tark 144

The TARK 144 is a preamp, saturation and tone-shaping pedal based on the channel strip of a vintage cassette tape machine. Its circuit uses a JFET preamp followed by an active tone control, with an additional saturating dynamics stage positioned between them. This dynamics circuit is designed to emulate the compander behavior associated with early tape-machine noise-reduction systems and can be engaged or bypassed using the DYN switch. The Trim control influences both the preamp level and the response of the dynamics circuit. A switchable input impedance allows the input response to mimic plugging directly into a tape machine, while an integrated VU meter displays the output level.