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4. Two 16-ohm cabinets connected to the 8-ohm jacks;

Summary: 16 Z + 16 Z -> connected to 8-ohm + 8-ohm output.

5. One 16-ohm cabinet connected to the 16-ohm jack;

Summary: 16 Z -> connected to 16-ohm output.

6. An 8-ohm cabinet connected to one of the 4-ohm jacks in combination

with a 16-ohm cabinet connected to one of the 8-ohm jacks

Summary: 8 Z + 16 Z -> connected to 4-ohm + 8-ohm output.

A few words from the designer on your ENGL INVADER II Amp's sounds and
settings as well as some practical tips:

A lot painstaking attention to detail and a great deal of time went into tuning this

novel amp head. You'll find that the four channels' gain ranges overlap a bit. There's

definitely some similarity at the crossover points. Channel 1 and Channel 2 share some

common ground, as do Channel 3 and Channel 4. This is intentional, and serves some

very sensible sound-sculpting purposes. Higher Gain settings in the 12-to-3 o'clock

range push Channel 1 into moderate overdrive, depending on how hot your pickups

are. Activating High Gain propels this channel into the dirt zone that much earlier. This

means you can use this channel for ultra clean chord work or for grittier riffs and leads,

with the amount of dirt hinging upon how hard you attack the strings. If you add the

guitar's volume knob to the sonic equation, you get a vast spectrum of subtle tonal

variations in just this one channel. The same goes for Channel 2: Its spectrum ranges

from clean with the Gain knob set to around 1 o'clock or lower, again depending on

the pickup, to a touch of vintage-style grit with Gain when set no higher than about 3

o'clock. At higher Gain settings and with High Gain activated, hotter pickups such as

humbuckers will even serve up enough oomph for punchy leads. Channel 1 and

Channel 2 are voiced differently, with Channel 2 eliciting a slightly different frequency

response.

The four channels' tone controls also respond differently, so I suggest you perform an

initial sound-check by setting the knobs between 10 and 2 o'clock and auditioning the

results. This amp employs passive EQ. Note that its range is narrower than a

comparable active EQ. I opted for passive tone controls simply because they sound

sweeter in combination with tubes.

Note that High Gain mode affects all preamp channels. This lets you conjure two

sounds with markedly different gain structures and voicings for each channel.

This successor model is not just INVADER "I" reloaded. All four channels' sound

structures have been modified somewhat, so let's take a closer look at the four

channels' gain ranges:

is relatively sedate and great for conjuring sweet,

squeaky-clean tones. It won't start to break up until you dial in relatively high gain

levels, which will just roughen up the edges of the preamp signal. This channel sounds

very warm with midrange frequencies figuring prominently.

Channel 1 in Low Gain mode

On the Subject of Sounds and Settings

25

Summary of Contents for INVADER II

Page 1: ...Operator s Manual Please first read this manual carefully 4 Channel Full Tube Guitar Amplifier with MIDI Control INVADER II...

Page 2: ...IN OR MOISTURE CAUTION Footswitch Serial Amp Control Port CAUTION Connect Custom Footswitch Z 9 Only Midi Thru Midi In Midi Foot Controller Channel Up Down 1 3 2 4 Midi Channel Amp Mute Signal Outputs...

Page 3: ...on Amp Mute and the P T M System Power Ground Lift Switch Low High Gain Volume Ratio Control CH 1 CH 2 CH 3 CH 4 Pre Out Line Out Poweramp Output speaker options Mains Mains Fuse MIDI Section and Foo...

Page 4: ...hniques for instance Channel 4 for and an power chords Channel 3 for with an All four channels offer Low Gain High Gain switching as well as dedicated Gain and Volume knobs and a 3 band EQ for each ch...

Page 5: ...al spectrum tremendously Separate Gain Volume 3 band EQ channels 1 2 3 and 4 128 MIDI presets INVADER II amp offers three different remote interface ports Programmable Noise Gate 5 an that s versatile...

Page 6: ...the two and settings when using the ENGL Sound Wizard module optional The LED above the button lights up to indicate the Sound function is enabled It may also be switched via MIDI program change or th...

Page 7: ...a few more words to an optional feature that extends the tonal capabilities of the Sound function on the INVADER II amp It caters to demanding players who want to sculpt their sound with the surgical...

Page 8: ...cking or active jobs dial in settings between 10 and 1 o clock and activate This is the preamp voicing section s passive low frequency EQ for This is the preamp voicing section s passive midrange freq...

Page 9: ...determines the preamp s input sensitivity when Channel 3 is selected and by extension the preamp signal s saturation level Like Channel 4 Channel 3 s gain structures range from to extreme making it a...

Page 10: ...of Channel3 spreampanddialinthedesiredbalancewiththeotherthreechannels levels Becausethisknobislocatedpreeffectsloop italsodeterminesthesendlevelsforbothFX loopswhen isselected TheredLEDtotherightofth...

Page 11: ...te undesirable peripheral noise in overdriven channels This is attributable to the physical properties of an amp s constituent components in particular its active components That s right those cherish...

Page 12: ...options are too numerous to mention so switch back and forth between Low and High Gain in each of the four channels and vary the Gain knob settings to get to know their tonal characteristics and make...

Page 13: ...ected and by extension the preamp signal s saturation level hannel 4 has plenty of headroom so I recommend setting the Gain knob to somewhere between 8 and 1 o clock This will let you dial in impressi...

Page 14: ...amp The red LED to the right of the Channel 4 Volume knob 30 lights up to indicate Channel 4 is active Channel 4 may also be activated via MIDI program change the ENGL Custom Z 9 Footswitch or a dual...

