a Recording Engineer for LBA Studios.  It's all jobs that Paul experienced during his internship, but now he's digging in deeper and taking on a more serious role.  Thanks to his skill and drive, I expect to have some time freed up for myself to manage the business more effectively.  If all goes as well as I hope, LBA should see some business growth as a result of my ability to accomplish more in the same amount of time.  I'm looking forward to the future and feel lucky and honored to have quality help.

This is going to be difficult for me to pull off, but I'm doing it.  A dual product release.  Both of these products have been in development for over a year.  The long wait has been mostly due to manufacturing complications that were completely out of my control.  In 10 days I'll finally have the last thing I need - the retail packaging.  I've already begun building the first 100 of each.  Pre-ordering is currently open and is being offered with a generous discount.   Pre-orders will begin shipping in 10-12 days.  It's an exciting time.  I can't wait to share my hard work with the world.  Check out the product pages on this website to learn more about the Dark Storm and Super Storm preamps.  If you'd like to invest in one or more of these bad boys, you'll get a 30 day money back guarantee and a 1-year warranty.  Just head over to the store part of this website to pre-order yours now. 

Just 17 DiVisions remain available for purchase.  After that, they are gone forever.  It's a limited edition product after all.  Recently there was a big design update that adds more functionality to the DiVision.  I only raised the price a little bit when the updates came out.  To be honest, it's more work than what I'm getting paid for.  When there are just 10 remaining, I plan to raise the price to $399 USD.  Don't wait too long if you've been thinking about getting one. 

Here's the first official music video for my studio band, Burnt Trace.  Read the video description for details on how it was recorded. 

I put together a studio band to write and record a song for the purpose of advertising the upcoming Dark Storm and Super Storm mic preamps.  Everything was recorded exclusively with these preamps.  The resultant song turned out better than I expected.  Enough so that I decided to create a band name and release the song on iTunes.  "Burnt Trace" is Troy and Stephanie Daniel at lead vocals, Josh English on drums, and I'm playing bass, rhythm and lead guitars, Hammond organ, theremin, percussion, and backing vocals.  Our first song is called, "Dark of the Storm."  I wrote the music, Troy and Steph wrote the lyrics, and Josh wrote his drum part.   If we get any more than a few downloads it'll inspire me to work with these cool people on an EP of full length songs.  Give it a listen and if you dig it, please consider showing your support with a download from your preferred online music source.  I'm also working on a music video for the tune, which should be live on Youtube in a few weeks.  The Dark Storm and Super Storm products will hopefully be available next quarter.

I've been playing around with some final tweaks to the Dark Storm design.  I want it to be flawless and kicking  ass right out of the starting gate.  Yesterday I very slightly improved its already impressive frequency response, S/N ratio, and THD.  But, not all was a success.  I have been trying to create a circuit that illuminates a single LED when audio is present.  I've done that, but not while also meeting the design requirements.  The requirements are that it can have no affect (0%) on the THD of the Dark Storm's audio, that it can not affect the total gain (dB) of the Dark Storm in any way whatsoever, and lastly - all of the components used in the circuit must be currently in production and available.  If you know of a circuit that meets these requirements, please educate me.  I'll gladly pay you for your time and knowledge. 
My best attempt:  I opted for a discrete design because it appeared simpler and less expensive to pull off than a digital design.  I initially wanted to be able to monitor the incoming signal before it hits the pre.  Of the many designs I tried, the best one worked best when monitoring the output of the Dark Storm.  Regardless, this design failed because it adds 0.09% THD to the signal.  I don't want distortion coming from diodes and transistors that are not directly related to the audio circuit.  Unless some wiser individual can turn me hip to a solution, I'll need to just abandon the idea of a signal indicator.  I think with any sort of analog metering, such as a VU or bar meter, I'll face the same outcome.  The Dark Storm sounds so good right now that I don't want to obscure it in any way.  I think a digital solution could work, but probably would introduce some degree of digital noise, not to mention it would probably add a fair bit to the parts bill.  Ultimately, is it really necessary to have a signal present indicator when we have DAW's with metering?

