Bugera PS1 Power Soak – Passive 100W Power Attenuator and DI Box
The Bugera PS1 Power Soak is a tool quite handy for guitar players looking to crank out their best overdriven sounds at lower volumes. Simply insert the PS1 in the chain between your 100W amplifier and your speaker cabinet, dial in the blistering amp tone you crave, grab hold of the large Soak knob, and bring the level down until you’re not annoying your bandmates or neighbors anymore. As you do this, you’ll notice that even though your volume decreases, your overall timbre stays the same.
A passive unit requiring no power, the PS1 provides multiple 1/4″ connections, giving you the choice of 4-, 8-, or 16-Ohm amplifier inputs. On the rear, you’ll find your speaker output jack, as well as a line output that delivers unbalanced signal to any suitable destination. This jack features its own level attenuator, so you can raise or lower the volume as you see fit. The line output passes on the sound of your amplifier head without additional coloration; if you use the XLR output, however, you’ll have access to the built-in emulated tone, which offers the convincing sound of a miked cabinet. This can be fed to the engineer during live gigs, or routed to an interface during studio recording. In this way, the PS1 can function as a DI box.
Multi-Impedance Operation
The PS1 Power Soak goes between your tube amp and your speaker cabinet; just run a speaker cable from the output of your amp to the PS1’s amp-input jack, making sure to match your amplifier’s operating impedance of 4, 8, or 16 Ohms. Next, run a second speaker cable from PS1’s Speaker Output to your cabinet. Power up your amp and dial in your favorite sound, then adjust the large Soak knob to the ideal volume level.
Dedicated Line Output
The PS1 Power Soak goes between your tube amp and your speaker cabinet; just run a speaker cable from the output of your amp to the PS1’s amp-input jack, making sure to match your amplifier’s operating impedance of 4, 8, or 16 Ohms. Next, run a second speaker cable from PS1’s Speaker Output to your cabinet. Power up your amp and dial in your favorite sound, then adjust the large Soak knob to the ideal volume level.
Built-In Direct Box
Now that you have your stage volume under control, you can stick a mic in front of your speaker, or you can use the PS1’s built-in emulated mic output to route convincing speaker sound to the house PA or your recording interface. This balanced XLR output mimics the sound captured by placing a microphone in front of your speaker.
