swapped a Lyric out for a Trance Amulet MV and am very pleased with it

[Psfam]

I have had three Lyrics in different guitars, like them pretty well. But for dreadnought (Martin HD-28 cocobolo and Adirondack) i just kept feeling like I couldn't get a sound that was "my guitar." Mostly I fought boxiness. I used a Venue and cut out around 500 which helped along with some other adjustments. With other equipment I generally would cut the midrange, in fact sometimes turning it all the way out.

All that to say, it is a fantastic guitar and acoustically not boxy, and very even with sparkling highs. It stood out to me when I bought it against many other guitars. I was looking for a strummer but came away with this one which was a dreadnought even good for finger picking. I totally didn't expect that.

Anyway, I finally decided to give up on the Lyric and exchange it for a Trance, the real story of this post.

1. A shout out to Maury who talked to me personally on the phone and answered my questions very well.
2. He encouraged me that it was okay to try to install it myself if I had reasonable skills and patience, which I do.
3. The difference was night and day. The Trance is excellent. Clear, stronger, and balanced. My guitar sounds like "my guitar." Yay! and with very little need for EQ. It's not boxy anymore amplified. I know I could EQ it before but somehow I like not needing to alter the signal. It just makes sense that it will overall be closer to the real sound of the guitar if the signal doesn't need to be adjusted, at least that makes sense to me.

So, thanks to Maury and I highly recommend the Trance.

[SpruceTop]

Another satisfied Trance owner, and Welcome to The Club!

[eyesore]

Trance and Maury are the best!

[MaurysMusic]

My pleasure, and thanks for the kind words! I'm so glad it worked out for you, but I'm not at all surprised.

[guitaniac]

Thanks for the report. I can certainly empathize with you and the other folks who have had a guitar/Lyric rig which requires considerable EQ help.

My question to you, and other Trance users, is this: How does the Trance Amulet compare to other pickup types with respect to feedback susceptibility? For instance, does it seem less feedback prone than your Lyric rigs?

[Vancebo]

I am not really surprised by your story. I had Lyrics in all my guitars at one point, then it was Anthems. Dealing with that boxy sound got tiring. Now I have Dazzos in 4 instruments. The next one I get will be a Trance just to see what the difference is between Trance and Dazzo. They are similar concepts but a different shape. There aren't very many people who have experienced both except for maybe Doug Young. I am eager to someday make a comparison. I am glad to hear about another convert. Enjoy!

[Cuki79]

Hi everyone

It's not impossible to get rid of the boxiness of the Lyric.

See my thread with soundcloud samples. Don"t bother to read: listen to the samples.
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=447334

...I have not yet optimized the process. I am working on it.

Note that my process also work with piezo undersadle transducer or soundboard transducer like the Dazzo and Amulet.

Regards,
Cuki

[Petty1818]

For those of you who tried the Lyric/Anthem and switched to the Trance, how did you find the high end on the Amulet? I struggled a great deal with the Lyric and ripped it out but I have had some good and some bad experiences with my Anthem SL. The thing I like about it is that amplified, I can hear the high end of my strings. They are very mic-like and through the monitors, I feel like I am playing my guitar if that makes sense. I play like I normally do at home with the Anthem because it reacts and sounds like an acoustic.

I know, I know, I really should have installed my Amulet by now but haven't had a chance yet. I just wonder if I will miss that realistic/acoustic high end that the Anthem reproduces when I switch to the Amulet. The Amulet doesn't have a mic after all so I can see it failing a bit in that regard.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

For those of you who tried the Lyric/Anthem and switched to the Trance, how did you find the high end on the Amulet? I struggled a great deal with the Lyric and ripped it out but I have had some good and some bad experiences with my Anthem SL. The thing I like about it is that amplified, I can hear the high end of my strings. They are very mic-like and through the monitors, I feel like I am playing my guitar if that makes sense. I play like I normally do at home with the Anthem because it reacts and sounds like an acoustic.

I know, I know, I really should have installed my Amulet by now but haven't had a chance yet. I just wonder if I will miss that realistic/acoustic high end that the Anthem reproduces when I switch to the Amulet. The Amulet doesn't have a mic after all so I can see it failing a bit in that regard.

My Trance Amulet M Dual Mono M-VT has more than enough treble response but I'm thinking the optional Tone control may also add a treble-boost to the tone when wheeled toward the treble-end of its travel. Your straight Amulet M should still have very good treble response and maybe Maury's Trance demonstration videos can alleviate your concern?

[Psfam]

Cuki, I did see your fix. It is really nice that you were able to figure that all out. I just don't have that much equipment to experiment with and want to try to keep my setup really simple. My head feels like it will explode with more than two cords!

