Engl 530 Preamp

2003 model , this thing is the most versatile non-midi programable preamp i ever owned !
2 channels , clean and lead , with hi/lo gain for each one + contour for lead channel !

3 band eq for clean and 4 band eq for lead .

i wish it would be a little bit less noisy , but my hush fixed the problem easily .

very sensitive knobs , lot of sounds in this preamp !
i never use the bright on clean channel .

i just replaced my v-twin rack mounted , for a mesa recto recording , and then replaced it for the Engl 530 .

i loved the v-twin but it didn't have enough gain !
i liked the rectifier , but it didn't have a decent clean channel , + the bad feeling of "NO ATTACK" when you play it.

then i went into this unit , and what a surprise , cleans are really nice , distortions really brutal , this unit is much better than the rectifier preamp which is 3 times more expensive !
i guess that if it was written "MESA BOOGIE" instead of "ENGL" it would cost at least twice the price it is !!!

i really wanted good cleans , to play with my ibanez sa 1260 (with dimarzio pick ups :fast track 1 neck and paf pro bridge) , and brutal distortions to use with my ibanez rg 7620 (dimarzio custom 7 pickups).
this engl 530 is what i needed for only 350? used .
i only replaced the tubes ,by one electro harmonix and one sovtek LP.

seems to be build like a tank , it s german product ya know!!!!

don t want to know untill i need .

the best preamp , over many i owned( peavey rockmaster , rocktron chameleon, vamp-pro wich is crappy thing, mesa boogie v-twin rack mounted that i will buy again as a second preamp for blues rock things, mesa boogie recto recording preamp too expensive for what it gives,marshall jmp1 wish is a joke....+ those that i tryed lag spitfire , rocktron voudu valve,rocktron gainiac,mesa boogie triaxis too expensive, cae 3+se not my taste... )

Two channels, lead and clean, a hi/lo gain switch and contour on the leadchannel. This gives 6 sounds, especially versatile in the distortion area, which is what I bought it for.
Two line outs plus two 'frequency emulated' outs, which should emulate a 4x12, send, returns, headphone out which can also function as a 1.5 w poweramp. They've got things covered.
I needed a great sounding, affordable and rackmountable 'guitaramp', for live and recording use. Together with my fx, synthmodule and looper, everything goes into one linemixer in my 8 unit rack.
Channel switching works perfectly with my behringer FCB 1010, but I'm going to do it via a nobels ms4, so I can switch the contour and preamp defeat too. The dedicated Z11 is much too expensive imo.

My guitar's a LAG Roxanne, a handcrafted Hamer replica, with very hot custom LAG Alnico humbuckers.
My music style goes from 70's prog, fusion and psych, to metal and electro. I need a wide palette of sounds. Most important thing for me is a brutal and saturated, but tight and transparent distortion.
I've read remarks here about it being a very noisy amp. Ok, when you've got the leadgain above 7 in highgain mode, you've got noise, but only normal for those kind of settings. A little noisegate from my Boss VF1 takes most noise away without affecting sustain or tone.
Cleans are really clean, and stay that way: so for blues guys who need that breakup, it's not the thing probably. For my needs, it's perfect. Clean in higain mode gives a crunchy sound, which reminds me a little of a Vox. Still, little breakup.
Then : the lead channel. With the gain, two knobs for lo and hi mid plus contour, you can get a very wide array from overdrive to nuclear meltdown. I play a lot of dissonant chords, and even at a setting of 7 gain in higain mode, those chords still come through clearly. I'm ridiculously happy about that. The lowend is very tight.
Enough raving, time for a downside : as I've said, I use it direct, and the 4x12 emulation is not very convincing. It sounds very direct, and rather eq'd than through a cab. I can fix this in my daw though, and when playing through my keyboard amp KX1200, it does sound great. I haven't tried it through a guitaramp yet, but I'm sure it's great.
I'm going to try a Behringer UltraG and Rocktron Xpression for cab sim though. Another weird thing : the clean channel is much louder than the lead! And when you choose the higain mode for the clean channel, the soundlevel drops. No biggy, I just boost the eq (flat) in my VF1, and it's levelled. Still weird though.
Overall, after messing with the pod xt for a year, I'm on cloud nine.
Not a ten, just for the unconvincing cab sim.

