behringer A DI 21 ........... a pleasant surprise.............indeed

Keira-WitherKay

hi ya all, yeah last week i had an LR baggs ibeam fitted in my classical guitar ....... my main workhorse instrument ......
and after trying it on weekends gigs i realised i needed a preamp .... so i made the calls and to my disbelief all the shops were out of stock of LR baggs preamps (due in 14 days) and the fishman i was told i just missed the last spectrum aura DI being sold by 48 hrs........... and took my number re the new stock and not heard a word...........

well desparation as i have a busy schedule gig wise and also have an outdoors gig coming up on sunday at a mall in northcliff and the sound guys use pretty big sound so mic'ing my guitar which i did the last show there is not an option. hence the expense to make this guitar big sound ready ........... but even behringer did not have a copy of their A DI 21 which is a rip off of the tech 21 sansamp acoustic DI (which btw is no longer in production)

so yeah to the rescue came squonk .......... thanks big time ............who sold me his behinger ADI21 ........

i fetched it this morning not expecting too much but i needed a DI with EQ so how bad could it be.......... and there was literally nothing else to do that job in stock that i knew about .......... and the open air gig was on sunday ......

so i started from the point of this being a 'bad noisy unit" which i will replace asap ....... but it will get me through the weeks gigs .........

well low and behold .... i plugged in the unit and it was dead quiet even out of the unbalanced output............ so amazed i was bracing myself for the buzz of background noise associated with cheap gear .... and it was not there...............

then the EQ is remarkably versatil it's bass (unspecified frequency but it's a deep bass so maybe 80 hz or if not the standard is 100hz ) but it adds back into my guitar the bottom end that the LR baggs pickup eliminated ( the pickup must have some kind of frequency cutoff in it's active section) and the behringer has a warm bass too ............ the mids are a sweepable mid (cut and boost) 170 hz - 3.5 khz and the tops also unspecified........ but truly a usable eq section .........

then the DI section has a -20 pad and a ground lift switch .........

but the other surprise was the preamp modelling...supposed to be a tube microphone pre amp simulator ........ and they(the manual... yes i read manuals) recommend you use it full... but not for me.yet at 50 % it adds a nice warmth to the pickup sound ... hinting at that mic'd sound....

so yeah i guess not the best or most well made piece of equipment on the planet but it sure works and without noise............

so the end result is a workable sound definitely for any pro live gig ......... actually much better than the sound my amps EQ gives me.... (amp has no sweepable mid or tube preamp modelling) the sound is noise free and very usable........... i'm using it not to create a different sound for my guitar but to try use the EQ to make it sound closer to the natural unplugged sound when using the ibeam pickup ........

so pretty much amazed that this unit works so well for a unit of the budget variety ... i was expecting much less and woulda
even accepted less from this unit as i saw it as the quickfix and .............it was only a few hundreds rands so very low expectations........and yet pleasantly surprised

again not saying this is perfect for the studio. but for live.............. it's a workable tool at the price of a few hundred rands ...where the top end tools for the same job are around the R3500-R4500 mark so extraordinary value for money and as i said it works....

butafter all that i will say i will still want the fishman aura spectrum DI ...... cos good top end gear is important ..........

thanks again squonk for the life saving sale ..... much appreciated..........

peace and light
keira

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote: then the EQ is remarkably versatil it's bass (unspecified frequency but it's a deep bass so maybe 80 hz or if not the standard is 100hz ) but it adds back into my guitar the bottom end that the LR baggs pickup eliminated ( the pickup must have some kind of frequency cutoff in it's active section)

Something's not quite right here. I have heard the I-beam in use before and it's certainly not short of bottom end. Either you got a dud or the installation is problematic. Placement is reportedly very critical with these pickups.

As with so many pickups, the bottom end isn't 100% faithful to the guitar's unplugged sound, so you'd probably need something like the box you just bought anyway.

Bob-Dubery

Or you have a flat-ish battery, or you need to turn up the volume control. The bottom end on my Baggs active element drops off a little once the volume goes past about 50%. The two systems have similar pre-amp circuitry.

Keira-WitherKay

thing is Bob my classical has an amazingly warm bottom end......... acoustically that is........ and the pickup definitely seems to make it a much tighter sound........... a more lower mids type bass rather than the fat warm round bass tone my guitar has........

i saw the pick up before it was fitted it actually has a groove that is cut in it to place it over the bridge exactly right........ kind of a guide to assist the fit........ so it seems it's hard to get it wrong ........ but i will look into the possibility of an instalation mess up...........

however this DI with EQ does the job of getting a really usable sound........... messed with it some more this afternoon... and yeah a chalk and cheese improvement ............ if this cheapo unit makes such a big difference can't wait to hear the fishman with it .............. with that microphone modelling that sounds so awesome.........

so how do you think i can check that the instalation is done properly ?????????

peace and light
Keira

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote: thing is Bob my classical has an amazingly warm bottom end......... acoustically that is........ and the pickup definitely seems to make it a much tighter sound........... a more lower mids type bass rather than the fat warm round bass tone my guitar has........

