To the right of the 'Tube' control is the mighty 'Enhance' control. Many Edenites rave about this feature. It offers some seriously creative tone sculpting. This feature packs a wallop! In fact I use it as an effect that I engage via the footswitch. More on that subject a little later.
Next up: The 'Tone Center'. The EQ section is why I adore the sound. Many folks prefer to use EQ sparingly. I, on the other hand, like to tweak EQ until the cows come home. It is part of my sound. The WP100 manual suggests starting with the high end or treble EQ first and then moving down the sonic spectrum to the bass control. At first I shook my head & giggled to myself. But after trying this approach, I find it very satisfying. For those 'purists' that prefer to use EQ for 'dealing with the room', this section will easily handle all but the most extreme sonic anomalies.
The 'DI level' control is up next. Sound guys will absolutely love you for this one. The DI sound is as professional & musical as it gets. I have never had the FOH engineer slap me in face and ask me 'what was I thinking' for using this DI! Trust me, the easier you can make life for these guys & gals, the better.
To the right is the 'Side Chain Effects' level control. This allows you to blend post EQ stereo\mono F/X with your clean signal. To finish up the top row, the next control is for 'Auxiliary Input' level. You can hook a drum machine or CD player and control the volume independently of your bass volume. I use this feature more than I like to admit. It really does help for practicing. I have also fed a band mix signal in to it and recorded my bass tracks via the DI in a home studio that did not have any performer monitoring. Pretty darn cool. It is recommended that this control knob be 'straight up' or positioned at 12 o'clock while not in use for best noise performance.
The next control on the bottom adjust the built in 'Crossover Frequency'. The only complaint I have about this control is that I wish it went lower than 120Hz. Sometimes running that 18" cabinet sounds better & less boomy at 60-80Hz than at 120Hz.
Next is the 'Balance Control' knob. This does double duty as it controls the high and low relative balance when using the crossover or the left & right balance if you're running the Navigator in stereo mode. Either way, it's pretty slick.
Last up is 'Master Volume'. This knob also controls the headphone output to the right of it. Warning! The headphone amp is very loud! As stated in the manual, with the proper cabling, the headphone out can be used as a stereo send.
Whew! You may have noticed I did not talk about the switches yet. While they are clearly labeled and self explanatory, I wanted to mention their interaction with included footswitch. The small, steel footswitch is built to last. The switches are built to be stomped on for years. The cable is a standard 5 wire MIDI cable. The unit came with a 6 foot (1.83 meters) high quality Neutrik MIDI cable. Each switch has a corresponding LED (red or green) and is as follows:
- 'Mute'. Every single bass amp product on earth should have this simple & highly useful feature. Tune up and\or change basses in complete silence & without even touching your rig. Again, FOH guys will love you for this. Pretty soon he'll be sending you flowers.
- 'Compressor on\off'.
- 'Enhance on\off'.
- 'Turbo boost'. Warning! Engaging this switch may be detrimental to your speakers if not used properly! This feature scares guitarists like nothing else. Want to step out of the shadows and belt out a bass solo? This is the switch for you!
Now, all of these switches interact with the ones on the face of the WP100. Take note that the switch position on the face of the WP100 will take precedence over the footswitch position. The only exception to this rule is the Mute switch. When you fire up the Navigator, the mute switch is always engaged to prevent any sonic 'surprises'. All the other remain the same. This is where I like to use the 'Enhance' feature: as a foot switchable effect. Just one more reason I went with this unit.
The back side of the Navigator is a patch master's dream. While it is hard to get too excited over signal patching, the Navigator offers all you will ever need. From the Tuner output, which remains active when the 'Mute' switch is engaged for silent tuning, to the 'Mono Pre EQ' send & return jacks. Then the 'Side Chain' I\O which is controlled by the 'Side Chain' blend control on the front panel mentioned earlier.
Next up is the 'Stereo Effects' loop I/O. Then there are the 'Auxiliary' stereo inputs. Again, controlled from the front panel. Recording DI output is next up which is also controlled from the front panel. Lastly are the 'Main' outputs. In both XLR & ¼" TRS jacks. Note that the ¼" jacks have a slightly hotter output than the XLR's and are recommended for attaching to a power amplifier. Of course you can use the XLRs and they will drive any power out there with ease. But these outputs can also be used for additional DIs for live or studio work.
How crazy can you get with all these choices? Consider this: You could use the 'Tuner' output for a pre everything except the tube, the 'Mono' send output for pre EQ but post compressor & 'Enhance', use the 'Recording DI' for post EQ output & post F/X and\or post 'Enhance', & the 'Main' left & right XLR outputs for full effect (with all the sounds) in stereo OR bi-amped. And finally, the 'Main' ¼" jacks plugged in to a power amp and a mic'd cabinet or three. Crazy, ain't it?
Well that's the WP100 in a nut shell. Options galore, sound to die for, and as good as it gets. Enough already! Go try a WP100 out for yourself and let your ears decide.