L.R. Baggs Anthem Vs Element Vs HiFi

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by buzzardwhiskey

I think the HiFi has a very stage ready sound. A better controlled quack and a rolled-off treble is my recipe for a useful acoustic in a band.

I agree with this. I thought it had a good sound and it has a convenient install for an active pickup.

[dilver]

I just don’t get it… the HiFi is supposed to be this great new innovation and it just sounds muffled to me. Premier Guitar has a video from NAMM and at the very end a guys comes in a plays for a bit and it’s very piezo quacky. For those on this thread that are liking how the HiFi sounds, does the lack of treble response not bother you?

[SpruceTop]

Thanks, Aaron. I hear the Anthem sounding the best and the HiFi next. I thought the Element would pick up more top tapping as it's supposedly designed to sense a goodly proportion of its tonal component from top vibration. It does pick up top vibration much better in a carbon guitar with that material's more efficient vibrational transmission properties as also does the Fishman Matrix UST.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by dilver

I just don’t get it… the HiFi is supposed to be this great new innovation and it just sounds muffled to me. Premier Guitar has a video from NAMM and at the very end a guys comes in a plays for a bit and it’s very piezo quacky. For those on this thread that are liking how the HiFi sounds, does the lack of treble response not bother you?

I agree it sounds muffled for sure. I don't even know how it can sound muffled on a direct recording, but it does.

[Monsum]

I noticed that when you play fingerstyle in your video the low E is quieter in the HiFi pickup.
There might be a string balance issue like it sometimes happen in the Schatten HFN.

[acousticchiq]

anthem sounded the best but are we just going to ignore how the anthem muffles the sound of the guitar unplugged?

that last bonus comparison was concerning, especially if you have a really high end acoustic that sounds great unplugged, you'd muffle it with an anthem

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by acousticchiq

anthem sounded the best but are we just going to ignore how the anthem muffles the sound of the guitar unplugged?

that last bonus comparison was concerning, especially if you have a really high end acoustic that sounds great unplugged, you'd muffle it with an anthem

Yes, because honestly that’s been massively blown out of proportion. If people are hearing that much of a change to their guitar then something else is up IMO.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by buzzardwhiskey

I think the HiFi has a very stage ready sound. A better controlled quack and a rolled-off treble is my recipe for a useful acoustic in a band.

This is where the rubber hits the road - how does it sound on a gig. In the studio 9 times out of 10 (99 out of 100) you're going to mic an acoustic because that is the gold standard. But out on a gig, how good it sounds depends on the player, the room, and the context.

fwiw I gigged K&K equipped guitars and HiFi in the same room under the same context (solo). The HiFi didn't sound "muffled" in that case, and certainly required far less eq than the K&K. My only complaint with the HiFi was the lower level than my Dobro (or NC-2) so I had to deal with that somehow. Easiest way was using a bit of boost on an Empress ParaEQ.

Listening at home (or on YouTube) will NOT fully inform you how well something will work on a gig. I've lost track of the times I had something I thought sounded great at home then either disappeared in a mix or had some other issue. In fact yesterday I pulled a Diamond Comp/EQ off my board to make space for the ParaEQ, as I was finding at home the Empress comp a bit more open. Sure enough I found myself wishing I'd run 2 comps like I had at the previous gig (different venue, still solo) as I like the dobro though one of them, Collings through the other. In listening back to the recording from the gig, in the moment it was a bigger deal than after, and likely more the different feel as opposed to a big sonic difference. But feel matters to, especially with comps.

I haven't decided if I'll put a HiFi in the JL. The NC-2 is working well and I don't click it much. But I've already drilled out the end pin so the hard part is done...

[jricc]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Listening at home (or on YouTube) will NOT fully inform you how well something will work on a gig. I've lost track of the times I had something I thought sounded great at home then either disappeared in a mix or had some other issue.

THIS x 100. So agree with you nostatic. I've had the same experience. Sounds great at home with decent amount of volume, only to get on the gig and it doesn't sound so good...

[JackB1]

I think the Element is a very underrated pickup IMO. It sounds WAAAAAY better than any Fishman sonitone, which is what it competes with. Not sure why more companies choose Fishman over Baggs for their IEM pickups?

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by JackB1

I think the Element is a very underrated pickup IMO. It sounds WAAAAAY better than any Fishman sonitone, which is what it competes with. Not sure why more companies choose Fishman over Baggs for their IEM pickups?

The Element definitely competes with the Matrix. The Sonitone is a similar design to the Element but it’s Fishman’s budget friendly UST. The Matrix and Element are the flagship pickups.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

The Element definitely competes with the Matrix. The Sonitone is a similar design to the Element but it’s Fishman’s budget friendly UST. The Matrix and Element are the flagship pickups.

I've tried both and I don't hear a big difference between the Matrix and the Element.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by JackB1

I've tried both and I don't hear a big difference between the Matrix and the Element.

They are very similar. I was just pointing out that the Element is competing more with the Matrix vs. the Sonitone.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

They are very similar. I was just pointing out that the Element is competing more with the Matrix vs. the Sonitone.

Unlike the Matrix, the Element and the Sonitone are very rugged and don’t easily fall victim to a hum caused by shielding damage. The Element and Sonicore transducers also have the advantage (with manufacturers AND do-it- yourselfers) of being easier to install.

When Cordoba came out with their nylon string stage guitar, Larry Fishman did a little interview claiming the Sonitone transducer had been improved upon with a more responsive piezo material. In any event, Cordoba used a Sonitone/Fishman SBT combo for that guitar.

[guitaniac]

On the subject of the HiFi, the HiFi installation instructions mention that a passive soundhole mag would be a good pickup choice for wiring to the HiFi preamp’s auxiliary input (because of the mag’s relatively low impedance). The passive mag signal would appear on the ring signal path of a stereo cable or stereo-to-Y cable.

I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing HiFi/mag dual source combos.