EarthQuaker Devices has launched an analogue guitar amp simulator that can be used as a preamp on your pedalboard, or as a headphone amplifier for silent practice, and the best part? It’s so simple to use.
The clue is in the name. Easy Listening is just that. It’s easy, guitar mini pedal with a single knob for output, and preamp circuitry inspired by a the "soul" of a 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb tube amp with both tone controls set at noon.
EQD calls it "your new best bud for silent shredding!"
“Its all-analogue circuitry provides a more immediate feel with rich low-end resonance, slightly scooped mids, and that crystalline top end chime that makes electric guitars sing,” says the Akron, OH, effects brand.
Of course, some of us will want more features. Many players will need them, and in this digital era, there are plenty of options, with compact digital units offering onboard effects, different amp voicings, IRs, and so on.
But in an era of abundant options, sometimes that analogue approach looks all the more attractive. There is no scrolling through menus here.
The Easy Listening does not invite you to connect your smartphone to make deep edits. Indeed, it invites you to forget about the smartphone. It’ll still be there to bogart your attention once your practice session is finished.
Also, from a hi-fi POV, you don’t have any latency issues here, no digital artefacts. As EQD supremo Jamie Stillman says in the demo video at the top of the page, it makes the perfect platform for pedals. You can stick this as the final pedal on your pedalboard and use it to go direct.
Send the signal to the desk and it could complete a fly-rig. Send it to your DAW and you can use it to record without an amp.
EQD has designed this for the heavy stompbox user (i.e. the kinds of player who would prefer their amp sim, not to mention their breakfast lunch and dinner, in a pedal format), so it is ready for the ‘board, with a high 1 MOhm input impedance and plenty of headroom so you can chain up overdrives and fuzz pedals in front of it.
Under the hood there is a high-fidelity, low-noise AB headphone driver doing the heavy lifting.
To use with guitar amp headphones, you’ll need a set of cans with a 1/4” TRS plug. You can send your signal to our DAW in mono or in stereo with a TRS cable with a splitter.
Easy Listening is designed and made in Akron, Ohio, and takes 9V DC from a pedalboard power supply. It’s priced £114/$99 street and is available now. For more details, head over to EarthQuaker Devices.
