Review: Drawmer 4X4 Kickbox

In the early ’80s Ivor Drawmer was a struggling keyboard player in Yorkshire, England. He also designed audio circuits at the time, and encouraged by friends to develop them further, Ivor went on to build audio devices (whether Ivor’s keyboard playing had anything to with this is not recorded). In 1982 he introduced the first of these, the DS201 Dual Noise Gate – still a top seller today and still standard issue in PA effects racks around the world. Over the years Drawmer has released a small range of other audio processors renowned for their clever design, ease of use and audio ability.

The newly released Drawmer 4×4 KickBox is an active audio splitter designed for outside broadcasts, live recording or press conferences. Its main features are the take-anywhere case, excellent preamps and the ability to split up to four input signals into a maximum of 16 outputs at the highest possible audio quality.

The case – supplied by Explorer Cases – is instantly appealing. Like a toolbox or lunchbox, it makes you want to look inside. Designed to protect the contents from water, dust and corrosion, the hard exterior also allows the KickBox to be stored in a van or cupboard without needing another case. Beneath its strong carry handle is an air valve that rotates inwards to ‘seal’, or outwards to ‘purge’ – which has been included to equalise the unit during flight. Of course, with audio people being what they are, this would be easy to forget… recent images of the plane with a hole in the side spring to mind, but it’s probably not that serious.

KICKING AGAINST THE SPLITS

Opening the lid of the KickBox reveals an operating surface dominated by 20 input/output sockets, five control knobs and a dozen switches. It’s not cluttered; everything looks purposeful and rugged. Indeed, if I was making a James Bond movie and an audio splitter was required in a scene, I’d use this one without considering others. The controls all feel great and have clear markings. The square buttons are firm to the touch with a positive latching feel and, even without the LED indicator lights, it’s easy to tell if they’re engaged. The lid can be easily removed, and if the cabling is routed over the top of the box, clear access to the controls is maintained, even if all 20 sockets are in use.

The unit has four balanced input channels, each with its own XLR socket and eight-segment LED level meter, ranging from –24dB to +18dB. The gain knob has 12 settings in pleasingly chunky 6dB steps, from 0dB to 66dB of gain. Having stepped gain controls on mixers with faders makes it hard to set all your faders at the same level, but since the KickBox has no faders, being able to reset the exact same gain settings time after time is the better, more convenient option. Each channel has 48V phantom power, mic/line and ‘Listen’ buttons, all of which have LEDs to indicate when they’re engaged. When pressed into the line position, phantom power is automatically removed from that channel, a 20dB pad inserted and the input impedance raised to over 10kΩ.

KICK TO THE HEADPHONES

The KickBox’s aforementioned ‘Listen’ button sends signal from the channel to the headphones for monitoring. The headphones have a continuously variable volume knob that’s smooth to the touch, yet firm enough to resist accidental knocking. The headphone amp itself is a beauty; the phones will be jumping up and down on your head before they distort!