Buzz Audio MA-2.2Tx

I love my job. Seriously, I do. In what other career field is one able to play with lights, knobs and buttons, listen to music all day, jam with friends and play with all the latest technology? Oh, and you get paid to do it too! What a life. Even more fun is getting the occasional new piece of gear and testing it, playing with it and seeing what all it can do. Sometimes, given the superfluous amount of gear unleashed on the unsuspecting public each year, it’s a disappointing experience. However, other times you’re simply floored with some of the magnificent hardware and software that is available to us today.

Well, the gear under the microscope this time around is that from New Zealand manufacturer Buzz Audio Ltd headed up by Tim Farrant. The MA2.2TX being reviewed was delivered to me courtesy of the US Distributor (and also Buzz Audio dealer), Atlas Pro Audio. More specifically, the particular piece is their flagship microphone preamp, the MA-2.2Tx. The distinguishing ‘Tx’ at the end of the model signifies that this particular version of the MA-2.2 has transformer-balanced outputs (using high-quality Sowter transformers) as well as its standard transformerless topology making it one seriously versatile piece of gear.

A Short Story

Buzz Audio, though not the youngest kid on the pro-audio block, is certainly not one of the big kids on the block either. That is if you define the success of a company on how many units it has sold. However, if you’re looking for an apt analogy, think of Buzz as the quiet kid on the block who not too many people notice until he goes of to Harvard and now rules half of the free world. You see, the stuff Buzz makes is considered to be high-end or boutique gear and they’ve been doing it that way for over 20 years now (well, they’ve been in business for over twenty years, but they started making preamps in 1999). What we’re examining here is not some run of the mill, dirt-cheap rack-crap. Instead, we’re examining some gear which is designed for a specific purpose and in a specific manner and it shows – both in quality and in price.

By examining Buzz Audio’s philosophy, we can begin to understand where a piece of gear like the MA-2.2 comes from. In short, Buzz Audio’s goal is to make high-quality, original gear that sounds great and stands up to time while being a complete and competent, neigh, excellent product on its own without the need to emulate gear of the past. This is why it is easy to understand how the MA-2.2 doesn’t sound, look, or feel like any other preamp I’ve ever used.

Kicking the Tires

As far as packaging goes, this preamp is downright sexy. With its thick, milled aluminum faceplate, gorgeous knobs and switches and ultra-cool blue and red lights, you are bound to elicit some comments from your clients on just how cool your preamp looks! Not only does the unit look sexy, it feels that way too. The sheer mass of this preamp tells you that there are either some seriously high-quality components inside or at the very least, several small lead bricks. (Upon opening it up, I was pleased to see that there were no bricks at all, instead, there were simply gorgeous components all hand mounted and wired. No surface-mount stuff here.) Also, the switches and knobs are such that they instill confidence when you use them. Those of you who are in the US and similar markets be prepared though; the switches work backwards of what you are used to. To turn the unit and phantom power on, the switch is thrown downwards, rather than upwards.

Not being one to be content with just how cool a unit looks either in person or on paper, I decided to test out the unit every way that I could with my limited test bench here. First, I tested the sexy knobs on the gain trim. Yes, I said sexy knobs! I absolutely love detented controls for gain and other adjustments. When recording in stereo, it’s a must to have matched levels and it’s great to be able to recreate those levels when necessary. Splitting a mono 1kHz wave test signal through my patchbay, I fed each channel of the preamp an identical feed (as validated using voltage through my trusty Radio Shack multimeter). Then, feeding the signals back into Sequoia onto separate tracks, I was able to verify the similarity between levels of both channels of the preamp at each detent setting. Pleasingly, the channels never were more than .3dB away from each other and often considerably closer than that. My litmus for any stereo preamp is at least gain matching to less than .5dB. The Buzz passes with flying colors.

