Bastl Instruments Bestie

With Bestie, Bastl Instruments presents a compact audio mixer with five stereo channels that is powered by four AA batteries or a USB power supply. Bestie sees itself as the successor to the Dude Mixer and comes in a sturdy metal housing with revised circuitry. Each channel has a stereo mini-jack input and has its own mute button, as well as a +20dB gain control for amplifying respectively discreetly overdriving signals. Inputs 1 and 5 are additionally equipped with mono jack inputs normalized to stereo. A special feature is channel 3, which functions on the one hand as a normal stereo channel when the input is patched; on the other hand as a feedback channel, which provides additional distortion and amplification above a certain level. When the level is raised above 0dB, it begins to oscillate, producing progressively lower tones as the gain increases. At maximum setting, this produces tremolo-like effects. On top of that, Bestie can also be used as a tone generator. Due to the integrated feedback circuit this is easy, variations are obtained by raising the levels or by looping in an external equalizer. The adjustable headphone output can be switched before or after the mute function, so listen to the sum or muted channels.