LR Baggs Voiceprint - Yay or Nay?

[JackB1]

So now that its been out for a while, is this thing all it's cracked up to be and a worthwhile purchase? I have 2 Anthem SL equipped guitars and am terrible using extra EQ's and such to fine tune the sound and wonder if the Voiceprint will bring me a noticeable improvement. It's not that the Anthem SL sounds bad on it's own, but I am wondering if it will greatly improve what I got with a little fuss. The EQ options within the app look very appealing and easy for someone who is EQ-challenged like myself.

[Petty1818]

Good question. I was thinking of posting the same thing! I am looking forward to hearing some reports.

[drew b]

I recently bought one and love it. I typically use magnetic pickups that tend to be mid-heavy and a bit “quacky.” I will say that I still needed to dial down the mids to get the sound I wanted.

If you’re already happy with your sound, it may not be as dramatic an improvement. Mag pickups aren’t necessarily known for their out-of-the-box tone.

Drew

[OneThing]

I say “Yay” with the caveat that I’ve only used it once in a live setting thus far. It’s easy and intuitive to use, has great functionality and definitely improves the tone of my guitar. So far I am extremely pleased with it.

[JackB1]

Would love to hear from somebody that uses the voice print in conjunction with an anthem pickup.

[Aimelie]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Would love to hear from somebody that uses the voice print in conjunction with an anthem pickup.

Me, too!

[SongwriterFan]

I'd like to hear how it works with just the Lyric. A friend of mine loves the Lyric pickup (though he's now gone to the Anthem since he plays with a band and the stage volume is a lot higher).

I had a Lyric installed on my J-45, and I'm not all that happy with how it sounds.

I'd also like to see how well it works with the ES system (not version 2), the one with the combination magnetic neck pickup and body sensors.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

I'd like to hear how it works with just the Lyric. A friend of mine loves the Lyric pickup (though he's now gone to the Anthem since he plays with a band and the stage volume is a lot higher).

I had a Lyric installed on my J-45, and I'm not all that happy with how it sounds.

I'd also like to see how well it works with the ES system (not version 2), the one with the combination magnetic neck pickup and body sensors.

He uses a Lyric in this demo and it sounds pretty good to me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4QqU5feMWU&t=448s

As for the Anthem, both Aaron Short and Teja Gerken did a demo of the Voiceprint with the Anthem (I believe Teja uses the SL version) and it sounded great. In fact, of all the demos I have listened to, the Voiceprint seems to work best with the Anthem.

[SpruceTop]

If I could've gotten the Lyric to sound as good as it does without the VoicePrint in this video, I'd now have the Lyric in every guitar I own. Alas, in a couple of big-body guitars (Larrivee D-04, 300-year-old Spruce Tree model, and Taylor 528 First Edition), and even with trying endlessly with an LR Baggs Venue to EQ the Lyric's tone to my taste, I never got it to sound full and natural which is the way I wanted the tone to sound. As for the VoicePrint, even though I haven't tried one but given my ToneDexter experience with a few pickups, I'd say YAY as it most likely would help most pickups, including the Lyric mic sound better.

[Eucatastrophe]

I had the VPDI for a few months and was very impressed by it. It greatly improved the tone of every pick up I tried with it. I used it with 3 different pickups in my McIlroy AP25.

With the Lyric, I think I really got the sound everyone wants from the Lyric. I got a deep but defined bass but rich mids and trebles too. With some high cut and a little eq it sounded superb and conveyed all the sweet Irish tones of my McIlroy without any feedback.

With the Baggs M1 Passive I saw the greatest improvement. Huge sound! I made a one preset for fingerstyle and another for strumming and loved it. But I just couldn’t get used to the aesthetics of the sound hole pick up.

With the IBeam I had to use my Baggs Session as a gain stage because the notoriously low output pickup. The tone was again deeper and richer. But a little too much white noise.

In the end I went with the Line 6 Pod Go and am currently using some great 3rd party IRs that are giving me as good if not better tone. The IR for my McIlroy is one from Cuki’s site and is of another McIlroy A25 http://acousticir.free.fr

For $50 more what I lost in being able to make my own IRS, I gained so much more in flexibility to have all I want to play acoustic and electric all from one pedal.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

If I could've gotten the Lyric to sound as good as it does without the VoicePrint in this video, I'd now have the Lyric in every guitar I own. Alas, in a couple of big-body guitars (Larrivee D-04, 300-year-old Spruce Tree model, and Taylor 528 First Edition), and even with trying endlessly with an LR Baggs Venue to EQ the Lyric's tone to my taste, I never got it to sound full and natural which is the way I wanted the tone to sound. As for the VoicePrint, even though I haven't tried one but given my ToneDexter experience with a few pickups, I'd say YAY as it most likely would help most pickups, including the Lyric mic sound better.

The lack of low end is what made me move on from the Lyric as well, but out of all the pickups I have tried, the Lyric was still one of my favorites. It didn't feel like a pickup to me, if that makes sense? I remember installing it and trying it at home through my QSC K12 and just loving the tone. It was hard to make work on stage but if the VP helps, I might revisit it.

[jamison162]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

The lack of low end is what made me move on from the Lyric as well, but out of all the pickups I have tried, the Lyric was still one of my favorites. It didn't feel like a pickup to me, if that makes sense? I remember installing it and trying it at home through my QSC K12 and just loving the tone. It was hard to make work on stage but if the VP helps, I might revisit it.

Same here. Aside from K&K, the only other pickup I've really liked in nearly 20 years (although I just received a pair of Dazzo 70T's). Back to the Lyric, I've contemplated installing it behind the bridge pins instead of in front to see if it balances out better with more low end, less treble...and if it sounds good glue that sucker in instead of the sticky foam tape stuff.

[OneThing]

Originally Posted by jamison162

Same here. Aside from K&K, the only other pickup I've really liked in nearly 20 years (although I just received a pair of Dazzo 70T's). Back to the Lyric, I've contemplated installing it behind the bridge pins instead of in front to see if it balances out better with more low end, less treble...and if it sounds good glue that sucker in instead of the sticky foam tape stuff.

I also had the same experience with the Lyric and I moved it just as you are contemplating, but it did not improve the low end. I still have it installed in one of my Taylor’s and at some point I will see how the Voiceprint works with it. I currently have it wired together with a K&K. Should be interesting to see the impact the Voiceprint has on it.

[rpmguitar]

For me it's nay because I don't have an ios device so I can't even try it. Having only an android keeps it from being yea and makes it n/a😁. I bought a Boss VE-8 for my Rainsong with Element Stagepro and really like the sound I get using its tone shaping capabilities.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

The lack of low end is what made me move on from the Lyric as well, but out of all the pickups I have tried, the Lyric was still one of my favorites. It didn't feel like a pickup to me, if that makes sense? I remember installing it and trying it at home through my QSC K12 and just loving the tone. It was hard to make work on stage but if the VP helps, I might revisit it.

Yes, the lack of bass was also my problem with the Lyric. Being a mic, the Lyric did have that softer, mic-like feel when playing and not that immediate, direct feeling that a UST and an SBT can impart to playing.