Can't tell yet.

Forums on the Engl site don't seem to work, and there's no email contact adress, except for the webmasters. Mailed to him last week, haven't heard anything yet.
I bought it from Musik Schmid in Germany by mail, and I can send it in for free if it needs repairing. Two year warranty.

I'm very happy with it. It's a topsound, I had a Rivera BM60 once, and this is right up there with it, and more versatile and brutal in the distortion side. It sounds way better than Mesa's three times its price, or the Marshall jmp which costs twice as much.
If money were no object, I'd get the midi programmable 580, but in this price range, this can't be beat.
I need a 'guitaramp' that I can build into a rack, and can treat it like a line signal just like my midi guitar synth, to go to my fx and looper, so I've been using a pod xt for that. The bean shape was terrible, the rack too expensive, and the higains completely sucked. The 530 was a lifesaver ;-)
Higly recommended.

see http://engl-amps.com

I miss a headphone-out at the front and a beer cradle - oh shit NO, I miss nothing!!

Like the other guys wrote, this Preamp is a outrageous hammer! I can get what i want, what I need - real Rock'n Roll Sounds! Crunky and Clean to Heavy and Aggressive - everything.

The Leadchannel in High Gain Position is toooooo noisy - even with a gate you have to much noise while playing! I use Lead on Lo Gain with a booster (Engl 620 :-)

The Fuse was damaged one time - don't know why - but there is a spare one! No other Problems till now for 2 Years

PERFECT! This is the only word you need to describe the Engl-Support!

Warranty is 2 Years (german law)

Play over 25 years and this is one of the things I will use for livetime!

3 Band EQ on Clean, 4 Band on Distort'd; Mids are div'd into Hi/lo. FX Loop, Hi/Lo Gain switch that effects both channels simultaneously.
Contour switch which is like the bright switch in the clean channel, only more pronounced. It seemed quite plain in terms of features offered, despite its low price tag.

The Distortion is indeed brutal, yet when set on High Gain it is an unbearably noisy amp. You can get some great tones with a bit o' patience - Both clean and Dirty; a full spectrum is indeed available it is let down by an unstable high gain, which the M/B V-twin preamp that I tried b4hand didn't have. It is good because it is a obscure company which will only add to your search for indiviual tone, but you're gonna need something to squash that noise. If a noisegate works the next time I try it, I'll amend this rating as a perfect 10.

It is well built, what else do I have a right to say? on't own one...yet

Again...

I have been dicking around for 10 years, I am nowhere near as good as I should be...yet :) I have owned an Epiphone Flying V, a Big Muff (Siamese Dream's aplenty) a Solidstate Marshall (Pre-Valvestate). I wish it had MIDI Patch Memories like the 620 apparently did. I tried out a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin RM Preamp which was also good, but a bit carbon copy James Hetfield.

2 (or 4??) channel 2-tube preamp... Check the other reviews... I mainly use the extremely overdriven channel and I find the eq very good but you'll still need external control of the sound. Let's say it's as good as it gets before it enters your outboard compressor, equalizer etc...

I bought the preamp mainly for DI recording in DAW... I've been using Rocktron Chameleon, POD, Roland VG-88, H&K Tubeman, Amplitube etc... etc... Finally I found the answer to direct recording heavy distorted guitars. Here's what I found out: The Engl 530 is the closest I've heard to a real miced up heavy guitar sound (no I haven't tried the rectifier preamp yet, and I don't feel I have to). Still DI is a compromise... What I do is double-tracking the guitars and hard panning them left/right, then running them through a room ambience impulse modeler... Just a tiny bit of ambience so you can feel it rather than hear it. Then I run them through the tape compression emulation of PSP Mix Saturator... That's it, I'm done... I never have to search a guitarsound again.

It's fairly new, can't comment on that yet... But it feels sturdy to say the least...