Next, I like to test the phantom power output whenever possible. Many newer and budget oriented pres don’t fare well against this test. A good clean 48 volts is crucial to many high-quality condensers, and this is where many fail to deliver. I’ve measured as low as 35 volts on lesser units as well as serious fluctuations when other units in the rack are powered up or down. Needless to say, fluctuations in the voltage are never positive when dealing with phantom power. Respectably, the Buzz units put out a rather consistent 49.5 to 49.8 volts and never fluctuated by more than .1 volt throughout their power cycle. Again, quite impressive.

Since many of Buzz’s specs for the MA2.2 are well out of the scope of my ability to test, I am simply going on faith that they are capable of performing as they indicate. The specs for this unit are quite impressive I should add. Frequency response is rated at 20 Hz-250 kHz at 65 dB of gain which extends to an even lower 4 Hz cutoff point at 20dB gain with a very impressive distortion figure of .008% for most of the audible band. Also indicated is an incredibly impressive slew rate of 140v per microsecond. What this means is that this pre is fast – damn fast. With transients, the preamp is able to let go of the note a lot quicker than your average pre, giving the impression of a more open, accurate preamp. This is one of the most impressive ratings that I’ve ever seen and after a good listen, I’m inclined to believe every word of it.

The Test Drive

I didn’t have the opportunity to have this preamp for long and I knew that I wouldn’t going into this review. So, I loaded up as many bookings as I could during the few weeks I had it.. My first engagement for this preamp was a rather good semi-professional choir located just a little ways away from my studio. This was a good test for this pre, as I’m assuming most people interested in this unit will be using it for remote recording gigs of classical, instrumental and choral type music. My weapons of choice in the microphone arena were Schoeps CMC 6 MK 2 s omni microphones feeding a Monster Cable custom snake into the Buzz MA2.2Tx. On this particular recording, I ran straight to 2-track, so this AB pair through the Buzz was my only pair.

Since this was a live performance engagement in a rather decent auditorium, once I was done my initial set up, I was able to simply sit back and listen while my PC running Sequoia was more or less in autopilot mode. It’s a good thing too, because that’s all I did – listen; partially because I wanted to see how this little gem would perform but also because it kind of sucked me in. Given the flexibility of this particular unit having two separate outputs – transformerless unbalanced output and the Sowter transformer balanced output, I took full advantage and recorded to 4 tracks – a pair for both output types. It was very interesting to hear how both output types treated the signal. Truthfully, it was very hard for me to determine which I liked better.

The transformerless side treated the sound as smoothly, clearly and cleanly as any preamp I’ve ever heard. Note, I’m not suggesting that it sounded etched or glassy in any way. Rather, the way it handled the mass voices was something of a magic trick. Heaven forbid, they actually sounded like real voices coming through the monitors! Many a preamp mutilates the human voice in a choir setting in such a way as to add some kind of scratchy brittleness to it, rendering the voices almost as synthesized instruments. Not so with the Buzz. The Sowter outputs retained much of the transormerless’ clear and open qualities, but added a tad bit more depth to the basses and lower tenor parts. Not weight necessarily, just depth. If there were any sacrifice at all, I would say that it slightly took away from the extreme top end of the signal but only a tiny amount. You could still easily discern the space in which the choir was performing just by listening to the recording.

My next recording came from a local university orchestra which I record at least 4 to 5 times yearly. I’m quite familiar with the hall (which, on a side note, sucks horribly) and have a very good relationship with the music director. He was quite eager to be my guinea pig for this go around. The piece in question was Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien; a very dynamic piece of music which throws just about every orchestral instrument into the mix. Foregoing the omnis as main pairs considering the quality of the hall, I used Schoeps CMC 6 MK 4 cardioid microphones in an ORTF pattern running through the Buzz. Augmenting the main pair was a set of Schoeps CMC 6 MK 2S microphones as the flanks, Gefell M296 microphones as surrounds (for later use in a DVD-A/DVD-V production) and Neumann TLM 127 microphones as spot mics. All other mics were run through either DAV or Grace microphone preamplifiers.

