ALBIT A1FD pro Hand-made Tube preamp / DI

A masterpiece tube preamp that Japan is proud of, condensing the sound of a vintage tube amp into a compact size!

Developed based on F.C.'s Dual Showman circuit, famous for its application in tone circuits such as the legendary rack-mounted tube preamp "F-2B" and the "TCT" circuit, an essential part of any discussion of onboard active circuits, the "A1FD pro" preamp/DI was completed by generously pouring ALBIT's technology and knowledge, cultivated through repairing a wide range of amplifiers, both old and new, and designing and manufacturing its own amplifiers and effects. The rich, vivid amp sound that draws out the potential of vacuum tubes has been well-received, especially by bassists, and its use by musicians of a wide range of genres has led to widespread recognition of ALBIT's high level of ability.

Equipped with a power transformer, it drives vacuum tubes (1 or 2 12AX7s) at a high voltage of nearly 200V, and while the circuit uses a printed circuit board, the main parts are hand-wired using audio-grade wiring.It also features an independent effects loop made up of vacuum tubes and a matching transformer for the balanced output, resulting in a full-featured circuit configuration that would normally be impossible to find in a case the size of a slightly larger stompbox.Furthermore, it has a wide range of input and output terminals to suit a variety of usage environments, and a group of controls for creating a wide variety of sounds, achieving quality that far exceeds its size and price.

There's more than one way to use this unit. Two 12AX7 vacuum tubes are located, one after the INPUT and one after the RETURN. For example, if you input an instrument directly into the RETURN jack, you can use it as a high-quality tube DI without passing it through the preamp's tone circuit. Also, for those who want to enjoy the full-bodied tube sound of this unit, you can connect an instrument to the INPUT and connect SEND and RETURN with a single patch cable, passing the signal through two vacuum tubes and enjoying a thicker, richer tube sound.

If you want to reflect the preamp sound of this unit only in the signal sent to the PA, simply send the output from the XLR balanced output to the PA and the output from the TUNER output to the amplifier on stage. (The natural sound that passes only through this unit's tube buffer circuit will be sent to the amplifier.)

And because this unit, like the amp on which this circuit is based, is both a guitar amp and a bass amp, it sounds great in both.
(The manufacturer's website introduces it as a guitar model and includes sample sounds by professional guitarists, so be sure to check it out.)


Product Specifications ■ Power Supply: AC 9V to 10.5V (dedicated adapter included) *Please note that this is not DC.
■ 12AX7 vacuum tube (selected product) x 2
■Controls: VOLUME, TREBLE, MID, BASS, BALANCE VOL, SEND, RETURN, UNBALANCE VOL
■ Switches: MUTE, BRIGHT, MID RANGE (*1), CROSSOVER POSITION (*2), PHASE (for BALANCE OUT), GND LIFT (for BALANCE OUT), BAL.OUT SELECT
■ Terminals: INPUT, AUX IN (3.5Φ mini plug, RCA type pin jack x 2), SEND OUT, RETURN INPUT, UNBALANCE OUT, BALANCE OUT x 2, HEADPHONE OUT, TUNER OUT
■External dimensions: 179mm (W) x 125mm (D) x 80mm (H)
■Weight: 1020g

*1) By setting the MID RANGE switch to the WIDE side, the MID range of change can be expanded to five times that of NORMAL.
*2) The CROSSOVER POSITION switch changes the overall tone control characteristics at the HIGH position, changing the overall sound quality.