Anaheim

Anaheim is a dual-channel tube mic pre and compressor with a beefy Vari-Mu gain stage and a built-in 2-band EQ, all in one insert.

The Input knob drives the initial tube stage, so it adds character before you’ve touched another control at its base setting, like a real preamp does, it just automatically adds color. From there the signal hits the Vari-Mu compressor, it really breathes and holds the material instead of just controlling peaks, it’s an instant thickening and smoothing agent. Threshold, Attack, Release, a sidechain high-pass is the entire story, no Ratio knob to second-guess. Want more grit than the input drive alone gives you? The Saturation stage sits right after the compressor for exactly that. A simple Bass/Treble EQ closes out the chain, Bass is a low shelf at 80 Hz, Treble is a high shelf at 8 kHz, then Mix blends it all back against the dry signal, that’s New York-style parallel compression.

Both channels get every control, independently, and a three-way Stereo/Mono/Dual switch plus a Link toggle take you from a dual channel setup, to a matched stereo pair, to mono. Dual channel makes things huge, perfect for 2-bus mixing but great for drums, bass, guitars, vocals, and more. Each channel has its own compression meter and output VU, four needles total, so you’re never guessing what it’s doing.

What’s Inside

• Tube-driven Input – -12 to +12 dBFS, character builds automatically as you push it
• Vari-Mu compressor – Threshold, Attack, Release, sidechain high-pass, fixed ratio
• Saturation stage – Post-compression tube drive, 0 to 100%
• Bass/Treble EQ – 80 Hz low shelf, 8 kHz high shelf, both +/-12 dB
• Mix – Dry/wet parallel blend, New York-style compression
• Stereo / Mono / Dual – Three channel modes plus a Link toggle
• Dual metering – Dedicated compression meter and output VU per channel
• 10 factory presets – Vocal Warmth, Drum Bus Glue, Broadcast Voice, Tube Push, and more