Thoughts on the Radial PZ Deluxe?

[pieterh]

I don't find it an issue, the point of the Pz-pre is to give the guitarist the facility to mix two instruments on stage. Besides, the Pz-pre has two outputs, one pre- and one post-eq. I rarely need just the guitar in a monitor so I generally send the post-eq xlr out to the mixer and then take some of that back along with whatever else I need in my monitor. Usually it is a self-op gig where I am running the sound from the "stage".

When we have a sound person I'll ask them what they prefer. To be honest, if we have the luxury of someone doing the front of house sound then there are usually enough channels so he or she can take both outputs (pre and post eq) and use whichever works best, effectively giving them separate signals.

A large part of the point of the Pz-pre is to provide 2 channel mixing and summation for the guitarist in my opinion. If we want to send 2 separate signals for two instruments then something like the JDI Duplex (stereo passive DI) or 2 Pz-deluxes would probably be the solution.

[tomana]

had one some time back, was extremely noisy for a mid-high end preamp. Built like a tank but IMO that recessed piezo switch has too go

highly recommend a Rane AP-13 any day, totally silent, great for studio and live use. Only available as Used. Price range today seems to be $240 - $300 but IMO it's worth $500 if in excellent used condition

[MikeBmusic]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

For those who use the Pz-pre, do you ever find it to be a problem that the unit only has one XLR output for the combined channels? For example, if you are playing a venue where there's a sound guy, is it problematic that you can't send out two independent channels to be mixed?

I use the PZ-Pre at my open mics, and keep it at the edge of the stage near my mixer, so I can quickly lean in and tweak the volumes when two guitarists (or sometimes bass and guitar) are plugged in. Don't find it an issue at all.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by tomana

had one some time back, was extremely noisy for a mid-high end preamp. Built like a tank but IMO that recessed piezo switch has too go

highly recommend a Rane AP-13 any day, totally silent, great for studio and live use. Only available as Used. Price range today seems to be $240 - $300 but IMO it's worth $500 if in excellent used condition

That's surprising, I have not heard of Radial products being noisy. Maybe you had a faulty unit?

[Petty1818]

I ended up ordering the Pz Deluxe so I will see how much I like it. I did notice one thing that I dislike though and that's the power needs. It requires 15V (400ma) which is a fairly large power requirement. Some power supplies from VL and Cioks have enough power but if I am putting two of these on my board then I will need two power supplies. Definitely a little disappointing.

[pieterh]

I agree it is an odd decision to use an unusual voltage for the power supply - many "regular" pedal board PSUs will provide 18v when linking two of the normal 9v supplies and it isn't that unusual either to find 12v on a pedal board PSU. I wonder if there is a technical reason why Radial didn't use a more "standard" voltage. Maybe their next new piece of gear will be a PSU that caters for their pedals AND the regular 9v that most of the competition use.

I bought a used Cioks from a friend, it has just the regular 9v supplies. The difference in price between that and one that would feed the Tonebone pedals was enough to encourage me to plug everything in to the PSU except for the Tonebone Trimode which I plug into its own socket on the same extension cable. The Pz-pre doesn't sit on my electric pedal board as the only effect I use on the acoustic guitar is the occasional bit of reverb and I get that on the mixer. Having said that there is space on the board should I want to start experimenting with effects - currently TC Polytune, TC HoF Reverb, TC Flashback X4 Delay and soon a chorus pedal of some sort plus the Trimode (twhich I can't see me using with acoustic!).

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by pieterh

I agree it is an odd decision to use an unusual voltage for the power supply - many "regular" pedal board PSUs will provide 18v when linking two of the normal 9v supplies and it isn't that unusual either to find 12v on a pedal board PSU. I wonder if there is a technical reason why Radial didn't use a more "standard" voltage. Maybe their next new piece of gear will be a PSU that caters for their pedals AND the regular 9v that most of the competition use.

I bought a used Cioks from a friend, it has just the regular 9v supplies. The difference in price between that and one that would feed the Tonebone pedals was enough to encourage me to plug everything in to the PSU except for the Tonebone Trimode which I plug into its own socket on the same extension cable. The Pz-pre doesn't sit on my electric pedal board as the only effect I use on the guitar is the occasional bit of reverb and I get that on the mixer. Having said that there is space on the board should I want to start experimenting with effects - currently TC Polytune, TC HoF Reverb, TC Flashback X4 Delay and soon a chorus pedal of some sort plus the Trimode (twhich I can't see me using with acoustic!).

I think the only frustrating thing with me is that the Lr Baggs Venue and the new Fishman Platinum pro eq have everything I need and work on a 9v power supply. However, from my experience with the Fishman Aura spectrum, the on board tuner is beyond bad and I have read the exact same thing with the Venue. It kind of seems like a waste to buy a preamp/di with a built in tuner only to spend more money on a more reliable tuner to add to the chain.

[giblet]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I think the only frustrating thing with me is that the Lr Baggs Venue and the new Fishman Platinum pro eq have everything I need and work on a 9v power supply. However, from my experience with the Fishman Aura spectrum, the on board tuner is beyond bad and I have read the exact same thing with the Venue. It kind of seems like a waste to buy a preamp/di with a built in tuner only to spend more money on a more reliable tuner to add to the chain.

I had the Venue -- the tuner is junk. You'd be better off with a $10 clip-on snark tuner. Mute functionis handy, but you have that on the Radial deluxe. I do wish the deluxe had a notch filter for feedback issues. The Fishman Platinum EQ is a solid piece of gear, use it more than the Radial deluxe.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by giblet

I had the Venue -- the tuner is junk. You'd be better off with a $10 clip-on snark tuner. Mute functionis handy, but you have that on the Radial deluxe. I do wish the deluxe had a notch filter for feedback issues. The Fishman Platinum EQ is a solid piece of gear, use it more than the Radial deluxe.

Have you seen the new fishman platinum pro eq? It looks like an amazing preamp/di.

[giblet]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Have you seen the new fishman platinum pro eq? It looks like an amazing preamp/di.

Yes, I have the Platinum Pro EQ -- that's what I was referring to in my previous posts. Excellent piece of gear and I use it frequently when gigging.

[Petty1818]

I meant the new version that was released at NAMM earlier this year. I don't believe it's out yet.

[giblet]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I meant the new version that was released at NAMM earlier this year. I don't believe it's out yet.

Oh my bad -- no, I haven't seen the new unit yet.