K&K Trinity plus Red Eye Twin equals...UPDATE w/ Demo
 

I have the Trinity system and the K&K Trinity preamp. It's okay, but I've always wanted to try a Red Eye with it. I grabbed a used Red Eye Twin and it came today.

The piezo works, and sounds good, but the mic doesn't. A little research tells me that the Trinity system will only work with K&K Trinity or Quantum preamps. That's what I get for reading up AFTER my purchase.

I just want to confirm with the wise people here before I give up on the Red Eye Twin.

Hi Crowder,

Yeah - K&K uses a custom voltage for their mics - something in the 6-12v range (it's on their site). Beware - don't use a phantom powered mic channel - it can 'burn out' and damage the mic - permanently!

So if you could figure a way to feed power to the mic - then your red eye might work very well. I've contemplated the same config. I have the 2 channel K&K external preamp and it works pretty well but you can only get to the "fine control EQ by opening it up - not very convenient. It uses a 9v battery which lasts for weeks to months of intermittent usage.

An easy job for an electronics hobbyist to rig something up, but otherwise not for the faint of heart and you probably don't want to risk your red eye ...

Happy experimenting ...

If there's a workaround for this I'd be keen to hear it....

Maybe the folks at Red Eye should consider making a version of their product that is compatible with the latest K&K offerings...!

Thanks all!

The battery issue is one of the reasons I'm not keen on the K&K preamp as a standalone solution. I like to run my preamp out into a tuner and boost pedal. I figured with the Red Eye I could put the tuner in the loop and the boost wouldn't be necessary anymore. Ah well.

I think I might have a power cable for my power supply that has a 9-volt battery terminal on the end. If I can rig that up with the K&K preamp that will alleviate one of my issues with it. I've killed a couple batteries from leaving the output jack connected to the rest of my pedalboard.

There was a free of charge custom shop option on the twin red eye to incorporate a small switch to Instrument Channel B that provided the power to the mic. I've been in touch with the guys at fire-eye and they are looking in to what they might be able to do with the revised K&K specifications to the mic. (If you know where to find the revised specs, please send them to me)

Good news. Fire Eye Development will mod a Twin Eye to supply 9v power on one of the channels, enabling its use with an onboard mic. Free mod, you just pay shipping each way!

This from Fire-Eye re: the Red Eye Twin:

Quote:

"We will accept new Red-Eye Twin orders along with emailed instructions to add the electret microphone phantom power modification"

For the curious...

I contacted Fire Eye Development and they encouraged me to send my Twin back to them for the mod that will power the electret mic inside my guitar. Considering the cost of two-way shipping and my preferred timeframe, I decided to order a new Red Eye Twin that includes the mod. It arrived yesterday.

After trying it out briefly, I'm really excited about the results I'm hearing. This demo could be louder (sorry) but it gives you an idea of how the blended signal sounds through my ZEDi-10FX and a pair of K10's. About a minute of strumming and a little fingerstyle too.

Daren from Fire Eye has been AWESOME. Can't say enough good things about the service and communication I've gotten from him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGqUfgeDnEY

Just had a new 2018 K&K Trinity installed in a guitar yesterday - came with an addendum flyer that states that the operating voltage of the electret microphone is between 5 and 9 volts.

Just pulled the trigger on the Red Eye Twin with the Channel B modification - I'm hoping it's a vast improvement over the K&K supplied pre-amp, which I am completely underwhelmed with.

I'm a firm believer you need EQ capabilities with the K and K or JJB as well as the preamp.

Crowder, That sounds GREAT! Incredibly natural. Here is your video properly embedded to play from the thread.

You have some sweet gear. The Preamps in the Allen & Heath ZED10FX mixer are superb. And K10's are excellent acoustic speakers. My Duo partner and I use the QSC K8's for some shows and they are equally remarkable for acoustic music and vocals.

A way around the K&k mic power issue. Maybe this will give you some ideas.


I use a k&k meridian mic for my guitar, but had problems with feedback at high volume. I HAD to keep the preamp that came with the mic because it produces the power for the mic. SOLUTION I run this preamp into the xlr in of an ART tube mp project, switch on the phantom power for the K&K pre. I ran the 1/4 " out into the front end of channel 1 of my AS50D. This set up is quiet and loud. I leave the bass flat and treble at 3. On the ART the low cut filter is switched on.