Earlier this month, we reported on a leaked FCC filing that indicated Teenage Engineering was working on a portable instrument amp for outdoor jams, the EP-35. Well, the amp has arrived sooner than expected, it’s only $349, and it’s just as wacky as we thought.
EP-35 is a battery-powered multi-input 35W amplifier that can be hooked up to your guitar, synth, microphone, laptop or even mobile phone. Teenage Engineering is pitching it as a “hub for all your audio-producing devices”, a cross between a budget amp for casual jams and a portable party speaker, with a sprinkling of the playful design magic that makes the company’s products so popular.
On the front panel you have a 30-watt woofer and 25-watt tweeter with a frequency response of 50Hz-20Khz. All of the ins and outs can be found on the top of the amp, where you’ll find a 3.5mm line input, an XLR microphone input with +48V phantom power, a ¼” Hi-Z guitar input and a 3.5mm line output, along with three USB-C ports, along with the majority of the controls. These all feed into a summing mixer before reaching the main outputs, so you can hear multiple instruments simultaneously.
There’s more, though, hidden in a storage compartment accessed by popping off the plastic grille on the amp’s side, revealing a handy space for cables (or a crisp beverage) and a built-in “camp light” with a “disco mode” that reacts dynamically to the audio coming out of the EP-35. Here you'll also find a phantom power switch, gain and tone controls.
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The EP-35 has dedicated effects for both the guitar and mic inputs. Guitarists get eight multi-effects presets that combine amp emulation, reverb, delay, tremolo, distortion and modulation effects in genre-themed combinations, covering surf rock, blues, acoustic, “smooth indie tone” and more. The microphone effects cover pop and rock styles, along with some fun voice-changing presets that’ll make you sound like a frog, a bass synth or a choir of robots.
The only control you have over these effects is via the dry/wet amount dial – Spinal Tap fans will be pleased to know that the dial goes from zero to 11 – but if you need to tweak effects during a performance, Teenage Engineering have released a wireless pedal controller with two pressure-sensitive buttons that can be used to adjust volume, control effects and trigger the EP-35’s onboard looper hands-free.
As mentioned, the EP-35 doubles as both a portable speaker via Bluetooth and a USB 2.0 audio interface. It supports Auracast, so you’re able to link up multiple EP-35s together as a single Bluetooth device for extra volume, and you can even pair two amps together to listen in stereo – tilting the EP-35 left or right before engaging its broadcast mode sets the speaker as the left or right channel, which is a nice touch.
Along with the EP-35, Teenage Engineering has launched a bundle of accessories, including the aforementioned pedal controller, the “handy mic” (an XLR electret condenser microphone for “for vocals, karaoke or whatever needs saying a little louder”), a USB drive preloaded with backing tracks, and an “amptenna” that turns EP-35 into a portable FM radio. And if you own the EP-133 K.O. II sampler, you can pick up a K.O. dock kit that connects it to the side of the device.
It looks like there may be more new products on the way, too: the company is also teasing what looks like a CDJ equivalent (that plays actual CDs) or DJ controller that's the perfect size to be paired up with its EP-136 Sidekick mixer, so watch this space.
Teenage Engineering’s EP-35 is available now and priced at $349.
Find out more on Teenage Engineering’s website.
