Czech manufacturer Bastl Instruments are well known for their quirky, creative and innovative products that occupy a unique space in the world of electronica. They’ve just announced their latest micro mixer offering, evolving from their previous little mixer known as Dude. It seems like Dude has turned into your Bestie, and yep, that’s no typo!
There’s nothing much better in this world than when that person you knew, that DUDE, becomes something more: Someone you can rely on for everything, who takes on your biggest challenges alongside you, forever and always, handling your worries and letting you focus on your creative output.
BESTIE from Bastl Instruments is the only mixer you’ll need to help your other friends — your instruments — get along like a house on fire: A 5-channel stereo mixer with individual channel mutes and gain boosts of up to +20 dB. And, like all the best of friends, there’s more under the surface than you might expect from first glance…
The BESTIE takes the Dude’s offering and amplifies it, in more ways than one—it’s not just a plain old mixer, but a stereo distortion/saturator too, the subtle effect increasing as the input dials reach their upper limits. Gone are the single mono-jack inputs: BESTIE boasts 5 stereo channels, split between 3x 3.5mm single-cable stereo input jacks, and two channels which each take 2x 3.5mm mono cables, or will normalize a single mono input to stereo.
Your BESTIE will take care of your arsenal of small instruments (such as your Microgranny and Kastle), but also your larger synths with dual-channel outputs. Our favourite low-noise preamps, also found on the Bastl DUDE or the BUDDY module, take your sounds from absolute silence to a sweet, slightly overdriven +20 dB, which means your lower output volume modular unit is in safe hands too.
A BESTIE is more than just a good mate: in Czech, the word means ‘beast’—and you know that we at Bastl don’t do such things by accident. Inside the compact package of the BESTIE, lurking on Channel 3, is a ferocious feedback processor. Bastl has a big love for all sounds skuzzy and messed up, and the ‘no-input’ mix technique has a hefty chapter in our biography. Taking the output back into the input, toying with the EQ to affect the color of the sound: “Feedback Life”, a slogan found in our Bastl sticker packs for years.
BESTIE’s volume controls will progressively add light saturation and distortion when the dials get towards their highest positions, but when nothing is plugged into channel 3 the total mixed output signal is internally routed here as an input, and the beast can truly awaken…
Beyond the 12 o’clock point, it will begin to self-oscillate, generating increasingly deeper tones as the channel is further amplified. At maximum settings, it produces distinct tremolo-like effects. When sonically distinct or rhythmic elements (such as drums) are used within the mix, the feedback signals are interrupted as they compete for dominance, producing unique sounds within the box itself—no extra instrument or effect required. One doesn’t play gently with wild beasts: go wild yourself, experiment, and BESTIE will match your energy.
The DUDE was a good conversationalist, but perhaps not the best to turn to if you needed a private talk. Your BESTIE always has time to listen (and give feedback, of course). Besides the dedicated channel mutes for your 5 inputs, a headphone output joins the architecture with a dedicated volume dial and toggle for switching between your pre- and post-mix sounds.
Not sure if that synth is tuned to perfection? Tune to pre-mix listening and finalize the sound before it joins the fray. Muddy sound monitoring when playing live? Switch to post-mix to fine-tune your blend.
Your BESTIE goes where you go. Take it on a musical walk or for a park jam with 4x AA batteries, and once you’re home, switch over to the USB-C power supply. Don’t worry about the bumpy road either—BESTIE’s are solid and robust, and can forgive the odd hit here and there.
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