K&K + SunnAudio DI-2 Prestine

[ACOUSTICDEWD]

After decades of trying every impedance-matched pedal for the K&K, I can now say that the DI-2 Prestine is the current reigning champ.

The sweepable lo-cut of 40hz to 220hz would have been enough but they knocked it out the park with this one. I only had to notch out the mids at 1800khz and engage the internal presence dip-switch. The bass/treble knobs aren't even being used and the sound is clean and strong (going direct XLR into Pro Tools). The 1mohm to 5mohm dipswitch makes this a swiss army knife for use use other pickups as well

For anyone wrestling with K&K mud/squawk, this is an important surgical tool. Aaron Short was right...it's a 'must have' for K&K users

[guitarman68]

Oh yes, these SunnAudio products are awesome, as is their customer service !

[nostatic]

I just got one and now have two Matins with K&K pickups. One I screwed up the sensor placement (my first install) and the middle sensor is almost to the A. The 00-18 I didn’t screw up but it has a small bridge plate. I’m also running a Play Acoustic which has a lot of eq, but the DI-2 is inline as well. Between the hpf and the bass control, easy to dial out excessive low end. Like it set at 1meg impedance, though I actually don’t care for the presence switch on - I have enough shimmer going on. The gain knob helps as well as my OM and 00 have difference outputs.

tl;dr - great pedal

[martingitdave]

Yes, the SunnAudio DI-2 is about the best analog preamp I've used for the K&K. It's also compact. I have one in my gig case.

[ACOUSTICDEWD]

The only thing close would be the Ai Pro-Tube from GMF although vastly heavier (Greg founded Ultrasound amps which was bought by Dean Markley- he now does this for fun in retirement)

https://gmfamps.com/protube.html

For those on a budget, the non-tube Ai1 is a smaller/lightweight unit

[aclawrence]

Is the Sun Audio di what you’re using for your live rig or studio stuff?

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by aclawrence

Is the Sun Audio di what you’re using for your live rig or studio stuff?

Mostly for live. In the studio the first choice would be to mic with a condenser. But if it is a "live" recording with other instruments and no isolation, then the pickup/DI-2 gets used. Also depends on the sound you're going for and how it will sit in a mix. Sometimes a pickup sound can be particularly good - worth the experiment.

[ACOUSTICDEWD]

Originally Posted by aclawrence

Is the Sun Audio di what you’re using for your live rig or studio stuff?

Studio primarily, but I wanted something ultralight that can also be used live (which is becoming more of a rarity for me) Next will be the Ditto+ looper, a small delay/reverb unit for the insert and a Boss OC-5 for added bass shenanigans

[DownUpDave]

Great info, thanks. Is anybody using this for SBTs other then the K&K. Say a JJB, Schatten, Dazzio or any others???

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by DownUpDave

Great info, thanks. Is anybody using this for SBTs other then the K&K. Say a JJB, Schatten, Dazzio or any others???

By "this" you mean the Sunnaudio preamp? They tend to work closely with Teddy Randazzo, so the preamps are often tested/developed with Dazzo at least somewhat in mind. I use the MS-2, which is basically the 2-channel version with Dazzos, K&Ks, Trance SBTs, as well as Barbera USTs. There's really no reason this preamp won't work well with any acoustic pickup.

[guitarman68]

Originally Posted by DownUpDave

Great info, thanks. Is anybody using this for SBTs other then the K&K. Say a JJB, Schatten, Dazzio or any others???

I use it with Dazzo, K&K, Schatten and UltraTonic - very , very happy !

[meb]

Originally Posted by ACOUSTICDEWD

The only thing close would be the Ai Pro-Tube from GMF although vastly heavier (Greg founded Ultrasound amps which was bought by Dean Markley- he now does this for fun in retirement)

https://gmfamps.com/protube.html

For those on a budget, the non-tube Ai1 is a smaller/lightweight unit

I had not heard of the GMF preamps, but would love to have a tube preamp.
Long story short, I found a GMF Ai ProTube preamp and ordered it. It should be
interesting. I have mostly been using the sunnaudio DI-2, but also have several others on hand.

[Br1ck]

Here is the primary reason SunnAudio is so good, well reasons really. First of all, the vast majority of preamp gain stages are not linear, meaning there are bumps and valleys across the frequency range. There are two good gain stage designs, the RedEye and SunnAudio. Probably the Grace units too. Besides a solid design, solid execution is a must with studio grade components. But the heart of the unit is quality gain stage.

When you have a guitar signal you like, and a gain stage that faithfully amplifies that, you have a good combination. That is why the Dazzo/SunnAudio pairing works so well.