User Manual

FRONT PANEL
SansAmp RBI is designed with active controls, which cut and boost, rather than
traditional passive controls which only cut. This effectively doubles many of the
control’s capabilities, giving you a much larger range of adjustability and, ultimately,
more variety. It should be noted that you need not necessarily set everything at max to
achieve maximum results. As you experiment and become familiar with the interrelation-
ship of the controls, you’ll easily be able to customize your own sounds.
Input Jack
Faithful to the original designs of traditional tube amplifiers, this 1/4" Input is high imped-
ance 1MOhm. It is factory set at -20dB instrument level. Note: A second input jack (Input
2) is located on the rear panel. Plugging into the front panel Input jack overrides and dis-
connects the rear panel jack. This allows you to set up your SansAmp RBI as a permanent
part of a rack or patch-bay system, with its usual input source plugged into the rear panel
jack. Then, if you want to plug straight into the SansAmp RBI, bypassing other gear in the
system, you can use the SansAmp RBI’s front Input.
Drive
Adjusts the overall amount of gain and overdrive, similar to when the output section of a
tube amp is being pushed.
Presence
Brings out the upper harmonic content and attack. For a smoother high end and for
clean settings, decrease to taste.
Blend
Allows you to blend the direct instrument signal with SansAmp Tube Amplifier
Emulation circuitry. In most cases, you will probably have this set at maximum (100%
SansAmp). For certain applications, however, such as an ultra-transparent sound or for
use with piezo pickup-equipped instruments, you may want to blend-in the direct signal
to achieve your desired sound. While the SansAmp Tube Amplifier Emulation circuitry is
bypassed when
Blend is at minimum, the Bass, Mid, Treble, Level and XLR controls
remain active.
Bass, Mid and Treble
These active tone controls cut or boost
±
12dB from unity gain at 12 o’clock. Bass is 80
Hz. Mid is 1kHz. Treble is 3.2kHz.
XLR
Adjusts the volume level of the SansAmp XLR Output independently of the 1/4” Level
control.
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Level
Adjusts the SansAmp 1/4” Output level.
Active
Activates the circuitry. To engage, push the button to the in position. For bypass, push
the button to the out position.
REAR PANEL
Input 2 Jack
Plugging into Input 2 lets you match the SansAmp RBI’s input circuitry to the signal
level being fed into it, thereby assuring the best signal-to-noise ratio and least distor-
tion. This input is ideal for rack and patch-bay applications, especially if you use other
signal processors or multi-track recorders before the SansAmp RBI. Note: Whenever
you plug into the front panel’s Input, the rear panel Input 2 is disconnected. Also, you
can set the Input level selector switch to its 0dB position when you plug in extra-hot
signals, such as the output from active bass guitars.
Level Selector Switch
This switch lets you connect the SansAmp RBI to a wide variety of equipment with a
variety of signal levels. It has two positions:
0dB position. Optimizes the rear panel Input 2 to receive an instrument level sig-
nal. In this position, Input 2’s sensitivity is exactly the same as the front panel’s Input.
-20dB position. Set the switch in this position when sending a line-level signal
into the SansAmp RBI. When the switch is in this position, the signal coming into the
unit is padded down by 20dB.
EFFECTS LOOP
Send and Return
The Effects Loop allows you to connect external effects with the SansAmp RBI.
Connect the input of your processor to Send; output of your processor to Return. Note:
When nothing is plugged into the Effects Loop, the signal passes through from the
SansAmp RBI to the Output jacks, with both the SansAmp 1/4” and XLR Outputs
receiving the same signal.
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