The only criticism I have is that the machine itself is quite noisy which is annoying in a one room recording environment, but just be sure you turn it off before you record vocals and it shouldn't really be a problem. Still, because of its sound, I wouldn't like to go back to a life without it!

two channels, clean and lead, with a boost feature for both. the variable output gain is nice, if your power-amp needs some adjustment. the headphone-output is ok but the sound definitly is not what a real amp sounds like (i did not expect that btw) for the rest please take a look at the other reviews.

I use the 530 with a gibson les paul and a modified ibanez. what i like most about the engl is the flexibility. all the knobs do do exactly, what they are supposed to do. the eq works very good, but most of all i like the whole spectrum of distortion. from totally clean and punchy to total, never ending distortion it is all there. i owned an engl preamp 13 years ago which had some nice sounds but had some setbacks to, but the 530 seems pretty perfect to me - good sound very little noise

cant tell because its pretty new, but the case and knobs seem to be very sturdy, the design is ok too.

No idea, sorry!

I.m playing for 15 years now and tried different amps. For the price payed you get a lot. i really like this machine, if i ever loose it, i buy it again.

2 channel tube preamp (2x ECC83). 3 band EQ for clean channel, 4 band EQ for lead channel. Gain and volume knobs for both channel, plus bright on the clean and contour for the lead. Very easy to use.
Built-in 1.5 W poweramp, effects loop.

Here is my rig:
Jackson guitar w/DiMarzio Evolution pickups - Boss GT5 in loop - Marshall EL84 20/20 poweramp - Mesa 1x12' cabinet
The sound quality is very good and the amp is extremely versatile. Using the four channels of this unit you can go from nice clean sounds to crunch, lead and even savage distortion. This preamp really kicks ass and truly delivers that nice tube sound, even at high gain settings. When connected to my Boss effects, it can give me all the sounds I want. Truly amazing, it just sounds as good as my Boogie studio preamp.

Very dependable. Unlike my Marshall poweramp, which overheated lots of times, this unit is very sturdy. Built in Germany, enough said.
I would use it without a backup. I've neve had problems with it. That's a parfect 10.

Never had to deal with them

I mostly play heavy metal and this unit suits my style very well. If you're looking for a high gain preamp and can't afford a Boogie, then this amp is definitely for you. The tone is very good, but I only wish the preamp was delivered with a footswitch. I give it only a 9 for this reason and also because it's hard to find Engl amps in Europe unless you live in Germany

2 channel preamp - sounds great, I think everything has been said.

This is the Holy Grail of preamps, I've had several, (mesa, rocktron,tube works ect..)

Built very sturdy. Looks good, sounds better!!

Never had to deal with them, that a 10 right there!!

Sounds great, Heres my rig - Les Paul > Lexicon MPX G-2 (+R1 pedal) > ENGL Preamp (in Loop), one lead goes to a Korg DRT tuner > BBE sonic maximizer > Carvin T100 tube rack amplifier > Genz Benz G-flex 2/12 cab. The setup will knock your balls off. Crystal Clean to Van Halen instantly....

This 19" Preamp has four Tubes and 3 channels which can be switched by foot-switch or MIDI (Option).Effectloop and headphone-jack which has enough power to run through small speakers for practicing.
I think it has all Features a non-digital Preamp can have.

I play a Jackson Soloist with humbuckers. The Preamp runs through the ENGL 2x50 tube power amp to the 4x12" Marshall. A quadraverb is linked with the effectloop to use an extra-EQ in the lead-channel and chorus/reverb in clean-channel. Like many other guitarists I was searching for a couple of years for the real power metal sound with high distortion, though I play many kind of music style. I ended up with engl. The clean channel is even with high level clean, though I dont't care. The crunch channel has gain like a marshall at full lead level ( If you press all the boost- buttons on the engl). So the lead-channel has ultra high gain that shreds everything else away. The difference to other good preamps with high gain (like ADA MP1) is that the engl sounds more aggresive and with a lot of pressure. And it doesn't make to much noise (I hate noise). There may be other good units out there, but it is probably impossible to create the engl-sound with them. On the other hand it is not possible to create any sound with the ENGL 530. I give it a 10 for the brutal distortion and sound character with low noise. Jazz-guys may find it useless.

