Louder Than Liftoff has announced the Silver Bullet Mk2, its a flagship stereo bus/line/mic Tone-Amp for bringing ‘real analogue mojo and streamlined workflow to the modern DAW-based studio’.
When the original Silver Bullet debuted in 2014 it offered a stereo analogue ‘console’ with cascading Mojo amps and tone-shaping EQ for insertion into mix buses, stems, and individual tracks of hybrid analogue/digital studios. It also had mic preamp modes and a built-in matrix I/O router.
The Silver Bullet Mk2 delivers with its twin topology – A (American console) and N (British console) – Mojo amps, and adds a third Mojo slot accepting either new stereo Mojo amp or Colour modules. This feature allows integrated processing like tube saturation, compression, or EQ to be inserted into the signal path after Silver Bullet Mk2’s classic ‘A’ or ‘N’ inspired Mojo amps.
At the heart of the 2U-high Silver Bullet Mk2 are two Mojo amps inspired by classic American and British large-format consoles, and the third user-customisable Mojo C amp. Users can process 2-bus, individual tracks, or microphone sources through cascading combinations of those three Mojo amps as follows: A, N and C (Custom Mojo/Colour modules via internal expansion slots, with Hitmaker 4000 console modules pre-installed).
Simple gain and output controls allow users to gain stage the A and N Mojo amps, while C-DRV and C-Mix controls allow control over the amount of drive for the Mojo C amp, and blend the dry and processed signals.
Tone shaping is catered for by the three-band Baxandall EQ that has a Pultec-inspired low end and a smooth and expensive-sounding top end. The Air circuit from the original Silver Bullet now has its own dedicated control, and the original LF and HF frequency settings have been expanded to a total of four frequencies per band. The Tight filter is on hand to tighten up the extreme bottom end with its slightly resonant and tape-like 25Hz setting, while the new 50Hz setting is optimised for tracking individual instruments. It is also possible to smooth out digital top end with the Vintage mode inspired by seventies-vintage British consoles.
Aspect Ratio is an analogue processor new to the Silver Bullet Mk2, musically enhancing the stereo width, height, and clarity of a mix.
Silver Bullet Mk2’s dual-interface expansion slot allows tonal exploration through Louder Than Liftoff’s new stereo Mojo C amp modules, and a library of Colour module options to customise as needed. The Mojo C amp interface supports a high-voltage power rail, and compressor gain reduction indication. Users can populate either the stereo module slot or the two mono analogue plug-in slots (one per channel) to build their own signal path. It is also possible to install any of the Colour modules from third-party manufacturers.
Silver Bullet Mk2 also features Louder Than Liftoff’s new Hypermatter PSU, whose architecture uses an external switch mode power supply in conjunction with an internal regulation and filter module, while its internal PCB assembly uses cutting-edge low-dropout regulators.
Silver Bullet Mk2 is available for pre-order directly from Louder Than Liftoff for US$2,599. The initial production run of Silver Bullet Mk2 will ship in mid-late October 2021.
More: https://store.louderthanliftoff.com/products/silver-bullet-Mk2