This is a story of how a very bad situation gets flipped around 180°.  Last year around this same time I started designing a 500 series Mic Preamp that would become the Super Storm.  After many prototypes and tons of frustrating manufacturing failures I had 9 produced to a level that I would call "Production Prototype."  Some of these made it out to other studios for feedback.  2 were sold to engineers in Muscle Shoals, AL.  The electronics were developed to a high degree and I was comfortable with that aspect.  However, I discovered this product needed a very high degree of accuracy when it came to the metal fabrication for it.  So high that I was unable to produce it in house.  I spent months working back and forth with a number of companies as I tried to get samples and quotes for the faceplate and bottom plate.  Ultimately I was unable to get anything tangible from anyone.  This is partially because there are middle men "helping me" to communicate and coordinate with the fabricators and no one seems to be interested in producing runs of just 100 units.  Sadly I had to give up and shelf the Super Storm.  I had a ton of time and money invested in the Super Storm.  I pretty much had all my eggs in that basket.  So, I had no choice but to brainstorm on how to salvage the situation.  I needed to come up with something similar that I could fabricate in-house.  Basically, it had to be something that could allow for a greater margin of error without looking or functioning less than ideal.  In comes the half-rack enclosure.  The panels come somewhat pre-fabricated and powder coated, albeit with a hefty price tag.  I just need to drill them out and print the graphics.  Ditching the 500 series format opened up plenty of new options.  For starters, much more physical space to work with and most importantly, no limitation on power supply requirements.  The 500 series has +/- 16V rails with a very limited amount of current available.  A 32V span provides sufficient headroom for the most part, but more is definitely better and The Dark Storm has +/-18V rails.  Since the enclosure is a bit bigger than a 500 Series module I could fit an extra 2 transformers inside, as well as additional switches and jacks to expand the flexibility over what the Super Storm had.  The added features are a built-in TI Box with a front panel instrument input, a transformer coupled Hi-Z (wet) 1/4" output, a low cut switch, and ground lift switches for the XLR and 1/4" jacks.  I noticed the noise floor is much lower than my 500 series modules.  That is 100% related to the power supply.  There's a lot of power regulation onboard the Dark Storm, which doesn't exist on the Super Storm.  The Super Storm just had to take the +/- rails from the 500 series rack, whereas the Dark Storm has to create +/-18V from a 48V power adapter.  It's a good quality adapter, but the added voltage regulation to create the +/- rails makes for a noticeably quieter background.  I think it's better than the Super Storm in every possible way and it uses most of the Super Storm parts that I already invested in.  Sure, it's a little more expensive than the Super Storm would have been, but the Dark Storm is more flexible and more importantly - it sounds better!

I only have 1 Dark Storm prototype at the moment, with the second in the build queue for next week.  I'm going to try to improve the look of the 2nd prototype in hopes of having a production prototype.  If it works out like I'm planning, pre-ordering can commence.           

New custom LBA mini control knobs - made in house!  These are mini knobs, but I also  have a bigger knob which will be on my more expensive creations.  That's a cosmetic upgrade with the new EQ mod, but there's more than just looks here.  Enough people griped about the "Vision" knob being too high in frequency or that it wasn't audible for some, that I was convinced to design this upgrade.  The new "Range" switch toggles between two different frequency options for the Vision knob.  "Hi" is the stock setting of 10kHz, whereas "Lo" is just 3.4kHz.  The Dark switch provides a very gentle high frequency roll-off at about 10kHz, which almost perfectly mirrors what the "Hi" setting of the Vision does.  I say almost because you can actually get a slightly flatter frequency response across the spectrum with Dark on, Range Hi, and Vision 100% than you could with dark off and the vision turned down all the way.  That is however, with more color.  So if you want an un-EQ'd sound, but you do want more color, this configuration is right for you.  It gets real interesting when you have the Dark on, Range Lo, and Vision 100%.  In this configuration you get an upper-mid-band wide bell-curve boost centered at about 3.4kHz.  That might just be the ticket if you're looking for more presence, but not necessarily more brightness.    If you turn the vision knob down all the way, the dark switch can still be used, since it's a separate circuit.   Vision & Range form an active (tube driven) high frequency shelving boost equalizer.  Dark is a passive HF shelving attenuator.  You can get a variety of new sounds with just these two new switches.  Enjoy!

​New orders will come standard with the EQ Mod and labeled accordingly.  The price for a new DiVision has gone up slightly to allow for the added parts and labor.  $349 USD new. 