Many times, when using ORTF for a full orchestra, I just don’t feel like the mix is capable of standing up on its own without the addition of the flank microphones. I can’t say that this preamp magically made me feel otherwise, but it sure did get me a lot closer. In this case, I actually preferred the sound of the transformer balanced outputs simply because I did get the extra low frequency depth that I so often feel is missing from an ORTF pair. I could almost use the mains alone (with a good reverb processor) and be just fine. The dynamics of the orchestra were excellent but didn’t show up the preamp in the slightest. The Buzz was able to keep the pace with the lowest of pianissimos and the loudest fortissimos without ever straining.

My final “big” test for the MA-2.2 Tx was to use it on what Buzz Audio claims to be its best application – Acoustic Guitar. Local artist Jon Senna was in the studio for a good 6 hour session. His song stylings are much like Live meets John Mayer. His small acoustic guitar really doesn’t project much, but certainly works well in an up-close, intimate setting. For this session, I used the mic pre to pickup a Beyer M130 ribbon microphone and a Schoeps CMC 6 MK 4 in a Mid-Side pattern. With the preamp in the Hi Z setting for both mics, the sound transcended every preamp I had here in my arsenal. Simply put, the guitar was sitting cleanly between my Dynaudio monitors with such a presence and realism that it was borderline spooky.

In addition to using the pre on the guitar, I also used it on Jon’s delicate, whisper-like voice. Using a SoundElux U195, I compared the sound of the Buzz with the sound of the Langevin Dual Mic Pre. These are two decidedly different sounding mic preamps but both built with amazing quality and attention to detail. Ultimately, it was a very hard decision to make – both pres sounded amazing with Jon’s voice, but the Langevin edged out the Buzz ever so slightly in this case. Overall, it had just a little bit more weight to it. That’s not to say the Buzz fared poorly. It didn’t. In fact, it sounded truly amazing; open, clear, not strident in the least. In this case, we were just aiming for a slightly weighted sound.

The tests with the Buzz Audio MA-2.2Tx didn’t end there, but these were the big evaluations. In every scenario in which I used the MA-2.2Tx, ranging from drum overheads, crunched guitar, screaming vocals, hand percussion and more I found myself really enjoying its sound and its flexibility. Whether it was the convenience and sound-altering capabilities of the impedance switching, the functionality of the mute switch when shutting the unit off or changing out microphones, the flexibility of two different types of outputs or just the sheer enjoyment that the sound of this beautiful preamp brought out, I was always able to use it in any and all sessions that came my way while I was graced with its presence.

The Rest of the Story

If I was told that I had to go live on a deserted island with only on microphone pair and one 2-channel preamp I don’t think I’d have a tough time deciding. The mic would undoubtedly be the Schoeps CMC 6 MK 2s (I’d sneak the MK4 caps with me even if it meant I had to do so in other than hygienic means). As for the preamp, it wouldn’t really be all that tough either. The Buzz tops a very short list of pres and given it’s two completely different output types and sounds, I’d say this might just be THE deserted island pre. I have almost entirely positive things to say about this preamp with only two minor gripes. First, I’d like to see the labeling issue cleared up regarding their balanced outputs and TRS outputs. Second, despite the rather manly build of this unit, the rack ears themselves are a tad thin. If you’re not cautious with how you screw this unit into a rack, you might find yourself with some bent (albeit straighten-able) rack ears.

Those two terribly minor gripes aside, I can’t imagine any preamp besting the Buzz in sound and flexibility. If you’ve been in the market for a do-it-all pre, one that competes with the “big kids on the block” such as Millennia or Grace, but want something a tad more flexible, and I dare say even better sounding, pick yourself up a MA-2.2Tx and never look back. Sure, at $2,400 (street) it ain’t exactly cheap but when you use it, you’ll realize very quickly that even at that price, it’s a value.

MSRP -
MA2.2 - $2600
MA2.2TX - $2975

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