I did it! K&k and anthem combo

[dberkowitz]

Again, I beg to disagree. It's not that it's designed so that the mic provides everything above 250hz, but rather the Anthem's preamp has a high pass filter on the mic set at 250hz meaning all frequencies below that are rolled off. The balance between the mic and the UST is determined by the blend (dial on the Anthem, set screw on the Anthem SL).

"On Jan 13, 2014, at 12:29 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi David,
The mic in the Anthem is designed to only carry sound from 250Hz up. So splitting the signal was not a feature that we made possible with the Anthem system. It's a mono output only.

Sincerely,
Caleb Elling
LR Baggs Customer Support
805-929-3545, ext. 121"

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by mark neel

i spent many hours subsequent to going out dialing all permutations, the one problem i could not get past was the low freqs on the kk piezo of all things. my guess, is either they are somehow not compatible with the anthem pre, or my kk install is questionable, or inherent in that guitar is a low freq that excites the piezo elements. i did the install to the letter, looking at it with a mirror it is a textbook example ie the instructions. when i reinstalled the kk onboard trinity pre i had to roll all the bass off to get a "natural" sound. that is running flat on the bose. the nice thing about the anthem, no hardwiring, everything is easily removed and moved. i now have three pieze elements superglued to the bridge plate that are just . . . there :-) i know some people here have done a kk mini/lyric install, going to research that, always the option of subbing the silver bullet mic with the lyric element using the kk pre with eq and individual gain options. full in full out on both available. If the lyric is compatible with the kk phantom out. research for another day. best to all inquiring minds

Did "all permutations" include putting the Anthem mix on full mic, and then adjusting the mic level screw for maximum mic level? If the Pure Mini signal overpowers the mic at its highest level, I can see how this setup wouldn't work out. If the Element preamp boosts the bass heavily (as has been stated), then I can see how using the mix control to blend in more Pure Mini signal would just increase the tone imbalance.

Its possible that putting a big resistor in series with the Pure Mini, or a capacitor in parallel with the Pure Mini, would lower the Element preamp's output enough that its easier to balance it with the mic level. Determining the necessary value for such a resistor or capacitor, however, would be a project.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by dberkowitz

Again, I beg to disagree. It's not that it's designed so that the mic provides everything above 250hz, but rather the Anthem's preamp has a high pass filter on the mic set at 250hz meaning all frequencies below that are rolled off. The balance between the mic and the UST is determined by the blend (dial on the Anthem, set screw on the Anthem SL).

"On Jan 13, 2014, at 12:29 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi David,
The mic in the Anthem is designed to only carry sound from 250Hz up. So splitting the signal was not a feature that we made possible with the Anthem system. It's a mono output only.

Sincerely,
Caleb Elling
LR Baggs Customer Support
805-929-3545, ext. 121"

For the Anthem SL, I'm thinking that the UST signal is also filtered so that only the signal below 250Hz is passed. I could be wrong about that, but all the comments I've heard from the Baggs folks (about how the Anthem and the Anthem SL work) suggest otherwise.

It would be an easy experiment to check and see, for folks with the full Anthem system. They could set the mix on full mic (making it the same as the SL system) and see if they get any high end output when the mic plug is disconnected from its input jack.

[dberkowitz]

Originally Posted by guitaniac, "For the Anthem SL, I'm thinking that the UST signal is also filtered so that only the signal below 250Hz is passed. I could be wrong about that, but all the comments I've heard from the Baggs folks (about how the Anthem and the Anthem SL work) suggest otherwise.

It would be an easy experiment to check and see, for folks with the full Anthem system. They could set the mix on full mic (making it the same as the SL system) and see if they get any high end output when the mic plug is disconnected from its input jack."

So now your argument is that the Anthem/Anthem SL have different outputs? That somehow only the Anthem passes signal below 250? In what world does that make sense? In what world does it make sense that you'd make a SYSTEM for reproducing sound on an acoustic guitar that did not pass some of its signal below 250? With all do respect, where's the logic? I've given you an email from LR Baggs indicating the mic does not provide signal below 250. Now you want to argue that the system itself provides no signal below 250?

Sheesh.

[guitaniac]

Perhaps I've used the term "low pass" filter incorrectly, David. Perhaps it would have been more correct to say "high cut" filter. I'm not sure. In any event, I meant that the UST signal is filtered so that only the frequencies from 250Hz and lower show up at the output.

As I said before, this would be easy to check with a full Anthem system. Just put the mix control on the full "mic" position, and unplug the mic from the preamp. Amplify the UST signal alone, and listen to the result.

You could also do the check with the Anthem SL system, but that would require the tricky job of disconnecting (and later re-soldering) the tru mic's connection to the circuit board.


LOL - I tried to mute the TruMic in my Anthem SL rig by taping over the holes in the casing. A quick listen over head phones reminded me that the business end of the mic is facing the bridgeplate. I guess there's no easy way to mute the Anthem SL's mic (while leaving the UST on) without disconnecting a mic lead or removing the mic from the bridgeplate.

[dberkowitz]

Ok, so here's the lowdown on the Anthem and Anthem SL. It is NOT clear cut. They are, in fact, different systems and the response of the pickup and the Element differer depending upon which you are talking about. The following is a response I got from Caleb at LR Baggs:

Hi David,
The frequency response of the Anthem, as an entire system, is full range (20hz-20kHz).

The microphone is always limited to carrying sound above 250hz, while the Element is carrying the full frequency range. When you blend towards the mic side of the mix, the Element is shelved off in order to only carry 250hz and below.

The "blend" and the "mic trim" are actually two completely different functions. The "blend" knob (thumbwheel, Anthem only) controls the actual mix between the mic side (mic carrying 250hz and up), and the Element side (full range pickup, no mic). The "mic trim" control (screwdriver adjustment, Anthem and Anthem SL) adjusts the microphone gain level in relation to the set level of the pickup. This is adjusted in order to achieve an accurate balance across the whole frequency range. If the mic trim is set too high, then the system will sound bright and thin. If the mic trim is set too low, the system will sound dark and muddy. So it is very important to set the trim to accurately represent the sound of the guitar.

The Anthem SL has a preset blend that cannot be adjusted, and is always set where the mic carries 250hz and up. The Element on the Anthem SL only carries 250hz and below.

It's obviously a very complicated system, but it works really well. If you have further questions, let me know.

Sincerely,
Caleb Elling
LR Baggs Customer Support
805-929-3545, ext. 121

[guitaniac]

"The Anthem SL has a preset blend that cannot be adjusted, and is always set where the mic carries 250hz and up. The Element on the Anthem SL only carries 250hz and below."

This is what I was trying to say, David, though I apparently didn't communicate it very well.

Its also my understanding that when the Anthem system's mix control is set on full mic position (blend wheel rolled all the way toward the neck), it functions the same as the Anthem SL system (with the mic providing all the signal above 250Hz, and the UST providing all the signal below 250Hz). As the blend wheel is rolled toward the bridge, a full spectrum UST signal is blended in. Rolling the blend wheel all the way toward the bridge provides the full spectrum UST signal only.

Perhaps we still differ on whether 250Hz should be called the "crossover frequency". I'm still thinking that's what it is, which is why I told the OP that the crossover frequency is fixed and can't be changed. You certainly can change the amount of full range piezo pickup signal (Pure Mini in this case) which is in the blend, but the Pure Mini signal is apparently so bassy (due to the bass boost in the Element preamp) that it can't be dealt with very effectively.

[rschultz]

Bumping this thread, I am thinking of trying this soon.