Owners of stock DiVisions can send them in for the EQ Mod service for $75 plus shipping upon first emailing sales@lightningboyaudio.com with your DiVision serial number.  This Mod includes the following:

• The pot-side panel gets two new holes and additional graphics
• The top lid gets additional graphics (EQ Mod).
• The EQ Mod circuit board gets mounted and wired into the DiVision's circitry.  
• Both potentiometers and knobs get replaced.  LBA-brand mini knobs!

This product was designed for designers of FX pedals.  It's based on the 20SB transformer that was used in my 2020S Steel-Core Instrument transformer (1:1), but adds step up ratios of 1:2 (for a 6dB boost) and 1:4.  This can create not just a signal boost, but also some colorful tones from the various impedance ratios at play.  Check out the .pdf for example wiring.  Visit LBA Magnetics to order now.    

 I can't move forward with the Super Storm at this time.   I ran into some serious manufacturing brick-walls with the upcoming Super Storm product.  Primarily, trying to work with other companies to produce various custom parts has proven to be nearly impossible.  I went all-in on my investment with this product. I chose to outsource domestically in order to reduce my cost-per-unit, essentially so I could sell the Super Storm at a very competitive price.  Furthermore, with the Super Storm I noticed I needed a ridiculous level of precision with the fabrication of metal parts.  It was something I first tried in-house and realized my equipment isn't accurate enough for the level of precision needed.  Outsourcing became necessary for this product.  I'm currently awaiting 100 faceplates from a deburring and counter-sinking stage, which is post laser cutting.  From that point I will need to deliver the faceplates to the powder coating shop down the road.  After that I can print the graphics onto the faceplates.  The rate at which the faceplates are being produced is mind-bogglingly slow, but the bigger hold up is actually the base-plates.  I need them made.  My attempts to produce them in-house and my attempts to outsource have thus-far have been failures to say the least.  This is at least partially my own fault for lack of knowledge and/or the necessary tools.  Until I can come up with a cost effective and reliable source for the base-plates, the Super Storm is on hold.

The end of product life for most of my existing product line was  necessary to free up my time enough to produce a new catalogue of products that I can produce in-house and to a high standard of quality.  Coming next week is the first new product, which is a special sort of audio transformer.  The target market is pedal designers and it will be have a minimum order requirement.  It's designed to be the same as what was used in the 2020S Steel-Core Instrument Transformer - when certain pc pins are selected.  However, it can be configured to be a step up transformer with impedance ratios of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4, depending on which pins are accessed.  That can create the effect of a signal boost when feeding the secondary of the transformer into an amplification stage with a high input impedance.  The transformer can be used to invert the signal polarity via switch, or it can be used to isolate the signal from ground.  A detailed pdf will be provided, which includes sample circuits and a wiring guide.  The LBA-20SX is designed to be the input transformer for FX pedals.  

There is another product I'm working on, which is probably the coolest thing I've made in a long time.  Dark Storm is a stand-alone (1/2 rack ​size) JFET mic preamp with 4 audio transformers and it has both XLR and 1/4" I/O.  It's a 2 for 1 deal in the sense that it can be both a mic preamp or an instrument preamp.  But the best part is the pile of custom wound LBA Magnetics.  This is based on the Super Storm, but adds 2 extra transformers (4 in total) for a truly big sound.  Sonically, it's superior as well since it runs at a higher voltage (36V) for more headroom and gain (81dB!).  The front panel controls are "Gain", "Old", "Polarity", "48V" (phantom power), "Volume", "Low Cut", 1/4" input, and "Power".  The rear panel sports XLR in/out jacks, a 1/4" instrument level output (via dual output transformers), and a pair of ground switches - one for the XLR and a separate for the 1/4" output (for isolation/ground loop elimination).  The Dark Storm will ship without rack ears unless ordered as a stereo pair, in which they will be mounted together and presented as a standard 19" rack unit.  Consider it a desk-top or remote preamp.  It will include a 48V DC power adapter.  I plan to work on an EQ unit in the same 1/2 rack configuration next.  It'll be possible to order a channel strip - one Dark Storm Preamp and one Dark Storm EQ paired into a 19" 1U rack.  For now I'm still prototyping the Dark Storm.  No price has been set.  My best estimate at this point in time is $899 USD.