- What type of microphone? (live, recording, mixed...)
Probably too sensitive for live use unless you're using a clever sound system of some sort.
Also picks up stuff off axis...
Has a pretty good bandwidth too.

- What technology? (electret, condenser...)
Condenser, works off phantom or standard AA batteries...just unscrew the mic and stick em in. Can't remember if it's one or two batteries.

No switches or anything on this, but being able to use batteries is a definite plus...mind you, you will lose out a tad in sensitivity if you do this.

-What Technology? (analog, digital, tube...)
Analogue, tube.

- What available effects, or type of effects, are there?
No effects, just a preamp.

- What connection types are there?
Jack & XLR, in & out.

- Is it rackable, or in rack form?
Not rackable, not a pedal, just a little box.

Has +20dB switch, input gain, output gain, phantom power, phase inverse.
So no high-pass filter...

- Is the general configuration/setup simple?
Couldn't really be much simpler.

- Is the sound or effects editing easy?
No editing, just in & out.

- Is the manual clear and sufficient?...
Can't remember ever needing it.

Problem: one led, that changes colour, no meters. It's green normally, then changes to orange or red when you get to or above 0dB. So, needless to say, using this to set levels is a bit like playing the lottery.

- Is the sound of your instruments or your microphones faithfully reproduced?
Is the pre-amp transparent or does it color the sound?

I haven't compared this side by side with other preamps on the same source so it's hard to tell. I doubt it's very transparent, then again i haven't noticed any major problems.
I've recorded bass through this, and vocals, amongst others and they were all quite ok to me.

This is a tube microphone preamp. It comes with a 12ax7 tube. Because it has tube technology, I bought this to add some warmth to my live rig. It has 1/4 inch inputs and output as well as a balanced XLR input and output. This means you pretty much have a stereo input and output capability with this unit. You can also go direct with an XLR input into a mixing board with this unit. I would call it rackable, as it is definitely not a floor unit. It is very small, so it can go on top of your rack, but also on top of your amp,preamp, power amp, or speakers.

The configuration is fairly simple. There is an input and output knob. There are also buttons for gain, p.power, phase reverse and OPL. Basically, you turn the input knob to adjust the volume of your input, and turn the input knob to adjust your output volume. The effect of both can be heard through your speakers. The manual is clear and sufficient. There is really nothing much to this unit to understand.

I bought this preamplifier to add more warmth to my rig, as my Fender Stage 185 tends to have a harsh treble. So I really did buy this unit to "color" my signal in that respect. Unfortunately, I have to realize that this is a microphone preamp, so running my guitar through my pedals, then through this unit before going to the board will not make my "house" tone sound good. As a matter of fact, it sounded very weak. So I broke down the next week and mic'd my amp then sent that signal through this unit, then to the mixing board, and I sounded much better through the house speakers. Don't know for sure if I sounded warmer than through my amp, but at least the sound through the house was decent. I think this unit will also make miking my acoustic guitar sound great.

Multi-effects pedal with 42 programmable / editable presets. I believe this is a digital device. The main effects categories this unit has includes compressor/limiter, wah, "drive", Equalizer, noise suppressor, pitch modulation, delay, and reverb. All effects can be used at the same time, which is great. Within the modulation category, you can set the unit for flange, chorus, phaser, tremolo, just to name a few. You can also choose between 4 different amp models as well as an additional 7 types of "drive." Connections are a standard input and output as well as a 9volt connector for power supply. The output also doubles as a headphone in, which is cool. Unfortunately, the presets/effects cannot be edited via a Mac/PC editor utility program. This is designed as a floor pedal, so it is not rackable.

The actual face of the pedal is easy to understand and utilize. As far as actually navigating the presets in order to tweak them or modify them,the unit takes some playing around with. This is where the manual, though long, comes in. The manual is very self-explanatory and explains the operation simply and easily. The only reason the manual is so long and why it takes a long time to figure out the extent of this unit's capabilities is because there are so many options/sounds that can be coaxed out of this little unit.

For being digital, the effects on this little unit are very solid, and many of them are sufficiently realistic. For example, I feel it does the Fender Twin very well. Use that setting on any amp, close your eyes, and you'd swear there's a Fender Twin right beside you. If you want a Mesa or a Marshall, you can have something darn close to them. There is a Soldano lead setting, and a psychedelic Jimmy Hendrix sound. The standard wah sound is pretty spot on as well. If you want to sound like standard Eddie Van Halen, or if you want his "unchained" flanging sound, this unit can give you both, and is pretty much right on the money. There is a tweed preset with a cool tremolo effect that sounds great for country, western, or blues. If I had to name some cons, the acoustic modeler is not that great. There are also 2 entire "banks" or sets of 6 presets that are kind of cheesy sounding for the most part. But the great news is that these can be edited, so you have room to create your own unique presets. Overall, I've got so many sounds at my disposal with just this one unit. Much cheaper than buying several pedals, or even worse, several amps. I use this unit only with my Ibanez RG 120, and it is perfect.

