I had a session over the weekend with a female singer
songwriter, and had opportunities to try the Workhorse on a few things.
Before you even plug it in, Radial's excellent build quality shows with
their solid steel construction and baked enamel finishes, and every
knob and switch feels substantial, which makes the units fun to work
with. Of course, I eventually calmed down and plugged the thing in.
Even this was easy thanks to the Powerpre's front XLR input, and a 'feed'
switch between each channel, which sends a unit's output into the next
unit, eliminating the need for patch cables. Other fun on the Workhorse's
rear includes a Link switch for stereo linkage, and an Omniport input,
a 1/4" jack for each unit that provides extra functionality.
My first test was kick drum. The Powerpre is wonderfully
quiet for the +55dB of gain it boasts, but on kick the Q3 was what really
stood out. A few mild adjustments on the 12-position Grayhill switches
brought out what I was looking for on both lows and highs, while the Mid Cut knob took away some of the pesky "basketball-sounding"
frequencies. The Q3's Omniport is assigned as an effects loop. My only
gripe about the Q3 is a minor one, and that is that the Shift switch
for each band is hard to get at, but that's a "set-and-forget"
type thing anyway, so maybe I'll just stop complaining already.
Next up, I wanted to see how my guest channel strip
would squash a room mic for me, so I put a Peluso 2247LE (psst, also
available at Rock N Roll Rentals!) through the Workhorse. The Peluso
is a great mic all by itself, and didn't need the Q3 to help it out,
but the Komit squeezed my room mic nicely, gluing disparate sounds
like bells and accordion together without sucking the life out of them.
As with the other two modules, there are fewer than five controls (including
the "On" feature), so the Komit works a lot of magic on it's
own, thanks in part to it's full-size discrete electronics and Hammond
broadcast transformers. With the Komit, the Omniport is a key input
for side-chaining or de-essing.
Radial Engineering's Workhorse Cube and 500-series
modules offered me a lot of great sounds, thanks to great craftsmanship
and well-thought-out features, and it's portable enough to take anywhere.
I highly recommend taking one home for yourself, especially at Rock
N Roll Rentals' awesome Reservation Rate of $47 for Tues/Wed/Thurs-
Monday or only $108 for a month!
Also available pre-filled! That is to say, filled with preamps.
Also available pre-filled! That is to say, filled with preamps.
reviewed by:
-John Pearson
-John Pearson