Page 15: ...a programmable feature to a MIDI memory slot generally called a preset Here s how to distinguish between and with the former you re actually programming or writing a new MIDI preset with the latter y...

Page 16: ...sly programmed MIDI preset a MIDI controller 7 or 28 command see chapter 46 to learn more or by sending the appropriate Z 9 command to the Serial Amp Control Port 47 Deactivate by setting Standby 38 f...

Page 17: ...6 If none of these ports is in use flipping the Standby switch will not activate the power amp This ensures the amp is not operated without a connected load In addition an electronic surveillance syst...

Page 18: ...during short breaks In this mode current is not piped through the power tubes so they don t get as hot due to the lack of anode dissipation and are spared considerable wear The amp is ready to run wh...

Page 19: ...power supply for connected ENGL MIDI foot boards Power is fed to the board via the MIDI circuit When the switch is set to the left position power is routed to the MIDI In port s pin 1 and pin 2 refer...

Page 20: ...e MIDI channel 1 2 3 4 5 6 OMNI OFF XX XX XX XX XX CH 1 ON OFF OFF OFF OFF XX CH 2 ON OFF OFF OFF ON XX CH 3 ON OFF OFF ON OFF XX CH 4 ON OFF OFF ON ON XX CH 5 ON OFF ON OFF OFF XX CH 6 ON OFF ON OFF...

Page 21: ...eo jack plugs This MIDI enabled foot board is a custom design that switches every amp feature designated as footswitchable in this manual To learn if a given feature may be controlled remotely refer t...

Page 22: ...erent levels of noise and I tuned the ENGL INVADER s Noise Gate accordingly However there is some minor matching variance between the two stands to benefit most from the Noise Gate so I suggest that y...

Page 23: ...connected effect device is patched to the power amp serial 100 wet Set this knob to when this loop is not in use This knob adjusts the balance of volume levels between in Low Gain mode and in High Gai...

Page 24: ...or diverse cabinet options An electronic surveillance system constantly monitors if a plug is inserted into the speaker outputs 62 63 64 65 and 66 If a plug is not inserted into one of these 5 jacks t...

Page 25: ...just this one channel The same goes for Channel 2 Its spectrum ranges from clean with the Gain knob set to around 1 o clock or lower again depending on the pickup to a touch of vintage style grit wit...

Page 26: ...ure yet another gain stage in each channel if you happen to need a little more sonic firepower Beyond that I voiced Channels 3 and 4 differently Channel 4 s midrange is scooped and its hair trigger re...

Page 27: ...ity to put that processor to even better use and employ it to power a couple of reassuring protection systems One is which checks every power tube individually the other is a speaker output surveillan...

Page 28: ...dicate that is activated 3 Select the target preset via the MIDI foot board you have approx 30 seconds to do this The amp automatically quits Copy mode 30 seconds after it is activated 4 Press and hol...

Page 29: ...fe Replace tubes with selected tubes that satisfy ENGL selection criteria to forestall microphonic properties undesirable noise and unbalanced power amp signals Because power tubes idle current bias m...

Page 30: ...also extinguishes once the new setting has been stored 4 Copy process was activated by pressing the Write Copy button Indication LED lights up continuously What to do If desired cancel the Copy opera...

Page 31: ...n to check if the preamp is actually receiving data Is another foot board the ENGL Z 9 or a two way footswitch connected and therefore blocking MIDI reception Is at least one speaker connected to the...

Page 32: ...e problem try detaching the Sound Wizard module from the amplifier by unplugging the connection between the two To do this first disconnect the amp from the mains power let it cool down if it was powe...

Page 33: ...al Programmer EEPROM 93C66 for data retention Asynchronous data protocol according to the MIDI standard Proprietary ENGL asynchronous data protocol approx l x h x d approx 27 95 x 11 x 11 4 in approx...

Page 34: ..._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Reason _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3 Replaced on _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 20 _ _ _ Replaced by _...

Page 35: ...MIDI data wire Pin 5 MIDI data wire Pin 2 power supply approx 11 volts AC Pin 3 N C page 19 Stereo 1 4 jack Serial Amp Control Port 47 tip 5 volts ring Data sleeve Ground GND Very important use a ster...

Page 36: ...MPN set switch loop status On or Off with 5 6 7 8 for the respective Loop store the setting with 0 Send controller value commands with 1 or 2 switch between the default controller value and the initi...

Page 37: ...E COPY MUTE HIGH GAIN INVADER II S W M Amp Tube GAIN 2 GAIN I MIDDLE MIDDLE TREBLE TREBLE VOLUME 2 VOLUME I GAIN 4 GAIN 3 TREBLE TREBLE VOLUME 3 VOLUME 4 MASTER A PRESENCE MASTER B DEPTH PUNCH INPUT P...

Page 38: ...ly or newly selected configuration For example if LED 3 flashes when the Z 9 s Setup routine is activated then the INVADER s switching feature is currently assigned to the corresponding S A C command...

Page 39: ...AIN OR MOISTURE CAUTION Footswitch Serial Amp Control Port CAUTION Connect Custom Footswitch Z 9 Only Midi Thru Midi In Midi Foot Controller Channel Up Down 1 3 2 4 Midi Channel Amp Mute Signal Output...

Page 40: ...ube Amp Technology Tube Amp Technology ENGL Ger tebau GmbH Germany Internet www engl amps com Text design graphics and layout by Horst Langer Amp Designer Photography INVADER II Amp Stefan Wibbeke R R...

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