Ah... so not LOSING the bass so much as CHANGING it.

so how do you think i can check that the instalation is done properly ?????????

If I knew that I'd be installing them ? I do know that placement and installation is important with these pickups.

However I may have misunderstood your original posting. It seems not so much that the bass is attenuated, but that the character of it has changed.

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote: so how do you think i can check that the instalation is done properly ?????????

Keira's question brings to my mind another discussion on this forum. How do you know if the guitar tech you're dealing with it is the real deal. OK... if he tells you the intonation is now correct and it very obviously isn't then you probably know that he's not up to snuff, albeit too late.

I am learning more about guitars as time goes by, but in most case I would find it hard to know if the guy is doing the job well or if he is doing what is necessary. There is no formal school of guitar repair, no qualifications you can check, no certificate of competence.

Scary stuff.

My intent here is to not build up two lists - one of guys who are recommended, one of those who are NOT recommended - but to raise the greater question: How do you know if a guy is good or not, how do you know who to trust with your guitar?

Jack-Flash-Jr

X-rated Bob wrote:
Keira WitherKay wrote: so how do you think i can check that the instalation is done properly ?????????
Keira's question brings to my mind another discussion on this forum. How do you know if the guitar tech you're dealing with it is the real deal. OK... if he tells you the intonation is now correct and it very obviously isn't then you probably know that he's not up to snuff, albeit too late.

I am learning more about guitars as time goes by, but in most case I would find it hard to know if the guy is doing the job well or if he is doing what is necessary. There is no formal school of guitar repair, no qualifications you can check, no certificate of competence.

Scary stuff.

My intent here is to not build up two lists - one of guys who are recommended, one of those who are NOT recommended - but to raise the greater question: How do you know if a guy is good or not, how do you know who to trust with your guitar?

Actually, a list of recommended guys/gals would be welcome...

Bob-Dubery

Jack Flash Jr wrote: Actually, a list of recommended guys/gals would be welcome...

Could get ugly. You might say "Joe Blow did a great refret for me" and I reply with "that &%*&(@% screwed up my nut and snapped my truss rod." The forum is not a closed world - things we say here will get around. It may be that Alan or Norio takes some heat as a result. It might be best to keep such soundings out and opinions informal.

Keira-WitherKay

mmm well how about a positive only list .......... no reasons or explanations. just maybe what you had done.....

for example.. i recommend "Joe Bloggs cos he refretted my nylon and fixed loose braces ect ect "

this way we could compile a list of needs..so a list not just saying Joe bloggs is fab . but what he did for you so he would fall under the classical guitar refret and bracing category ........ maybe he has no clue how to work on electronics.........

so if you need a refret and have a list of names who we on forum have had good experiences with.......... cos truly a guy who is raved about as a guru with electric guitars.. might have no clue how to work on a nylon sting classical successfully ........ and vice versa......

i know salesmen in established music stores that don't know the difference between a flamenco and a classical guitar or could even identify them...........but can quote every model ibanez brought out over last 15 years.......so i guess same must apply for techs......

horses for courses i guess..........

Banditman

A positive recommendation list's a great idea. There's no risk of libel to Alan, plus if other guys want to be on the list then they need to up their game accordingly.

On the subject of Behringer (and other gear), sometimes you get surprised when stepping out of the box. True, most cheap gear is & sounds cheap, but sometimes you get suprised. I bought a Behringer Blues Driver pedal on the strength of a Guitarist review in '06 when I needed such a pedal but was on a budget which didn't stretch to a TS808 / TS9, Bad Monkey or Boss BD-2's territory.

It's not as good as any of those, but considering it only cost me R295.00 it's not very far behind. It's also been played & gigged regularly since '06 with never a single problem.

Quality's the best way to go, but trying out wildcards from time to time can pay off.

Ray

Jack Flash Jr wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote:
Keira WitherKay wrote: so how do you think i can check that the instalation is done properly ?????????
Keira's question brings to my mind another discussion on this forum. How do you know if the guitar tech you're dealing with it is the real deal. OK... if he tells you the intonation is now correct and it very obviously isn't then you probably know that he's not up to snuff, albeit too late.

I am learning more about guitars as time goes by, but in most case I would find it hard to know if the guy is doing the job well or if he is doing what is necessary. There is no formal school of guitar repair, no qualifications you can check, no certificate of competence.

Scary stuff.

My intent here is to not build up two lists - one of guys who are recommended, one of those who are NOT recommended - but to raise the greater question: How do you know if a guy is good or not, how do you know who to trust with your guitar?
Actually, a list of recommended guys/gals would be welcome...

Wouldnt this go under the "Contacts" secton?