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  #16  
Old 01-15-2018, 11:24 AM
meb meb is offline
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I installed my Baggs M1 passive in my HRCJC for comparison. It had a nice
warmer synergy with the Alix rig vs a tad more detail with the Black Angel.
I am leaving the M1 in for the time being. I still have the BA in the RSC.

I also tried an active M1a...things
just muddied up somewhat... probably due to too many gain stages.
I thought I would mention this as an example of the Alix' transparency.
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  #17  
Old 01-15-2018, 03:20 PM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Petty1818 View Post
I should add that I also own the Tonedexter, which I will be using with the Felix. They are two different preamps/DI's so it's difficult to really compare them. As great as the Felix is, and I love it, it will never match the natural tone of the wavemaps created on the Tonedexter. I am just thinking of experimenting with the TD through the Felix's effects loop. Not sure if it will work but if it does, that will mean that I can make wavemaps for my mandolins and still utilize the two channels of the Felix for eq. It will require me to reach down and turn the wavemap slot knob but that's a small issue.
let us know what you do and how you like it.
i too would like to combine the felix and TD.
but am curious about potential
gain staging issues.
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  #18  
Old 01-15-2018, 05:33 PM
guitarua guitarua is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mandowilli View Post
Thanks for the review and do post more.

I am awaiting the arrival of a Grace Felix for use on my mandolin and dobro due to the shortcomings of the Tonebone Pre Z. I have been unable to find any mandolin players who have embraced or even tried one of these but have noticed that they are more than a few users on this site.

The ability to set input impedance and have separate eq for each channel make it very appealing.

I will add my two cents in the near future.
Hey mandowilli,

I have used my Felix for guitar, mando and dobro. It is an excellent two channel pre (studio quality) and I blend mic and pickup sounds on the guitar for a loud but natural sound. No pickup on my mando, but a 57 or ear trumpet edwina into the Felix gives me GREAT sound. I think you will love it!
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  #19  
Old 01-15-2018, 07:35 PM
Petty1818 Petty1818 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by varmonter View Post
let us know what you do and how you like it.
i too would like to combine the felix and TD.
but am curious about potential
gain staging issues.
I will for sure. It might be a bit though as I won't have a chance to set this all up for a week or two. I will report back though.

I also purchased the session di to incorporate into my rig but I feel as though I now have a lot going on. That one might be sold off if the TD and Felix combination turn out to be great.
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  #20  
Old 01-16-2018, 02:58 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobalooba View Post
When I tried out the Alix , my first impression was "there was no meat on that bone". I too had been using the Venue for a few years. One thing I discovered was the Alix has a bass roll off shelve pin on the inside of the unit and mine was set on the wrong pin which made the rolloff cover a wider range. I changed it back to the factory setting and it did help. The Alix is a well made, very transparent sounding unit with a lot of headroom but for my tastes I still liked the Venue as much or better. For what it's worth.
I think you may be slightly confused on the features of your Alix. The J10 jumper doesn't cover a wider range, it changes the center of the Low Frequency knob from 125hz to 250hz.

To really get a feel for what the LF knob does, set the HF knob roll-off to 20HZ with the dipswitch on the side set to rolloff. Set all other controls (mid range and high gain +/-n to their center positions). This way you can see exactly what your Low Frequency knob is doing!!! But if the the HPF Rolloff knob is set to anything higher higher then 125HZ you won't even hear what the Low Frequency knob is doing because it will be shaving everything off below 125HZ!!! That's why you should start with the HPF control at 20, just to see what kind of low-end the Alix is capable of reproducing.

After that, set the LF knob to 0, and learn how using the HPF rolls of the lows (when the dipswitch is set to roll-off), or how it works as a frequency specific notch filter (when dipswitch is set to notch).

I hope this helps clear up some things, if it didn't, my advice was free
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  #21  
Old 01-16-2018, 03:11 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gfsark View Post
Meb, wondering if you use or tried out the T1 preamp since you have some Bose units? Based on specs it seems that the Alix has a pedal boost out, and variable impedance with the T1 does not support. Outside of those items, it seems that the T1 does quite a bit with equalizers, filters, compressors etc...each channel independence and would be at least the equal if not more than Alix.

