aux on front)
- 3 stereo output,
- separate parallel 4th output for sub/aux out
- muting and mono switches
Passive Stepped Attenuator Plus
$135.00 $125.99
Simple and effective.
- Single pair of TRS in and out (L & R TRS jacks).
- Mono and mute switching
- Precision stepped stereo attenuator
- inputs and outputs are 1/4″ TRS and generally can be seamlessly used with any combo of balanced and unbalanced gear (units use balanced TRS input, unbalance internally and re-balance on the outputs for easy configuring with all types of source and monitor combos without introducing any added ground noise)
PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE SERIES
DELUXE & STANDARD ISSUE MODELS
For a full description (although the unit is very intuitive after your first meet and greet), see the dedicated Passive Aggressive Series page
*All Wooly Mammoth rear panel inputs and outputs are 1/4″ TRS
Wooly Mammoth Standard Issue (2 channel) $1124.99
Originally intended to be a stripped down model, but in the end, I crammed as much as possible into this 1U chassis member of the Wooly Mammoth family. Like all the wooly Mammoth models, it does mild to wild. From use as a subtle 2-bus breakout box for mild flavoring of the mix, to all out heavy saturation for mangling drums and other sources. Fully passive audio path, with active indication and metering. Use it after a clean pre while tracking for a little vibe on the way in, during mixdown for some 2-bus flavoring, or as a full blown saturation effect on tracks while mixing. Can be used on any line level signal, and the harder you push it, the harder it will react.
A brief rundown of features:
Switchable main transformers:
IRON: classic Carnhill transformers (yes those big red ones found in those classic British pre’s we all love)
STEEL: a colorful smaller core steel transformer, taken from the popular output stage of the Deluxe.
Run the unit with just the transformer settings on the master or buses for a little 3D sparkle. Great for sending a ITB mix through for getting rid of the sterile digital mix blues.
Boost: Gives a mild boost to the audio while simultaneously putting a load on main transformers to stress a bit more color out of them.
Next up, the Diode Saturation stage. A true bypass “off” detent at the bottom of the dial.
Germanium 1: use it subtly for some harmonics or push it hard into all out dirty saturation and diode clipping. Great for adding a little sparkle, or obliteration
Germanium 2: a different NOS Russian military diode sought out for it’s tonal qualities and used in a different asymmetrical clipping configuration for a new take on the harmonics and tone it delivers.
Rect: A Fairchild rectifier diode used as a soft clipper saturation. Grungier than the Germanium options but still cleans up well at lower spots on the dial.
Focus/Full:
Full – allows the diodes to saturate across the entire frequency spectrum for a full range saturation.
Focused – keeps the diode saturation confined to certain areas of the EQ.
LUFT/MID: when in “focused” mode this allows you to choose from “luft”, keeping the saturation up in the air bands frequencies. Can give a little sparkle or rounding to the top end depending on how hard you push the sat dial.
Or choose “MID” which pulls the EQ threshold down into the more bitey mid area, for a mid-up saturation.
SLANT 6 EQ: Technically, a simple 6dB per octave high and low pass filtering EQ for rounding the signal out a little. I like using the top slope for a little soft roll off giving a little old school warmth to sharper signals. On the other end, one of my favorite ways to use the low slope is when using the unit as a parallel bus for destroying a parallel drum track. Keeps the kick from getting grimey when you blend it back in with the clean drums.
Unseen, is the additional “always in” Steel output transformer. Just the right amount of sheen on the outputs.
OUTPUT ATTENUATORS: 12 position detented output attenuators. Allows you to feed the unit with as much gain as you can throw at, then attenuate it back down to a usable signal
The new Wooly Mammoth Deluxe Edition MK3 $1549.99
XLR to TRS adapters (available with male or female xlr ends, to male TRS end)
SET OF 2 $6.99 $5.99
Since the Wooly Mammoth series, and the Monitor Controllers all come stock with TRS inputs/outputs, we are offering these adapters at discounted rates. Sold in pairs. These are sourced from an over-seas manufacturer but in my tests have been solid enough build to make me not want to bother making my own. So I’m offering them to you.
DIRECT AND REAMPING BOXES
Passive Direct Box (standard version) $149.99
Meet Hilga. My take on a high quality direct box that won’t break the bank. Passive design. Made to compete with the high end D.I. manufacturers and the boutique crowd, but without the high pricing. When it comes to passive direct boxes, they are only as good as the transformer they carry. I use a high quality transformer that makes the competition’s look like a toy. And it sounds pristine. Just what we want out of a direct box. Pretty straight forward and made to just be a really nice DI. 1/4″ Instrument in, and parallel “to amp” out on front, and balanced XLR out on rear.
NEW “Dual Color” version $195.99
Same as the original but now lets you choose between two transformers. Our original “ultra clean” American made large steel transformer, or a more colorful German made Iron transformer.
The REANIMATOR (reamping box) $119.99
Does just what you think it would. Takes a line level signal and converts to a high impedance output. Lets you take that guitar or synth track recorded with a DI, and run it back through an amp. Or take any of your tracks (like a vocal) and run them through some stomp boxes to get some cool sounds. Utilizes a high quality transformer from one of my favorite U.S. makers.
THE FRONT END LOADER $95.00 $89.99
Speaker load box. 2 in one actually. Choose any combo of 4&4, 4&8, or 8&8 ohms, made to your specification. Lets you plug it into the speaker out of your tube amp head and run it without blowing it up. It mimics the load the speaker puts on the amp and avoids frying your output transformers. Also has an attenuated output that lets you plug it into a direct box and you can record the amp head without running a speaker. I’ve been building and using these for years and use them often for bass especially. But also can be utilized by the home recording crowd that don’t want to wake the neighbors. Rated for amps up to 100 watts. Higher wattage ratings available upon request for an additional fee. Although I will state that I use my stock unit with my vintage Twin Reverb regularly, just not cranked all the way. Check your amp specs and use at your own risk.
The Front End Loader is based on the classic “dummy load” design. You will find a lot of dummy load vs reactive load debates out there. With the reactive load boxes I’ve tried in the past, the differences to my ear were still enough that to me it still wasn’t 100% the tone of a true speaker, and I was still altering the amp’s tone anyways. So in my design, I went with the pure dummy load so that it doesn’t alter the EQ of the amp.
“Hand Crafted..” T-shirt $16.99
“Plate logo” T-shirt $16.99
Tool Boxes
Why would a pro audio company geared towards recording gear, bother adding some utilitarian pedals to their line? Whelp… because I made some for a studio client. And somebody heard about it asked for some. So I made some more. And those people showed people, and so forth. And to be honest, I like making them. They are nice easy units to make between the tedious big jobs and to be honest, it’s fun and they are useful around the studio. So here they are.
The A/B Box $57.00 $49.99
Simple A/B selector pedal. 1 in, 2 out, or reverse it for 2 in, 1 out. Switch between amps or guitars easily.
The Attenuator pedal $57.00 $49.99
I like to think of these as a reverse clean boost. What it does is let you crank your amp to desired peak volume (great for pushing tube amps into driven bliss) and then use this pedal to pull the volume back on quieter passages or more delicate parts. The attenuator is built with a classic “treble bleed” mod to keep your tone sounding pristine throughout the volume attenuation range.