Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander

The Waza Tube Amp Expander from Japanese company Boss is a reactive load box for full tube amplifiers. This flexible device offers everything you'll need, whether on the rack or in the studio - a power brake with high-end speaker and microphone emulation, a 100W analogue Class AB limiter, a bank of IRs, a DSP processor (32-bit AD/DA converters, 96kHz sample rate) and premium-quality stereo effects with customizable effects (compressor, delay, reverb and four EQs).

With the Waza Tube Expander, you can "mould" any tube machine with up to 150 W of power to the optimum tube performance without risking hearing damage to yourself or others - both in live concerts and in the studio. Even when the volume is turned down significantly with an attenuator, the sound does not degrade and retains its juicy character. Your machine, whether a vintage combo or a modern hi-gain amplifier, will behave as if it were connected to your favourite speaker.

The integrated speaker simulator offers a total of twenty-two speaker emulations using five different close-mics and three types of surround microphones. Waza Expander doesn't forget about players who may not be comfortable with the emulation menu and offers four slots for user IR. Ten of your favourite presets can be stored in the Expander's memory, which you can then select between with the Rig control. Front-panel controls are used to activate the built-in effects, and software editing of effects is a given. You can also connect a Boss GA-FC footswitch to the device to easily control presets and other functions (delay, tap tempo, solo/EQ, effects loop, instrument channel switching) in real time. The Expander is also compatible with the Boss FS series of footswitches, and you can control advanced settings via MIDI.

The Expander's flexibility is well illustrated by its rich connectivity. The rear panel offers a tube input with selectable impedance (4, 8, 16 Ohms), two parallel outputs to external speakers and an effects loop (-10/+4 dB) with parallel or serial connection. There are also inputs for footswitches (GA-FC, FX Loop), Amp Ctl jack with Latch, Pulse and Invert modes, MIDI In/Out, USB interface for direct recording to DAW, headphone output and three XLR line outputs (Mono and L/R stereo) for connection to recording devices, stage monitors and mixers.

A user manual and power cord are included.