d tar soltise or d tar equinox?

ntik · #1 08-11-2011, 01:07 PM

Children hi to everybody, I'm between the d tar soltise, and d tar equinox, I want to use as preamp my guitar, what to buy;thanks a lot

ntik · #2 08-11-2011, 01:24 PM

nobody help

ljguitar · #3 08-11-2011, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntik

Children hi to everybody, I'm between the d tar soltise, and d tar equinox, I want to use as preamp my guitar, what to buy;thanks a lot

Hi ntik…
Solstice.

royd · #4 08-13-2011, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntik

Children hi to everybody, I'm between the d tar soltise, and d tar equinox, I want to use as preamp my guitar, what to buy;thanks a lot

it depends on way you want to accomplish. the equinox has parametric EQ, works with only one pickup and has limited in/out.

the solstice is a blender with two channels, lots of I/O possibilities, more limited EQ.

If you have two sources, the equinox won't work. If you need parametric EQ, the solstice won't work. if you want lots of I/O, the equinox won't work...

I have a solstice and like it a lot for what it is at it's price point

jalbert · #5 08-13-2011, 06:39 PM

Can you buy both? I have both and as royd said, while there's a little bit of overlap they're really for doing different things. I've used the Equinox as a single-channel preamp before and it works well for that. However if you have a dual source the blending capabilities of the Solstice are quite useful.

lschwart · #6 08-13-2011, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jalbert

Can you buy both? I have both and as royd said, while there's a little bit of overlap they're really for doing different things. I've used the Equinox as a single-channel preamp before and it works well for that. However if you have a dual source the blending capabilities of the Solstice are quite useful.

I'd add that they are designed so they can be used together. You can put an Equinox into one of the channel inserts on the Solstice and get the benefits of the full parametric EQ of the Equinox for at least one channel of your Solstice. If you've got two Equinoxes, you can use one for each channel of the solstice (from the Equinox manual):

Patching Equinox into an Effects Loop

You can also "patch in" your Equinox for live sound or
studio applications to gain ultimate control over your sound.
By using one or more Equinox in each effects loop(s) of a
preamp such as D-TAR's Solstice mixer/blender you can
gain the ultimate control over your live sound, the sound of
instruments in the studio, or "fix it in the mix," should you
discover sonic problems in recordings. Equinox is compatible
with any guitar or bass amp with an effects loop, as well
as with PA and recording consoles. Using an Equinox
together with a Solstice can be accomplished with a single
stereo cable connected from the “Input” jack of the Equinox
to either of the “Insertion Point” jacks on the Solstice rear
panel. Input and output connections can be made on a
single cable, keeping cabling simple and clean.

Louis

ntik · #7 08-14-2011, 04:04 AM

do not want to do mixing, I just want to connect, guitar-preamp-PA,

ntik · #8 08-14-2011, 06:19 AM

Which one might work better as standalone preamp?

donh · #9 08-14-2011, 10:32 AM

The solstice is designed as a stand-alone preamp, with the equinox designed as an add-on equalizer. the equinox can be used as a stand-alone preamp, but it has low gain compared to the solstice and may not get you enough clean volume w/o added noise.

Vancebo · #10 08-14-2011, 01:27 PM

Ntik,

Everybody's giving you good advice they are right on. They are both good. But, It's important to make clear that the Solstice is designed for a guitar with two pickup sources to be blended together because it is a two channel unit. I believe you can also use only one channel but I don't remember with out looking it up. In that case you will have one channel left unused.

The Equinox is what I have and have used a great deal. It is for a single source pickup or mono cable and is a fully parametric EQ. Which means it is still a 2 band EQ but each band has additional knobs for adjusting the width and specific band of frequencies. If you are like I am this took a lot of time to get used to and be a useful tool. The learning curve was not quick for me. Some people may shy away from such power :-) I was a gluten for punishment and kept with it until I could make it work very well in all environments. No doubt others can achieve good results much faster. All in all it's well worth it if you want good tone.

I am selling mine because now I want to move to a different Mic/UST set-up and splurge for a Pendulum SPS-1 which does the same thing but with two channels. Hope it helped. You can PM me if you have questions.

WGTroutman · #11 08-14-2011, 02:18 PM

what kind(s) of pickup will you be running into the box?

ljguitar · #12 08-14-2011, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vancebo

Ntik,

Everybody's giving you good advice they are right on. They are both good. But, It's important to make clear that the Solstice is designed for a guitar with two pickup sources to be blended together because it is a two channel unit. I believe you can also use only one channel but I don't remember with out looking it up. In that case you will have one channel left unused.

Hi Van…
Yes, it can be a single source, or you can put two sources into it at once (two guitarists) and use it like a mixer.

It is a preamp on steroids, and certainly doesn't have to be dual sourced.

The same should be said for UltraSound's UltraDI Max ($169) which mixes/blends two sources (no phantom power). And the old Boss AD-5 had two choices selectable in (Piezo or 'other'). Also the Headway EDB-1 which has dual inputs but is intended as a single source preamp with options.

Key to this discussion is the quality of the DTAR Solstice which is top shelf and even with a single source, the output is still mono and controlled the same as with two sources in.

You can plug a single source into either ¼'' input and control it. You can plug into the XLR or one channel and the ¼'' of the other as well. If you think of it only as a dual-source blender it really sells it shore.

ntik · #13 08-15-2011, 05:52 AM

I do not need the 2 channels,, I want to be stand-alone,, and the equalizer to be natural acoustic, which of two have bigger signal exit?

donh · #14 08-15-2011, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntik

I do not need the 2 channels,, I want to be stand-alone,, and the equalizer to be natural acoustic, which of two have bigger signal exit?

I already answered this above

ljguitar · #15 08-15-2011, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntik

I do not need the 2 channels,, I want to be stand-alone,, and the equalizer to be natural acoustic, which of two have bigger signal exit?

Hi ntik…
The DTAR Solstice.

Also, the UltraSound Ultra DI Max has a choice of inputs and outputs without phantom power and is a great preamp for about half the money. It can also be run on battery power or powered via phantom from a PA board or amp.

A little less control than the DTAR but really great preamps. We use them with our Worship Team guitars and they work great.

UltraDI Max - CLiCK