Grace Alix vs. LR Baggs Venue question
 

Can any user of the Grace Alix offer an opinion about the DI box vs. an LR Baggs Venue. I currently use the Venue but need a good "backup". Is the Grace Alix noticeably (typically) superior (sound-wise) than my Baggs unit or does hardware/features justify the price difference? I could get a second Venue but perhaps the Grace is a definite step-up! Thanks for any input!

I have had a lot of experience with the Venue. It is a good tool. I have owned the crown jewel of acoustic guitar preamps with the Pendulum sps1 and I currently own the Red Eye. I have experienced things that are considered top shelf and can say I hear a difference. Even though I haven’t tried the Grace products I would venture to guess the Grace Alix would be in that top tier. It has every feature you could want too. It is not battery powered like the Venue if that is important to you. Another one that gets my attention is the new Mesa Rosette Preamp DI. It seems to have a similar feature set as the Alix but it does run on battery power. That is important to me bexlcause I don’t always easily have power close by and I sometimes have no time to set up sonInneed quick and easy. It’s only $299 to boot. I have been thinking about trying it.

I think this depends largely on what features you need. Alix is definitely a step up in a strict sonic sense - it's a studio-grade preamp. But you may like the slight transformer effect of the Venue, too. And whether you will hear a noticeable difference (either good or bad, one way or the other) is open to question. The Venue's also a very good product, which presumably has been working for you. Alix has one fully parametric mid, Venue has 2 semi-parametrics. Venue has a tuner. Alix has power for other effects pedals, and switchable input impedances, and so on. Quite a few complementary features. If it was me, Alix would be my main preamp, and the Venue would be a backup for when I needed a battery-powered preamp. (I have Felix on a board, the Venue's on a shelf where I can grab it if I need a standalone battery-powered preamp) But everyone's needs are different.

Thanks for input! I ordered the unit. I do wish it ran on a battery though. I always thought a preamp should have the absolute quietest (electrical noise)power source. With a battery, no possible 60hz noise. Then again, I am no engineer!

A really good preamp tends to need headroom - it's tough to get enough power out of a battery. I don't think you'll hear any 60Hz hum from Alix.

Hi,

in these days I highly recommend to buy anything until the Tech21 FlyRig acoustic is not in the market. If this thing sounds good, is is a great solution for a lot of things.

cu

erniecaster

Thanks Doug,

Actually Eben Grace himself explained it in the AGF (I have put in Bold letters the interesting part):

See original post:
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...3&postcount=14

I pretty much do the same. I have the felix and its on a board. Which
at times is inconvenient to haul around to impromptu sessions or open mics.
I have a KK pure xlr that runs on 48v PP or 9v battery. It has 3 band eq and gets the job done. But the Felix is soooo much better. You do get what you pay for.

I never thought of that. That makes so much sense! -I will sleep better knowing this! Thank you!

I currently use the bix and it is sonically superior to the venue wich i have used previously.I think the bix is the new benchmark in this price range as far as sonics goes , if you need more control get the alix.

I've had both, and talking about the tuner in the Venue as a positive is really off base because it's really not a very good tuner. Because of the tuner I unloaded mine in a few weeks!!! And having to use AC power to get the high headroom of the Alix to me is more than worth it. Because sound-wise, to my ears, the Alix is superior to the Venue all across the board and especially when hit with a hard input signal as in strumming. I've yet to hear one person say they had buyers remorse over purchasing an Alix or a Felix, they just sound great! And although the Alix has only one parametric EQ (with two ranges), it's full parametric with a Q control, and the notch control can be set as a true notch or a HP filter. Along with that, you can change the center frequencies of of the LF control with an internal dip switch! I have been the biggest supporter of multiple band Parametric EQ's as I love the Empress ParaEQ but I haven't found something the Alix couldn't cope with. And as Doug said above, the Alix has select-able input impedance, and I've found that different pickups do sound different depending on the load they see! The Alix is a powerful all analog pre-amp, and in my opinion the Venue, although a decent rig, is not in the same league.

My question to the OP is what are you planning to use the Alix with? PA system, home studio etc. No matter how good your preamp or guitar and pickup system the final outcome on your tone will be dictated by your speaker/playback system. It's like the tires on a car.

My other suggestion when comparing two pieces of gear is to do a blind A/B test where both units are set up in parallel and have someone else switch switch between them. The truth is that it's quite easy to fool yourself when comparing. Sometimes a better quality unit may not live up to it's full potential if the entire system isn't in the same league. This also goes for the player as well.

I have several Martins all equipped with KK passive pickups. DI Box Strymon Reverb boxes AER 60 amp/Fishman Mini (I have at least 2 of everything for backup reasons) I push reverb further than most but struggle with "going too far" I figure a really nice DI box can help me find that "line" I have never attempted dual-source and would prefer not to UNLESS tone would improve dramatically.

I guess it's worth I try but it seems a bit redundant to use a DI/preamp into amps that pretty much already have that capability. While those amps can sound nice, they are not what I'd call state of the art sound systems. They are designed to give you some stage reinforcement or for amplifying your instrument in a small situation. I've had a couple of K&K's in guitars and while I think they can sound decent, the best results I got were blending them with a mag, mic or piezo. EQ can only do so much.

In the end it depend on your situation and expectations. Let us know how you make out.

Isn't it true that it is hard to get a good parametric circuit with a 9 volt? The guitar stomp box EQs that are touted as being very quiet are all AC units.

My approach is that if you like what is coming out of the guitar, Dazzos in my case, all you need is a RedEye. More people, including me, don't really know how best to use all the bells and whistles.