Sonic Farm Creamliner III, Mastering / Stereo Bus, Tube Enhancer

Sonic Farm Creamliner III, Mastering / Stereo Bus, Tube Line Conditioner

Creamliner is is a stereo line signal conditioner, aimed at improving the sound of digital stereo busses and digital PA boards by running the signal through a pentode, and, if selected, also the output transformer.

Sure, you can use a plugin to address the issue of “digitalitis”, but Creamliner stands out above all of those because it delivers! No gunked-up low-mids, darkened highs or nasally/harsh high-mids. You get a subtle but game-changing glue effect that just makes your mix sound more organic.

4 tactile switches allow for line selection, tube drive attenuation, output select (solid state balanced versus transformer) and true bypass. The FOH engineer can connect two mixers, as often needed at live events, and then switch between them just by using the line selector. Tube attenuator switch enables one driving the tubes by 6dB less, while automatically compensating the output so that the listening level stays the same. Detented pots (with 41 detents) are now standard to facilitate quick recall. The middle (“noon”) position has been calibrated for a 0dB gain, so that there is no loudness change when bypassing.

Both channels are affected by the tube mode switch. The pentode mode will have the same output level as the triode mode, facilitating auditioning between triode, pentode and bypass. The result is a warmer and somewhat “glued” stereo image, with a noticeable improvement on the smoothness of high end, something that is typically an issue with digital boards.

Creamliner has been road-tested on tours with artists such as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Kenny Chesney, Beyonce, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, The Who and many others. It passed with flying colors, and earned its permanent spot in the FOH racks! It has also found its way into numerous mastering facilities, who rely on its gluing, tape-like effect to give their masters a more “expensive” touch.

Technical Specifications

*  2 tube modes: triode and pentode
*  2 channels
*  Output mode: Transformer or solid state balanced driver
*  Operating level: +4dBu
*  Frequency response: 10Hz-50kHz
*  Maximum gain: 20dB
*  Harmonic distortion: <2% before clipping level, quickly decreases if driven less.
*  Maximum output level: 32dBu
*  Minimum output load: 600Ohm
*  Connectors: XLR, balanced only
*  Power consumption: 30W
*  All supply voltages regulated.
*  285V Plate voltage for huge headroom
*  Gold plated printed circuit boards with a double copper layer.
*  Gold plated tube sockets
*  2 Cinemag Fe core output transformers (B)