I have not had feedback problems with either the Lyric or Trance, but we use in ear monitors so that is probably why. In trying the Trance out this week I tried to force feedback in checking the balance. I could get it there but not easily.

When I thought about the Trance vs the Dazzo one point I considered was the presence of the preamp in the Trance. I know some people don't like that, but I guess I prefer the powered pickup. The Trance is unique in actually having two preamps, one for the bass and the other for the treble side. That allows a little balancing right at the source.

It is also important when comparing the price of the two (it is often pointed out that the Dazzo is less expensive as a plus side) that they are not equivalent since you still need an external preamp. But they do get good reviews.

And one more thing...treble side is very clear and pleasing. I backed the bass side preamp off very little, but not surprised since my guitar is a dreadnought.

I am no expert on this, so if I have stated something wrong, I am sorry and hope to be corrected.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Psfam

I have had three Lyrics in different guitars, like them pretty well. But for dreadnought (Martin HD-28 cocobolo and Adirondack) i just kept feeling like I couldn't get a sound that was "my guitar." Mostly I fought boxiness. I used a Venue and cut out around 500 which helped along with some other adjustments. With other equipment I generally would cut the midrange, in fact sometimes turning it all the way out.

All that to say, it is a fantastic guitar and acoustically not boxy, and very even with sparkling highs. It stood out to me when I bought it against many other guitars. I was looking for a strummer but came away with this one which was a dreadnought even good for finger picking. I totally didn't expect that.

Anyway, I finally decided to give up on the Lyric and exchange it for a Trance, the real story of this post.

1. A shout out to Maury who talked to me personally on the phone and answered my questions very well.
2. He encouraged me that it was okay to try to install it myself if I had reasonable skills and patience, which I do.
3. The difference was night and day. The Trance is excellent. Clear, stronger, and balanced. My guitar sounds like "my guitar." Yay! and with very little need for EQ. It's not boxy anymore amplified. I know I could EQ it before but somehow I like not needing to alter the signal. It just makes sense that it will overall be closer to the real sound of the guitar if the signal doesn't need to be adjusted, at least that makes sense to me.

So, thanks to Maury and I highly recommend the Trance.

Thanks for the report. One of those are in my future, for sure.

enjoy!
scott

[Cuki79]

Hi everyone,

My setup looks complex but basically it is only one pedal. The others I made because I wanted zero electronic and battery in the guitar.

However you do need one pedal and two cable instead of just a cable... But in my opinion most system needs at least a preamp and EQ outboard system.

I've just sent few hours ago many homemade IRs to Doug Young I made for his Trance Audio Amulet (for this configuration I made 16 IRs to try) and he has just start a new thread:

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=448436

That's him playing one of the IR (I have no idea which one...). It seems to work also with Trance Amulet

Cuki

[Cuki79]

I want also say thanks to Doug for his help and great inspiration.

When I've first listened to his rig, I felt a bit depressed. I thought it would be impossible to make something competitive with that sound.

His rig is 100% analog and sounds amazing.

So with his help, I totally investigated a new way of thinking and deeply changed the program.

I am still far from improving the sound of his full rig, but I can make a difference on the Trance audio Amulet alone.

Every input on the new thread would be appreciated. Thanks to Doug's help I did a big step forward.

Cuki

[George Brown]

Originally Posted by Psfam

I have had three Lyrics in different guitars, like them pretty well. But for dreadnought (Martin HD-28 cocobolo and Adirondack) i just kept feeling like I couldn't get a sound that was "my guitar." Mostly I fought boxiness. I used a Venue and cut out around 500 which helped along with some other adjustments. With other equipment I generally would cut the midrange, in fact sometimes turning it all the way out.

All that to say, it is a fantastic guitar and acoustically not boxy, and very even with sparkling highs. It stood out to me when I bought it against many other guitars. I was looking for a strummer but came away with this one which was a dreadnought even good for finger picking. I totally didn't expect that.

Anyway, I finally decided to give up on the Lyric and exchange it for a Trance, the real story of this post.

1. A shout out to Maury who talked to me personally on the phone and answered my questions very well.
2. He encouraged me that it was okay to try to install it myself if I had reasonable skills and patience, which I do.
3. The difference was night and day. The Trance is excellent. Clear, stronger, and balanced. My guitar sounds like "my guitar." Yay! and with very little need for EQ. It's not boxy anymore amplified. I know I could EQ it before but somehow I like not needing to alter the signal. It just makes sense that it will overall be closer to the real sound of the guitar if the signal doesn't need to be adjusted, at least that makes sense to me.

So, thanks to Maury and I highly recommend the Trance.

Do you find the Trance Amulet to make the top sensitive to the touch?

[SpruceTop]

Yes, the top is alive, and so are the sides, back and neck of the guitar.