My main gripe with the T1 is that its designed to be supported on a thin support arm and doesn’t like to sit on a flat surface.
I like the ALIX much better for me as single channel preamplification/EQ (and I own a Bose T1 too), but your info is confusing me. I set my T1 on a flat surface all the time and it sits perfectly flat!
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  #22  
Old 01-16-2018, 06:47 PM
Bobalooba Bobalooba is offline
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Rockabilly, thanks for the info. I guess I thought that it meant it started rolling things off at 250 hz instead of 125 hz. (like a low cut shelf). So it just changes the reference point on the low knob? It did seem to help when I switched it back to the factory setting of 125 hz though. I also thought the bass range sounded really nice, clear and tight, it was the mids and highs I was having problems with. I remember speaking with Bryan Sutton at a festival last year about his stellar sound.He was using a Baggs Anthem modified with a Joe Mills mic through a Grace Felix. He said he also had to turn the treble knob way back. But it sure sounded great. Anyway it's fun being a part of this discussion and learning something.
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  #23  
Old 01-16-2018, 08:54 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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I can see why you were confused then. But remember, if the low end is isn't dialed in right, everything else will sound thin. And when doing subtractive EQ with the mid range gain knob remember to start with a smaller Q. The big Q settings on the mid will leave holes in your tone that will sound un-natural, but the smaller settings really can be surgical in getting rid of the problematic piezo mids that honk.

To really get a feel for what frequency is the most offending. Tune your guitar to an open chord. Set your Alix to a small Q (about a 3rd of the range), set the mid +/- knob for a decent cut, and then start fingerpicking or strumming your guitar. While your playing the open chord, slowing sweep the mid frequency knob until your hear the cloud of offending midrange removed. Once you find the frequency that's the problem, adjust the Q to the point where the frequency is removed, but it's not leaving to big of a hole in your tone.

As for the HF frequency knob it's effectiveness is actually going to be determined by what's coming off of your guitar pickup. Every Baggs pickup I'v ever used (and I've used the all), has had a plastic sounding top-end that required a lot of top cut, especially the Lyric and Anthem!
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  #24  
Old 01-16-2018, 10:12 PM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobalooba View Post
Rockabilly, thanks for the info. I guess I thought that it meant it started rolling things off at 250 hz instead of 125 hz. (like a low cut shelf). So it just changes the reference point on the low knob? It did seem to help when I switched it back to the factory setting of 125 hz though. I also thought the bass range sounded really nice, clear and tight, it was the mids and highs I was having problems with. I remember speaking with Bryan Sutton at a festival last year about his stellar sound.He was using a Baggs Anthem modified with a Joe Mills mic through a Grace Felix. He said he also had to turn the treble knob way back. But it sure sounded great. Anyway it's fun being a part of this discussion and learning something.
Well I think you may be right and it was me who was not informed, the LF does work as a shelf, and the jumper changes the corner frequency not the center frequency. Maybe you started with the HPF in the middle position rolling off all of the lows at 125hz and below which would make the LF useless. This discussion will definitely provoke getting the best out of the Alix, and about 20 minutes ago I bought a Felix!
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  #25  
Old 01-17-2018, 10:12 AM
Bobalooba Bobalooba is offline
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Wow, so you have a Felix and an Alix now? I assume you have a stereo PU system then
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  #26  
Old 01-17-2018, 11:20 AM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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No, I’m going to use the Felix with one channel dedicated to a National resonator and the other channel dedicated to my acoustic guitar. And I would also like to use it for other gigs with one channel dedicated to a vocal mic and the other channel dedicated to an acoustic guitar. But first, I’m going to send it to Grace and they are going to modify it so the boost doesn’t work for the first channel, that way it won’t affect my vocal when I kick the boost on for guitar solos. I’ll be using it with a Keely Delay Workstation so that it has reverb and delay and it will be used as a mini mixer.
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  #27  
Old 01-18-2018, 06:23 AM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rockabilly69 View Post
Well I think you may be right and it was me who was not informed, the LF does work as a shelf, and the jumper changes the corner frequency not the center frequency. Maybe you started with the HPF in the middle position rolling off all of the lows at 125hz and below which would make the LF useless. This discussion will definitely provoke getting the best out of the Alix, and about 20 minutes ago I bought a Felix!
i use my felix with guitar and mandolin.
i have the jumper set to 125 on ch 1 for guitar and 250 on ch 2 for mandolin,
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  #28  
Old 01-26-2018, 04:59 PM
meb meb is offline
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Hello, I am back. To make a long story, short, the Alix is boxed up for a
return.

