Headway EDB 2 H.E. discussion

[J.R. Rogers]

I've been using the Headway EDB 2 H.E. for about a week now and am really happy with the sound and flexibility. It's a good swiss-army knife for the acoustic player, can be powered by batteries, and even has a belt/strap clip and is mic-stand mountable. It's designed as a 3-channel mono preamp/DI/Mixer with two channels having a comprehensive EQ and notch section and a third channel with fixed gain (adjust on device) and 1/8" input for backing music. Channel two has the additional flexibility of an XLR input for microphones and for me this is one of the areas where this device shines. The mic preamp sounds really good and has a lot of gain. I use a Telefunken M-80 mic which is typically a lower-gain mic but it has no problem being driven by the EDB 2 H.E., has plenty of headroom and great sound.

https://www.headwaymusicaudio.com/pr...h-e-pre-order/



An undocumented feature of this device is that it allows both inputs on Ch 2 to be used simultaneously, for guitar and vocals for instance, if you adjust the volume independently on your guitar. So it will effectively work as a 4-input mixer.



The unit is designed to be compatible with all types of acoustic pickups and imparts a very nice tone even to the magnetic Krivo humbucker on the Emerald X-10.

The EDB 2 H.E. sounds great as a front-end for an existing acoustic guitar amp but as an experiment I plugged it into a 1-watt tube Supro amp and was really amazed at how good it sounded and what a great vintage sound and vibe I was able to get with lots of volume - 1 watt shaking the floors!

One of the nice features is that you can power this unit for a long time on 9v batteries (It also comes with a power supply). I think the manual says it's good for 25hrs on a set of alkaline batteries and 50hrs with Lithium Ion batteries. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the rechargeable USB-C 9v batteries that they sell on Amazon? Which ones are good and quiet?

Anyone else using this device yet? What do you think?

JR

[Nick84]

I’ve been looking at this as an option to run my Powertap Earth pickup in stereo and then send a line out to the guitar channel of my AER compact 60. I need the 2nd input on the amp for my vocal mic.

What does the “enhancer” do? I’ve always wondered if it has any impact on sound.

[Headway]

Originally Posted by Nick84

I’ve been looking at this as an option to run my Powertap Earth pickup in stereo and then send a line out to the guitar channel of my AER compact 60. I need the 2nd input on the amp for my vocal mic.

What does the “enhancer” do? I’ve always wondered if it has any impact on sound.

Hi Nick, to answer your question about the Enhancer on the Headway EDB-2 H.E, this is normally used as a fairly subtle effect, where it takes the played signal and adds in a controlled amount of the octave above, so it is just starting to add above 1 KHz and adds progressively a little more higher frequencies mainly into the harmonics, then rolls off just before the top end of adult human hearing.

The Enhancer is on a rotary control (pot) to fine tune in what you want and you can apply to 1 channel, the other or both via switch, or leave it off.

It's a very simple version of what a studio rack unit performs, called an Aural Exciter. Mainly it adds ringing harmonics and sparkle to the sound. It also tends to counter piezo quack, but is especially useful for magnetic pickups as these produce nothing over 4-5 kHz. Also flexible piezo film contact pickups produce even less treble so this would be a boon, in my opinion.

As in any effect, it is possible to have too much of a good thing, so should be used sparingly for acoustic instruments in normal circumstances.

Another perception of the H.E.A.T Harmonic Enhanced Analogue Technology, is that it audible separates strings, by making the individual strings sound more clearly delineated. Of course if you want them to mash together more mahogany B/S Guitar like, then turn it down. In general people really like it and nobody has complained.

Even upright bass players who thought they didn't want H.E.A.T, have found a use for it. You can re-shape the treble by cutting lower clunky presence ( 2.8 kHz ) and lower treble ( 10 kHz ) while adding Enhancer, mainly above that.

But to be clear, Enhancer is not EQ, it is an effect that adds higher tones that are not otherwise there, based on the lower tones you play. There's no man in a studio in California recording every note for a digital file to overlay or replace your signal. It's analogue and based on what you play.

I hope this helps. John of Headway

[J Patrick]

….after many years and many preamps the EDB 2 HE is only preamp I need….I can run a K&K on one side and a mic on the other…..Vocal or instrument….it always dials in just right…..i mount mine on my mic stand for easy adjustments during a performance…..In 20 plus years I’ve never got better sound out of a K&K…

[Headway]

Hi JR, good that you have got inside this device and found innovative ways of using it. I recall once doing a gig in Stow on the Wold town square in the cotswolds and having forgotten to bring the mixer. We cobbled two EDB-2 old version together and did the ceilidh gig projecting across the square and got away with it. I think we used most inputs.

