ART Pro Channel

First of all, I have never been a big ART fan. So I'm biased going in and this is just an opinion. The unit has 4 gain stages that give you all the boost you'll ever need. The preamp has gain and preamp, the compressor has a gain knob, and there is a master knob. First of all I don't understand why designers use the color black. The knobs and buttons are all black too and I literally had to get my flashlight out everytime a change was needed. Musicians are cave dwellers and black just doesn't work. Then they have this big bright VU meter that looks very nice but for me, functionless. A preamp, compressor, EQ needs a fast VU and I just had to ignore it and concentrate on the LEDs which were fast and very useful. The manual was sparse and left out an knob that obviously cut bass in the preamp stage but not a word.

The Pro unit immediately caught my ear. It is colored but very musical and warm. It really did wonders for condensor mikes. It added a smooth, silky sound with a strong bass to every mike I put through it including a U87, AKG 414 (which it warmed up, something I thought impossible) and BLUE Kiwi. My only complaint with the sound and it is significant. You really have to work on the gain knobs in order to avoid hiss from the compressor section. I was really surprised that ART had not taken care of this. I hadn't heard electronic hiss in a top of the line product in a long time. It can be tamed but you cannot use the compressor gain knob at all. Makeup gain has to happen with the master gain. This was show a stopper.
I loved the sound. It is very nice but the hiss from the compressor was unexpected and distracting

Overall this unit has a great tone with loads of tube warmth. The EQ section is just right. The layout with the black on black is not for me. The VU meter was beautifully designed but on a black background it was the focal point of the box and I never found a use for it. I do believe that if you like to delve deep into a product there is tons of tone in the Pro Channel to be discovered.

Needs a bit of observation, but the next day you'll be at home. Good manual, too

pros: greatest sonic flexibility you could find on the globe! Almost any sound character you have in your mind is achieveable(including -heavy-distortions, even if only to a certain threshold, beyond that it behaves non-linearly ).Quite silent.Great sound, but not "transparent", a bit nasal.Never metallic.Good for rock...
compressor(tube-based)quite "invisible" to the ear, but not so linear at high settings in "vari-mu" position(the warmer)

haven't it from enough time.Seems reliable, now(see below)

my unit had the i/o chips damaged from factory issue. purchased in late july, got repaired on mid-december!!(that said, most of the shame was due to the italian support,probably)

total control at every stage(PREAMP,COMPRESSOR,EQs)