Tech 21
Encyclopedia
Tech 21 is a New York
based manufacturer of guitar and bass effect pedals, amps
, and DI boxes
which allow the user to emulate the tone of many popular guitar amps and record those sounds directly into a mixer
.
Tech 21's core product, the SansAmp, was designed by Andrew Barta and introduced in 1989. Although other companies have manufactured multi-effect units, the Sansamp was unique in that it introduced the concept of amp-modeling, that is, altering guitar sound to emulate different amplifiers, and allowed recording direct to a mixing console.
Other Tech 21 products have included distortion
pedals (Tech 21 XXL, American Woman, etc.) and bass specific pedals, rack mount units (RBI preamp for bass, PSA-1 preamp for guitar) as well as a range of amplifiers (Trademark 30,60,120 combos Landmark heads) that use Sansamp technology built in.
While being the precursor to digital amp modeling technology, Tech 21 has continued to use only analog technology, rather than digital signal processing
, as the driving force behind its tones.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
based manufacturer of guitar and bass effect pedals, amps
Guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker...
, and DI boxes
DI unit
A DI unit, DI box, Direct Box, or simply DI , is a device typically used in recording studios to connect a high-impedance, line level, unbalanced output signal to a low-impedance microphone level balanced input, usually via XLR connector...
which allow the user to emulate the tone of many popular guitar amps and record those sounds directly into a mixer
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
.
Tech 21's core product, the SansAmp, was designed by Andrew Barta and introduced in 1989. Although other companies have manufactured multi-effect units, the Sansamp was unique in that it introduced the concept of amp-modeling, that is, altering guitar sound to emulate different amplifiers, and allowed recording direct to a mixing console.
Other Tech 21 products have included distortion
Distortion (guitar)
Distortion effects create "warm", "dirty" and "fuzzy" sounds by compressing the peaks of a musical instrument's sound wave and adding overtones. The three principal types of distortion effects are overdrive, distortion and fuzz. Distortion effects are sometimes called “gain” effects, as distorted...
pedals (Tech 21 XXL, American Woman, etc.) and bass specific pedals, rack mount units (RBI preamp for bass, PSA-1 preamp for guitar) as well as a range of amplifiers (Trademark 30,60,120 combos Landmark heads) that use Sansamp technology built in.
While being the precursor to digital amp modeling technology, Tech 21 has continued to use only analog technology, rather than digital signal processing
Digital signal processing
Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
, as the driving force behind its tones.