Bass Gear Review

Reviewer	Mark
Experience	3
Review date	April 30 2002
Manufacturer	Raven Labs
Model	PHA-1
Price	209
Item owned for	1-6 months

Dimensions	smallish
Weight	not heavy
EQ	3 knobs
Other	2 instrument inputs, mix in, line out, aux out, 2 heaphone outs

This is a great piece of gear, well-made and solid, with very little noise. I have noticed a huge improvement in my playing since I started using this unit for more frequent practice. I plug my Apple G4 laptop into the mix in jack and I can play along to MP3s, CDs, a drum machine program, etc. Very versatile. My only complaint about the PHA-1 is that its tone is very trebly, and to my ears, harsh. I have to turn the high and mid EQ down quite a bit and boost the low a little to get a sound I'm comfortable with. And this is with the tone knob turned almost all the way off on a Fender Jazz with flatwounds! I shudder to think what the PHA-1 would sound like in conjunction with a brighter, more modern-sounding bass. But maybe some folks are into that. It's a minor complaint really. I can tweak the knobs and get a decent sound, so it's not really a problem for me. The advantage of being able to practice at any hour without waking the neighbors is what I'm happiest about.

Construction	100%
(Solid. This thing is built to last.)
Clarity	98%
(Very low noise. Maybe a little TOO clear.)
Versatility	100%
(More jacks than I'll ever use.)
Value	98%
(Might seem pricy, but the quality shows.)
Overall	98%
(I wish I'd bought one sooner!)