I spent the last couple of weeks trying different pickups in different guitars
trying to find a magic combo or EQ setting. The Alix is very revealing.
I definitely know the Baggs M1 and M1A are warmer than the more
detailed, yet airy Black Angel. I learned the Venue errs to the warm side,
whereas the Alix errs the bright/dry side. The PADI is somewhat in-between.
FYI, the tests were all done thru a Bose L1 mod2 and an L1C.

At the end of most every session, I would get the Alix sounding fine. But the
next session, I would realize that to my ear, something was still not right,
and I would start the EQ process again. I could cover up the sterility with the warmer sounding Baggs pickups at a loss of resolution. To be honest, the
Alix always seemed to sound better in an A-B test, but it was just not 'fun'
to my ear. It was easier to dial in good sound with the other units.

Rambling notes:
*I have a lot of 'respect' for what the Alix does....quiet, beautifully made,
inner dynamics.
*I may not have optimizing the EQ....or maybe a synergy misfit with my other
gear....or maybe I am just horrible at the EQ process.
* To my ear, the Alix is like a refined Fishman preamp.....a little sterile and lacking in air, but the quietness and dynamics are appealing.

Thanks to all for following the thread, and following my journey and helping along the way. I am a relative newbie to AGF, but love to hear the sight and tips you find here. I this has helped others interested in preamp/DI boxes.

By all means the Alix is an interesting unit and worthy of
audition. YMMV, so go for it!

Thanks.
__________________
Michael

Goodall MdRSC/Adirondack yr2018 + Sunrise
Goodall RSC/Sitka yr2001 + Sunrise
Goodall HRGCC/Italian yr2004 + Sunrise
Martin D-10E Sitka/Sapele MX-T
Bose L1 mod2, Pro8, S1 Pro, QSC K8.2, CP8
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  #29  
Old 02-01-2018, 11:47 PM
mandowilli mandowilli is offline
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Finally received my Felix and was able to use it at a few gigs and I am extremely please with the results.

I spent much time testing various configurations and ended up using the 1M input impedance for my K&K mandolin pickup as others have previously mentioned.

I have spent many years trying many different preamps and parametric eq’s to remove the unwanted sounds from my mandolins. Specifically, the boxy or honkey sound in the lower midrange, and the thump or thud sound that exists below 200hz that I hear when you pic the A or E string. Felix has solved my problem. The high pass filter is amazing. I left the jumper set at 125hz and am able to dial out the thump without impacting the tone of the instrument at all. It’s gone. The rest is easily taken care of by the midrange setting using a high q setting.

The other channel is used for my dobro and is left essential flat because I am using a Fishman Jerry Douglas Aura pedal and Nashville pickup and given the nature of a resonator cone and how each room affects it differently I end up using the presets on it to get the sound I am happy with. I plan on concentrating on this in the near future to see what some adjustments on the eq might yield.

Tuner output, effects loop, switches for mute, boost, channel, everything is top quality and this thing is dead quiet. I also like the input indicators on each channel that go green sensing a signal and red on clip.

Thanks to all on this thread!
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  #30  
Old 02-04-2018, 12:19 PM
Bobalooba Bobalooba is offline
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I'm the person that posted earlier about my first impression of the Alix was "no meat on the bone". After reading this thread, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to try another one. I am totally wowed. I felt all along that something wasn't right about the first one I tried, but this one is impressive.
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