On the batteries you mention, I am not familiar with those and there are more and more new rechargeables coming out often at higher capacities. You need to look at the spec, and see how many milli-amp hours are listed preferably under higher loading and get back. It won't probably do as good as claimed and they do deteriorate over time. Also they don't all start at 9-10v as in the standard type. They often start at about 8v which would cut their life faster. John

[Nick84]

Originally Posted by Headway

Hi Nick, to answer your question about the Enhancer on the Headway EDB-2 H.E, this is normally used as a fairly subtle effect, where it takes the played signal and adds in a controlled amount of the octave above, so it is just starting to add above 1 KHz and adds progressively a little more higher frequencies mainly into the harmonics, then rolls off just before the top end of adult human hearing.

The Enhancer is on a rotary control (pot) to fine tune in what you want and you can apply to 1 channel, the other or both via switch, or leave it off.

It's a very simple version of what a studio rack unit performs, called an Aural Exciter. Mainly it adds ringing harmonics and sparkle to the sound. It also tends to counter piezo quack, but is especially useful for magnetic pickups as these produce nothing over 4-5 kHz. Also flexible piezo film contact pickups produce even less treble so this would be a boon, in my opinion.

As in any effect, it is possible to have too much of a good thing, so should be used sparingly for acoustic instruments in normal circumstances.

Another perception of the H.E.A.T Harmonic Enhanced Analogue Technology, is that it audible separates strings, by making the individual strings sound more clearly delineated. Of course if you want them to mash together more mahogany B/S Guitar like, then turn it down. In general people really like it and nobody has complained.

Even upright bass players who thought they didn't want H.E.A.T, have found a use for it. You can re-shape the treble by cutting lower clunky presence ( 2.8 kHz ) and lower treble ( 10 kHz ) while adding Enhancer, mainly above that.

But to be clear, Enhancer is not EQ, it is an effect that adds higher tones that are not otherwise there, based on the lower tones you play. There's no man in a studio in California recording every note for a digital file to overlay or replace your signal. It's analogue and based on what you play.

I hope this helps. John of Headway

Hi John thanks very much for the detailed reply and the less is more approach to use makes perfect sense. My main pickup is a dual source mag / sbt hence the interest in this unit.

[TobyB]

I have a EDD1 and then got the EDD2 and they are both very good ... the two-channels can do guitar+vocal and is also good for mic+pickup on guitar, mando's, fiddle. Very good value piece of equipment... now in back-up or additional role as I have the luxury of a Grace Felix... but highly recommended.

[douglasfan1]

Another Grace Felix user here. The best dual channel preamp money can buy in my point of view. However, consider the CP value, you can't beat Headway EDB 2 H.E, especially it is improved to have independent EQ for each channel now.

[BDiamond]

Do you know how the sound quality of the Headway compares to the K&K dual channel preamp?

[rschultz]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

….after many years and many preamps the EDB 2 HE is only preamp I need….I can run a K&K on one side and a mic on the other…..Vocal or instrument….it always dials in just right…..i mount mine on my mic stand for easy adjustments during a performance…..In 20 plus years I’ve never got better sound out of a K&K…

So with the mic, do you use the violin HPF? It’s set at like 200 hz, I generally set mic HPF to higher than that, like 250-300 hz.

[douglasfan1]

I'm looking forward to the newer valve version! Should be nice!

[rschultz]

So the channel routing on this is really weird. If I have passive K&k on the tip and mic on the ring:
FX is only channel 1.
Phantom power is only on channel 1.
What if I want to use FX loop on the pickup that isn’t phantom powered?

[Marty C]

Originally Posted by Nick84

I’ve been looking at this as an option to run my Powertap Earth pickup in stereo and then send a line out to the guitar channel of my AER compact 60. I need the 2nd input on the amp for my vocal mic.

What does the “enhancer” do? I’ve always wondered if it has any impact on sound.

Listening to your Facebook page. Sounds really good.

[guitaniac]

Is this “enhancer” effect similar to what the more pricey AER Colourizer 2 preamp/DI does?

[travisbrown]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Is this “enhancer” effect similar to what the more pricey AER Colourizer 2 preamp/DI does?

Nor sure about the AER, but the enhancement sounds more akin to what the Aphex Aural Exciter does. Basically re-composes the top end based on what’s happening in the the lower frequency register.