hey ccr,
to (1): the device is what it is, and as such has an FCC and CE regulation pass statement (which alone costs 6400 EUR). the crude version number comes from the development - we built 12 prototypes to reach this circuit. we might do a revision2 to…
(2) include balanced connections. right now it is unbalanced. the reason is, one of the earlier prototypes (5.1.5) had a balanced connection. we weren’t using the transformers for balancing because we use them for saturation so Michael included a tiny diode-based circuit (if I remember right) which reduced the aggressiveness for about 1db of LUfs.
thats why I said no, we prefer loudness over balanced, thinking about elektron machines and the absolute practicability of their solution (unbalanced but accepting all possible connections).
(3) that exact same device (5.1.5) had a metering included, just the way all of us (including me) want: left/right LEDs with one orange strip in the opposite direction that shows gain reduction. we ran into two major problems with that: first, we experienced incredible noises in the audio circuit that cost us around half a year to solve (including Michael being very very close to cancel the whole project). we solved it! but second: as you see, the device is built as small as possible (IOSIS can tell how small it really is) which brought up the issue that the potis needed to be the smalles stereo potis available on the market. the problem with those potis is: the tolerance from the manufacturer in L/R differences is 20% which wasn’t acceptable for me. I saw me doing the last checkup for every device that goes to a customer and hearing a different device everytime.
but yeah, the metering topic is probably for me the one where I can understand criticism the most - in fact it is totally possible to hear what it does and control it by ear but therefore you need a controlled listening environment (that’s why I emphasize in-ears for live-play). the reason why I use external meters is to prove what it does and not faking around with different levels.
(4) the EQ is a “clone” of a trident circuit and it sounds very good (just as mijk van dijk in the bonedo test states) but because it has only two bands (the two that are important during soundcheck for quick adjustments to the PA) I won’t market it alone. I haven’t compared the pure compressor against the official one from SSL so I cannot say anything substantial about it. I wish someone else would do it and post a video as this would be more valuable in itself. what I can say: against my api 2500, our comp sounds much more clean and neutral, not as “expensive” or colouring. I don’t emphasize on the comp as such because the circuit in a whole does something extraordinary, bigger than the sum of its parts. but yeah, I should order the SSL for the 500 box and hear it myself.
all the best from Hamburg
(edited: fcc regulation test costs us 6400, not half of it, that was only my part)