The SoulMate Acoustic looks slick and understated, with the control layout featuring a more traditional pedal-styled, analogue aesthetic with knobs and switches as opposed to huge screens and multifunction keypad controls.
Essentially, the SoulMate is a DI/preamp/effects board all in one unit. Setup is intuitive and quick, allowing you to dive straight into sound sculpting. Working like a set of pedals, controls are easy to tweak and you can turn effects on and off with the stomp of a switch. The EQ has a usable range and can really supplement your existing guitar EQ to target certain frequencies or balance a funky sounding room. Adding a little compressor squish for evening out picking or strumming worked nicely on lesser settings, and the added shimmer control can be a nice ambient addition to your reverb tones. Comp, reverb, EQ and boost are probably the most used acoustic effects, so you’re covered pretty well as a start. Then add in the mod, looper and tuner, and it really is a handy package.
Many guitarists want a pristine recreation of their fundamental tone when it comes to amplifying acoustic guitars. The SoulMate can definitely do that, with the added benefit that it has the tools to be subtle and tame those little intricacies that can make loud live acoustic guitars troublesome (feedback, EQing, adding body and size). Just utilising the boost and reverb alone makes life easier, adding ambience and size to your sound and the ability to up the volume for solos or licks. The rest of the lineup is the icing on the cake. Extra points for the soft touch buttons, recessed back panel knobs and twin function EQ pots. A great unit for acoustic guitarists that covers most of the typical live/gigging needs.