This unit is seems very reliable. I bought it used and own it now 9 years (gigs included). One time I had to change one of the lead-channel tubes, but this has nothing to do with Engl.

I had never to deal with them.

Since 11 years I shred my Jackson. I like the style of chilli peppers, Incubus, papa roach and also slipknot. On my journey to the perfect metal sound I started with marshall tops and the preamp which sounded all boring to me. The Peavey rockmaster was ok, but I didn't trust it, maybe a good alternate if the budget is low. I tried a Zoom multieffect which was totally useless. I also tried the Digitech 2021 which was interesting because of the effects. The distortion was ok but not perfect. Then I owned a ADA MP1 for one year. It had a great sound and high distortion and for sure I would still have it, but then I heard about the brutal sound of the Engl, and the guy who wrote that in a guitar-mag was right! Just mesa boogie I didn't try (just a combo).
I wish it would have a multieffect included, but that is not what it is made for. And it could be a little lighter, the metal case is like the sound! The ADA had a third of the weight and had tubes as well and not just chips. But allover I have to give a ten. A preamp can be different, but not better.

I bought this amp brand new, so I guess it was manufactured somewhere this year. I decided to buy it after testing it at the store, which was a pretty convincing affair. I wanted to replace my good old - but sadly discontinued productionwise - H&K Attax pre-amp. The amp has two main channels (clean and lead) with the usual tone and effect loop amenities (see other reviews below), and lo/hi switches per main channel. It's a pretty straight forward kind of pre-amp, (thankfully) devoid of flashy unnecessities. Although it's an all-tube pre-amp, I didn't get any crunch out of the clean-lo gain channel, not even with a Gibson LP.
I extended this amp with the Z11 midi switcher because midi is a prerequisite for me. The amp itself may be reasonably priced (less than ? 600), the options are pretty costly though. All in all, including the rackmount plate, the amp is no bargain. With the Z11 mounted, channels, lo/hi gain per channel, bypass and contour (on the lead channel, a handy feature to get a few dB's extra on a solo) can be switched through midi which is enough for me.

The rig I mounted this pre-amp in includes a TC G-force fx unit and a Peavey Classic 50/50 (tube) power amp, driving one BagEnd and one Celestion monitor. I play Gibson LP (Alnico 495 humbuckers), PRS Standard (PRS humbuckers), Blade R4 (Levinson single coil pick ups) and Ibanez JS 1000 (DiMarzio 395 mV humbuckers) guitars. I play anything from jazz via hardcore to heavy metal, except blues, live, in studios and on rehearsals so I use it quite intensely. After tweaking it some, I got great sounds out of the 530 for all my guitars. As with any pre-amp, the channel producing the most distortion tends to be noisy and feedbacky, but nothing the G-Force noise gate couldn't handle without eating my sound up. As I said above, the clean lo gain channel stays clean. The lead hi-gain will give you all the distortion you want. Frequencies and slopes on the tone controls have been designed with an ear for guitar, as they all seem to have effect on guitar sound key freqencies. This makes the amp suited for many applications, you can get almost any sound character from it.

So far so good. I still have my good old Attax for backup, coz tubes have the hand of God in them in many aspects.

I don't know about the Engl guys in Germany (rumour sais they're good), but the importer here in Holland is a mess. It took them ages to deliver, after a litany of false promises and excuses. My rating includes the benefit of the doubt for the guys at the plant in Germany.

I've been playing guitar for more than 30 years now. Apart from the rig mentioned above, I have a Marshall JMP-1, another Peavey Classic and a H&K power amp, a TC G-major fx unit, more BagEnd and Celestion monitors, and a Mesaboogie DC-50 combo for cheap, quick and dirty stuff (all my gear except the combo is rack gear). The way it looks now, I'd definitely replace it if I lost it somehow.