Questions on my Current Setup

[Hinto]

Hi, currently I'm using an Emerald X7 with the full LR Baggs Anthem. I'm going into a Mackie ProFXv2 Mixer. Then I'm going out to a powered speaker.

I have a couple of questions. On the guitar input there's a Hi-z switch. I've tried it both on and off and can't really tell a difference. Should I?

I'm connecting the mixer to the speaker with an unbalanced speaker cable. Will using a balanced cable help? The output is both balanced and unbalanced.

Finally, the guitar sounds a bit thin, and I'm wondering if adding a DI box would help. I'm thinking of a simple passive Digiflex DPDI DI box.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[rokdog49]

Doesn’t your mixer have EQ?
I use an MXR stand-alone EQ to get things where I need them to be.

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Hinto

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On the guitar input there's a Hi-z switch. I've tried it both on and off and can't really tell a difference. Should I?

No. Your pickup signal is active (higher signal strength) with low impedance (compared to a passive pickup). You will probably notice the channel will distort sooner (as you turn up the pickup or mixer volume) sooner with the "Hi-Z" setting than with the "line" setting.

Originally Posted by Hinto

...
...
I'm connecting the mixer to the speaker with an unbalanced speaker cable. Will using a balanced cable help?
...

Assuming the powered speaker has balanced inputs, it's better to use a line level balanced cable to connect them.

Originally Posted by Hinto

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...Finally, the guitar sounds a bit thin, and I'm wondering if adding a DI box would help. I'm thinking of a simple passive Digiflex DPDI DI box.
...

No need for a DI. You have plenty of EQ filters to work with towards a less thin sound with the exception that your mixer's mid filter does not have a knob to change the center frequency, which would be quite helpful if it did.

[jseth]

Take the time to read about "gain staging", and then make sure that you set them correctly on your mixer, ESPECIALLY for the Anthem pickup...

Once you have the gain set correctly, take the time to ADJUST the pickup to your liking. Don't assume that it came all set up for your rig...

The Anthem is a low-z unit and you should set the input accordingly.

That right there should take care of your "thin" sounding guitar... if it needs tweaking a bit, that's what the eq on your mixer is for; remember LESS is more, shouldn't be any drastic, dramatic cuts or boosts needed.

The Anthem has a pre-amp in it and is a lower gain output than many pickups; it is an active pickup, in that it uses the 9v battery for the pre-amp. There is NO NEED to add a DI or another pre-amp to that signal chain.

One thing you didn't mention is IF you have a problem with the overall sound? If you don't, don't mess with it! (I know, that sounds sophomoric, but...)

A balanced cable would only be beneficial IF you have a long "run" between the mixer and the powered speaker, say over 15 feet or so... the longer that run of cable, the more likely a balanced signal will benefit.

My basic rule of thumb is "the fewer units in the signal chain, the better". If you have to add a bunch of stuff in between, say, your guitar and the mixer, you might want to upgrade each component, as opposed to adding items as "band-aids" (Ha!) for your sound.

Sounds like you've got good stuff already, but make sure you understand each piece of gear and have it set up correctly... should sound just fine!

[Hinto]

Thanks very much for the input guys. I'll keep working on this with the gear I have. I've always had trouble with gain staging, so I'll so some research on that.

This mixer only has a high and low EQ on each channel. But it has an overall 5 band graphic EQ. So I do have some options there.

The vocals sound pretty good with this set up. I'm using an SM58 at the moment, I also have a Sennheiser e935 to try.''

The speaker at the moment is actually a Godin ASG 150 Acoustic Amp. I've got everything set flat on it. It's a pretty good amp on it's own, I'm just messing around with the mixer.

Cheers.