Manual & large pictures: http://www.mindprint.de/cms.php?scr=products&mode=1&r=p&pr_kat=5&pr_id=10&aktiv=n#

-What Technology? (analog, digital, tube...)
Analogue, tube & transistors.

- What available effects, or type of effects, are there?
Preamp, semi-parametric 3 band EQ with parametric mids, compressor, tube saturation.

- What connection types are there?
Line in & out on jack + XLR.
Mic in on XLR with Phantom power switch on the back.
Instrument in on the front panel.

- Is it rackable, or in rack form?
Regular 19" unit.

- Is the general configuration/setup simple?
Yes, straightforward, plenty of switches in case you ever need them...high-pass filter etc.

- Can you easily get a good sound?
Kind of, yes. ;-)

- Is the manual clear and sufficient?...
Never had it.

- Is the sound of your instruments or your microphones faithfully reproduced?
Is the pre-amp transparent or does it color the sound?

This is not very transparent, but then again it's got a tube in the front window so do you really want it to be transparent?

This is no high-end piece of gear and i think it was kind of expensive given the sound, but is there much to complain about? I'm not sure. It's a very decent piece of kit. With the optional digital out it becomes quite interesting, but that is extra...and i think it should have been included for that money (almost £400 i think).

Don't expect this to make your mic sound fantastic, it won't. Sounds ok on a bass guitar, though.
Does the compressor work wonders? Not really, but it's quite powerful so one can't complain.

It does its job.

Bitrman Key Features
• Four simultaneous digital effects in one box, each with its
own separate control: compression, distortion, dual phasor,
and “Bitrness”
• Six different “Bitrness” modes provide unique tone-bending
effects: comb filter, decimator, bit reducer, FM (frequency
modulation), ring modulation, and frequency shift
• Effects can be configured in six different orders
• Uniform, friendly, uncomplicated user interface—no fiddling
with complicated menus or “hidden” knobs
• Stereo processing via four 1/4” unbalanced connectors
• ModLink port, a cable-free connection that transfers digital
audio and word clock to other boxes in the ModFX family
• Footswitch connection to control the bypass function
• Ability to mount 3 ModFX boxes in the optional ModFX
rack adapter
• Input trim control to adjust input level
• Internal 28-bit digital processing
• 24-bit D/A and A/D conversion at 48kHz sampling rate for
quiet, distortion-free effects
• External 9VAC power supply included

Groovy

Groovy

- What type of microphone? (live, recording, mixed...)
This is mainly a home-studio mic, but i have seen it used live before, on percussion at an African music concert.
It's got an 80 hz high-pass filter, and you can switch between two patterns : cardioid or hyper-cardioid, if i remember correctly. Don't think it has a pad but you might want to check the manufacturer's site to be sure.

- What technology? (electret, condenser...)
It's a condenser, i believe, and so requires Phantom power...
It's a very sensitive mic, in any case a lot more sensitive than any dynamic mic of course, and so if you've got an SM-58 and want to move onto this then you'd better be ready for a big surprise.

It's got foam and a grid to protect the large gold-plated diaphragm but you do need a pop filter with this, and you might want to tilt it a bit to attenuate further any direct wind coming from the vocalist. I sometimes use two pop filters at the same time.

You can modify the mic and remove the inner foam: this supposedly transforms the mic but of course you will then need to use even more precaution when recording.

This 100% analogue, there is no digital circuitry involved at all.
And so it's perfect if you have a digital recorder: compress the signal and add the gate before you go into the digital domain and you end up with optimal use of the dynamic range in your recorder and pretty much no noise at all.

XLR and TRS input.
XLR and TRS output if i remember correctly.

Preamp, compressor, deesser, enhancer, gate. It does all of those very decently for the money, by the way.

It's a normal 19 inch 1 unit rack.

You can't get much simpler than this: compressor has only 2 settings but in 7 years i never found that a problem. Used mainly on vocals and acoustic guitars, the unit did a good job and the gate worked great.
You have to be careful with your settings or you'll bring up hiss (enhancer and compressor). The unit is not exactly silent when you turn everything up but if you stick to the preamp then there's not much you can complain about.

Never needed the manual and when i sold this on, just recently, i realized the manual was perfectly new. I doubt the new owner will need it either...

This is budget product so don't expect miracles, but if you can't produce decent results with this then you need to learn how to use it! The sound is fine, it's just not going to rival with much more expensive gear, which is obvious anyway.