Buzz Audio MA2.2B

As a classical guitarist, my recording needs are simple. I want a two channel preamp that’s pristinely transparent, robust, and unfussy to use. The Buzz Audio 2.2B first slipped onto my radar when it was praised by a recording engineer who’s noted for guitar recordings. Further information about it is thin on the ground. But what little I found was invariably positive—it seems no one has anything bad to say about Buzz Audio. For this company, good buzz (sorry) is vital to its survival. Virtually a one man operation, Buzz Audio does no advertising, relying instead on word of mouth. This is a precarious way to stay in business. A few disgruntled customers can sink a small business. That Buzz Audio has stayed afloat since 1985 implies a long history of satisfied customers.

Buzz Audio is a small boutique company in New Zealand. Its home is a modest building, about the size of a typical dentist’s office. Each product is hand assembled and inspected. Founder Tim Farrant is the hands-on supervisor. (All my e-mail queries to Buzz Audio were answered by Mr. Farrant.) The typical assembly time is two weeks, though unforeseen circumstances may stretch this to three weeks. Add another week for DHL shipping if you’re on the other side of the planet. Bottom line: don’t expect to have it within a week of your order. If you want it quickly, try to find a dealer who happens to have it in stock.

My shipment from New Zealand to the USA arrived safe and sound. It was double boxed, the interior box foam lined into which the preamp fit snugly. The preamp itself was enclosed in a clear plastic bag. With such careful packaging, it would withstand a fair bit of mishandling. Such attention to shipping details suggests that Buzz Audio has put its years of experience to good use. Further, my parcel (liberally festooned with “fragile” labels) showed no sign of having been tossed about during its global odyssey. DHL delivery often gets mixed reviews, but for me it worked out fine.

Inside the box you’ll find the preamp, power supply, and user manual. My shipment also included an extra pair of fuses for countries that operate on 220-240VAC. If you order directly from Buzz Audio, be sure to specify the country you’re in, and they’ll install the correct fuses. My order included a sheet of paper prominently assuring me that my preamp was set for 110-120VAC.

The nine page user manual is a quick and easy read. After all, the Buzz Audio 2.2B isn’t a complex beast to operate. The power switch is on the right side of the front panel (“where it should be” as the user manual confidently asserts). The Elma gain switches are detent calibrated in 2 or 3 dB increments, and are reassuringly solid. Output level for each channel is monitored via 19 LED lights. Five buttons per channel round out the front panel: mute, -20dB pad, polarity reverse, LO-Z impedance switch, and phantom power. The back panel has for each channel an XLR input, TRS line out, and XLR line out. It also has a signal ground switch. Unless you’re into constantly swapping cables, you may never again look at the back panel after hooking things up. The 2.2B is a minimalist’s dream. You power up, set gain, and then get on with making tracks.

The 2.2B outputs are unbalanced. This is a deliberate design choice—quoting from the user manual: “to avoid the extra amplifier stage required and maintain the shortest possible internal signal path.” To be honest, I’ve only a vague notion what this means. But I’m assured it has no effect on normal operation, and my own experience confirms it. For those who simply must have balanced outputs, the MA-2.2BTX model includes Lundahl transformers at a slightly higher price.

Because the 2.2B lacks dials and knobs for endlessly tweaking the sound, its sonic signature had better be damned good. It emphatically is. The sound is detailed, focused, and clear. (One listener, after hearing a recording I made, marveled: “It’s as if I were sitting in the room with you while you play.”) One expects this from a “straight wire with gain” design. But that doesn’t give this preamp its full due. The 2.2B, while uncolored and true to whatever you’re recording, also limns everything with a subtle yet pleasing burnish. Transients are sharp without hardness. Even ugly sounds are deftly transfigured. For example, my guitar, if played with insufficient care, can sound a mite plasticky in higher registers. Through the 2.2B, this undesirable trait is elegantly tamed. Mind you, when I make this bad sound, it’s still there. But the 2.2B puts a better face on it. Rather than an obviously bad sound, I instead hear another useable shade on the timbral palette. The 2.2B is more than just transparent—it’s musical. If this sounds like pollyannaish alchemy, so be it. But as a musician, I prize audio gear designed with a good ear.

The 2.2B isn’t cheap, but as quality preamps go, it isn’t prohibitively expensive either. The absence of bells and whistles keeps its cost below unobtainium territory. The price you pay for the 2.2B goes squarely into sound and durability. If these are your prime concerns, then this preamp is for you.

It’s fashionable in some quarters to downplay the importance of a preamp in audio recording. Any decent preamp, it’s occasionally argued, will do. Well, maybe. To my ears, however, the Buzz Audio 2.2B made an instant and noticeable improvement. It brought my holy grail search to a decisive and happy end, letting me get on with making music, secure in the knowledge that my gear won’t degrade the sound. There’s a trade-off, though. The pristine sound I’m now getting makes me a tad self-conscious when recording myself. Misplaying a note seems unforgivably blasphemous. So my profanity while running takes needs an upgrade.