Behringer ADI21 surprisingly effective with Baggs Anthem SL

[guitaniac]

I've been experimenting with an ADI21 and my Anthem SL-equipped OM recently.

The biggest problem which I've had with this particular rig is that the signal is way too strong (for a good tonal balance) around the Anthem SL's crossover frequency of 250 Hz. The ADI21 does a good job of addressing this particular problem because its sweepable mid control ranges from 170Hz to 3.5KHz.

Another much smaller problem with my Anthem SL rig is that the highs can sound a bit thin and brittle at times. Surprisingly, I've found that a bit of the ADI21's tube/mic emulation effect rounds out the highs nicely. It only takes a small amount of the effect (an 8 o'clock dial setting) to do the job.


The ADI21 is such an inexpensive device that I'm suggesting it as a possible option for folks whose Anthem rigs have problems similar to mine.

My next ADI21 experiment will be with the Lyric which I have in a mini-jumbo. Its a naturally boomy guitar to begin with, so I've had trouble getting enough feedback-free gain (with the Lyric) for bare-fingered picking in a noisy environment. I'm thinking that the ADI21 might do a good job of addressing the boominess and rounding out the highs a bit.

Another advantage of running the Anthem SL signal through the ADI21 is that the ADI21's volume control does a better job of fine-tuning the volume level than the Anthem SL's volume flywheel.

[DownUpDave]

Glad it worked out so well for you. The ADI21 is a crazy good piece of gear for a stupid low price. I was playing my Cordoba C10 nylon string yesterday for a friend. It has a Schatten HFN pick up plugged into the AD121 and into a Fishman Loudbox mini. My friend gave me the best compliment ever....said it sounded so natural, just louder. Just a bit of tweaking with the AD121 makes a big difference.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by DownUpDave

Glad it worked out so well for you. The ADI21 is a crazy good piece of gear for a stupid low price. I was playing my Cordoba C10 nylon string yesterday for a friend. It has a Schatten HFN pick up plugged into the AD121 and into a Fishman Loudbox mini. My friend gave me the best compliment ever....said it sounded so natural, just louder. Just a bit of tweaking with the AD121 makes a big difference.

If I can't get what I want from a Lyric/ADL21 combo, I may well give the Schatten HFN a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

If I can't get what I want from a Lyric/ADL21 combo, I may well give the Schatten HFN a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

Hi g-niac

I've had students & friends buy these after trying mine (I loan it to players with K&K installed and no preamp to see if it makes a difference for them).

Just know it's a 'GATEWAY' preamp (often leads to the use of heavier preamps).

The only drawback (if it is a drawback) is the plastic case (which is NOT fragile). It's a great bargain for a simple preamp with the important bases covered!

Just turn the "PAD" all the way up and hit the footswitch to engage. Adjust the output volume and you are good to go.

Where else can you get a great Direct Box (simultaneous XLR/¼" out) with a great preamp thrown in?

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi g-niac

I've had students & friends buy these after trying mine (I loan it to players with K&K installed and no preamp to see if it makes a difference for them).

Just know it's a 'GATEWAY' preamp (often leads to the use of heavier preamps).

The only drawback (if it is a drawback) is the plastic case (which is NOT fragile). It's a great bargain for a simple preamp with the important bases covered!

Just turn the "PAD" all the way up and hit the footswitch to engage. Adjust the output volume and you are good to go.

Where else can you get a great Direct Box (simultaneous XLR/¼" out) with a great preamp thrown in?

Thanks for the input, Larry. I must admit that I've already driven a semi full of preamps through the "gateway" you've referred to. Unfortunately, my ToneDexter is useless with the Anthem system and my Zoom A3, which I previously used with the Anthem, died a few months back. The A3 had sophisticated EQ capabilities, but the ADI21's tube/mic emulator might make it a slightly better option. A small bit of the emulator effect seems to round out the highs nicely.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Thanks for the input, Larry. I must admit that I've already driven a semi full of preamps through the "gateway" you've referred to. Unfortunately, my ToneDexter is useless with the Anthem system and my Zoom A3, which I previously used with the Anthem, died a few months back. The A3 had sophisticated EQ capabilities, but the ADI21's tube/mic emulator might make it a slightly better option. A small bit of the emulator effect seems to round out the highs nicely.

A ToneDexter without enabling the Wavemaps is still a fairly full featured preamp pedal and excepting some intentional distortion (or nonlinearity) from the ADI21's tube/mic modeling and its parametric mids, ups the ante with a good tuner and notch filter.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

A ToneDexter without enabling the Wavemaps is still a fairly full featured preamp pedal and excepting some intentional distortion (or nonlinearity) from the ADI21's tube/mic modeling and its parametric mids, ups the ante with a good tuner and notch filter.

When used in bypass mode as a straight preamp, ToneDexter doesn't have enough input impedance to get the best from the David Enke designed USTs which I favor. The ADI21 works better with the Enke USTs because it has an input impedance of 4.7Mohms (as opposed to 1Mohm for ToneDexter).

On the other hand, while experimenting with ToneDexter today I noticed that it will probably be a better preamp for my Lyric rig than the ADI21. That's because 125Hz seems to be the most effective frequency to notch to eliminate the boominess from that particular rig. (The ADI21 can't deal with 125Hz as effectively as ToneDexter does.) The ToneDexter also works pretty well with my Anthem SL rig when I notch at 220Hz and cut the shelving lows by 1.5db. In the case of the Anthem SL rig, however, I think the ADI21 works just as well or better.