Audio Designer Dave Amels Launches Amels Audio with the Osetra™ All-Tube Instrument DI

Independent Wood-Ridge company brings Dave Amels’ decades of audio design into a new venture; its debut product arrives in a numbered 20-unit Founder’s Tin Edition.

WOOD-RIDGE, N.J., September 9, 2026 — Audio designer Dave Amels announced the September 7 launch of Amels Audio, an independent company creating original hardware for musicians and recording studios. Its debut product is Osetra™, a direct-coupled all-tube instrument DI offered initially as a numbered 20-unit Founder’s Tin Edition, available now for $425 USD.

Amels Audio brings together the threads of Amels’ career in electronic musical instruments, mathematically modeled audio software, and analog recording equipment. Since the late 1980s, he has designed hardware and software for musicians and recording engineers, including work at three companies he co-founded.

“Amels Audio gives me a place to invent and build the kinds of tools I want to use,” said Amels. “They have to be technically serious, musically responsive, and useful in a working studio. Osetra is the first.”

Osetra uses an original Class-A, transformerless circuit with no loop feedback. Its low-capacitance instrument input presents a 1 MΩ load, helping preserve transients and contributing to a responsive playing feel. Measured response extends from 4 Hz into the megahertz range, with the observed upper limit set by the receiving microphone preamp. The tube B+ supply is derived from 48 V phantom power; the included universal-input 12 VDC adapter powers the filament.

Each Founder’s Tin Edition unit is assembled at the bench and housed in a laser-cut caviar tin, complete with sturgeon artwork. Comparison videos and audio demonstrations are available on the Osetra product page. These demos include level-matched bass and acoustic-guitar comparisons with familiar tube and FET DIs, along with standalone electric- and acoustic-guitar demonstrations.

Osetra Founder’s Tin Edition units 01–20 are available directly from Amels Audio for $425 USD. Each includes a universal-input 12 VDC filament adapter and a one-year parts-and-labor warranty. Initial sales are limited to the United States, and orders can be placed through the Osetra product page.

About Amels Audio

Amels Audio is where Dave Amels designs and builds hardware for musicians and recording studios. Based in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, the independent company draws on his experience in instruments, plug-ins, analog recording equipment, and studio work.

Product information: amelsaudio.com/osetra Media inquiries: support@amelsaudio.com

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