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Beyond traditional saturation

When designing the SHD2ch, our challenge was to build a device capable of adding sweet and natural second order harmonics using a class A tube stage without fiddling with your tone or destroying the integrity of the source. Unless you want to, that is.

The SHD2ch works in a fairly different way than standard tube drives, and that’s why we call it an enhancer: it only processes one half of the waveform, while the other one remains untouched. This unique design makes it extremely less invasive than traditional processors.

Compared to our vintage-style preamps and EQ, there’s no “instant magic” going on here. There are no transformers in the input and output stages: the SHD2ch doesn’t add anything except the harmonics you’re dialing in. That’s how you get organic second harmonic enhancement and a pristine sound.

Three controls and a bypass switch per channel: the front panel operation of the SHD2ch is no rocket science.
Set the Input level until the orange “MAX” LED on the vertical input meter lights up: this ensures the tube stage works with an optimal dynamic range without clipping. Now you can tweak the SHD-Level to get the desired amount of additional harmonics. Finally use the Output to set the final level of your processed signal.

From subtle to creamy

The SHD2ch is excellent for adding analog warmth and and creating a rich, thick tone. You can track straight through it or use it to add some flavour in mixdown. If you need a cleaner sound, turn down the input to find the sweet spot where the tube stage just starts doing its job. It’s also an excellent substitute for gentle compression when you want to add body and life while still taking good care of your source material.

The SHD2ch is extremely responsive to the original tone and dynamics: instead of processing single tracks, feel free to try it on buss groups or as a master insert, you’ll come up with very interesting results by using it as a parallel insert too.

Drive and distortion: please misuse

It’s worth exploring the amount of tones you can get out of the SHD2ch with a more creative use. Turn up the Input level until the OVR LED lights up to push the tube stage into overdrive. And let’s face it, sometimes you just need that good old distortion. We’ve got you covered: you can make the SHD2ch behave like a more traditional saturation unit by chaining the channels. Take the output of channel 1, flip the phase and send it back to channel 2. This way channel 2 processes the lower part of the waveform that channel 1 left untouched. Match settings with channel 1 if you’re after a traditional symmetrical clipping overdrive, or just set channel 2 controls to taste if you’re feeling creative.

And there’s a lot of space for getting nasty in sound design applications. At full drive settings the SHD2ch produces a luscious creamy tone that’s excellent for fattening up synth leads or bass lines.