API 1EX

Almost nothing is documented about the API 1EX. What little can be pieced together comes from scattered period references, not a service manual or factory spec sheet.

A Studio Sound item from July 1994 (p.77) mentions a legal settlement in which Aphex Systems was forced to pay API $10,000 over a gate product. The 1EX may be the device in question. The ad copy reads "Better Gate Finally Found, Aphex Forced to Pay $10K!" alongside an API-1EX logo. A separate Mix (February 1998, p.71) associates the 1EX with "Big Bottom Pro," which suggests it might have been a processor or equalizer. No confirmed specifications, release year, or original price have surfaced.

Known or strongly hinted details:

Likely a signal processor (gate or equalizer)
Advertised by API Systems, Sun Valley, CA
Active in the mid-1990s
No schematics, user manuals, or service documentation known to exist in the public domain