recommendations for a preamp with di

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I’m checking out the Sunnaudio preamps right now. They are very nice.

They are indeed. Are you trying the MS-2?

[mt8]

thanks for the recommendations. As Nick have suggested above a Boss AD-10, after looking into it I'm quite liking the 'all in one' type of systems. What other pedals are there in this category? And are there any disadvantages to it rather than getting separate pedals?

As for the notch control, is it necessary to have some form of feed back control? I checked out the Fishman Platinum Stage and it seems to not have any feedback control. I was wondering since its a transducer pickup, would feedback control be more important as its more prone to feedback?

[Perchman]

I use Fire Eye with JJB 330 on my D55. My experience is different than a prior post which said that the JJB requires a lot of EQ. The guitar plugged into the Fire Eye and into the board sounds darn good with little to no adjustment. I had a Baggs Para DI and found it difficult to use. For me, the “point and shoot” simple approach works best.

[mt8]

Originally Posted by Perchman

I use Fire Eye with JJB 330 on my D55. My experience is different than a prior post which said that the JJB requires a lot of EQ. The guitar plugged into the Fire Eye and into the board sounds darn good with little to no adjustment. I had a Baggs Para DI and found it difficult to use. For me, the “point and shoot” simple approach works best.

Which fire eye are you using? I honestly don’t mind the plug and play approach but for the price of a red eye, I feel there’s a lot out there in that range.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Perchman

I use Fire Eye with JJB 330 on my D55. My experience is different than a prior post which said that the JJB requires a lot of EQ. The guitar plugged into the Fire Eye and into the board sounds darn good with little to no adjustment. I had a Baggs Para DI and found it difficult to use. For me, the “point and shoot” simple approach works best.

Hi Perchman

That's probably because the Fire Eye is pre-set to an EQ pattern which is pre-adjusted to the weaknesses/characteristics of Sound Board Transducers (K&K, JJB etc).

They are great in normal circumstances/stages/rooms. But if you hit a room with a lot of sensitivity to 110Hz, 220Hz you may have issues with either your low A string taking off every time you strike it. A big-black-rubber-sound-hole-plug (feedback surpressor) will tame it.

I like the concept of a simpler preamp…but I have played in restaurants, coffee houses, etc which are anything-but-normal enough to carry a more adjustable solution.

[guitarman68]

Originally Posted by Perchman

I use Fire Eye with JJB 330 on my D55. My experience is different than a prior post which said that the JJB requires a lot of EQ. The guitar plugged into the Fire Eye and into the board sounds darn good with little to no adjustment. I had a Baggs Para DI and found it difficult to use. For me, the “point and shoot” simple approach works best.

That exactly covers my experience with the RedEye. Tried JJB, K&K, Dazzo, Schatten HFN, UltraTonic with great results. No need for extra tweaking although JJB and K&K can benefit from adding treble, depending on guitar and install.
Playing several instruments on stage I use the 2-channel version of the Redeye, but there is no difference in features compared to the single-channel unit.

If you need more elaborate EQ and notch ... at your fingertips, the Fishman Stage Pro is a very fine unit (tried it with the above mentioned PUs).

[Perchman]

I’m using the single channel Red Eye. I agree its pricey, but I haven’t regretted the money spent for the sound and simplicity achieved. I do carry a sound hole plug in case.

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I’m checking out the Sunnaudio preamps right now. They are very nice.

I'm a huge SunnAudio fan, but though the basic sound is terrific, you might need sweepable mids to tame a K&K and need more bass cut, but it does have an FX Loop if you are willing to use it with an EQ pedal. You could buy the SunnAudio first and see. The basic circuit sound better that any Fishman or Baggs unitthat I've A/Bed them with. It also has the Fire Eye beat.

The upscale SunnAudio pre has more features but at a price.

If I were starting from scratch I'd go Dazzos into a Sunnaudio. Little to no EQ needed.

[mt8]

Just to throw this in here, does anyone have an experience with bgm elevation pickups? Especially the E3.

[Irish Pennant]

I have a NU X Stageman Floor Acoustic pedal on one of my pedal boards, it works fine with my K&K pickup.

It has a lot of what's considered necessary for amping an acoustic guitar, all in a small package. Preamp, DI, Gain, Reverb, Chorus, notch filter, 3 band EQ, XLR out, 1/4" in and out, 1/8" Aux in, head phone jack and a USB port. It also has a 60 sec looper, which I don't use, I have an easier to use looper in the pedal chain.

I've had it now for about a year and it still works. It's not a top of the line pedal, it's not for the professional gigging musician that's playing in large venues. It's also not on my main board, but I do use it a lot. What it is, it's affordable, quiet, small foot print and has enough adjustments to get you a good sound.

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Perchman

That's probably because the Fire Eye is pre-set to an EQ pattern which is pre-adjusted to the weaknesses/characteristics of Sound Board Transducers (K&K, JJB etc).

They are great in normal circumstances/stages/rooms. But if you hit a room with a lot of sensitivity to 110Hz, 220Hz you may have issues with either your low A string taking off every time you strike it. A big-black-rubber-sound-hole-plug (feedback surpressor) will tame it.

I like the concept of a simpler preamp…but I have played in restaurants, coffee houses, etc which are anything-but-normal enough to carry a more adjustable solution.

When I was contemplating buying a RedEye, I called the owner and had a nice chat about the design. I was told the RedEye didn't need much EQ because the gain was very linear. There is no design to compensate for any pickup. He said that a lot of the EQ circuits are needed for poor gain stage design. So on the RedEye it is more of what goes in comes out. He called the treble control the dead string enhancer. The RedEye's weakness is the transformer. They found one that was acceptable for $20. They can cost $100 up. So that was a design compromise for cost. It is a very nice pre. Until I A/Bd it with a SunnAudio Stage 1, it was my go to pre. The SunnAudio sounds a bit more full frequency, witch it is, and sonicly warmer too. Once I bought it I never used my RedEye, and I was a big fan. Glad it is working for JJbs. Do you know the RedEye was designed for fiddles?