Eden Navigator Direct Input REVIEW FYI !

[Tunaman]

As I prepare to buy a backup amp I reminded of how important the Direct Input is on your amp. 99% of my club\church gigging requires a direct out to the board for the soundman to send to the people. Its THIS line that the crowd hears mostly, not what I'm playing through my cab (which is used primarily as my monitor)

Many times have I made the mistake of preparing my sound & EQing my amp & NOT setting up my direct output, rushing around on stage to get it right, getting that pissy soundman & having awful tone.

So heres how to set your Eden Navigator up right. I've had mine for 6 years now & I love it so I'll share my tips.

1st of all you have 3 direct input & I use the Recording DI. The Main L&R are automatically Post EQ & don't use the Direct Level Knob. Mine are noisy & clip my board very easily so onto the Recording DI

Recording DI. Pre or Post EQ switch, DI level, Pre or Post compressor all in front of the amp. Fantastic features, love em. Ground or Lift in the back in case you still have noise. My outputs are pretty quiet with the right settings.

PRE-EQ: The ESSENCE of your amp. Most soundmen ask for Pre-EQ. The Eden has a balance between solid state & tube. Its not totally modern but its not vintage tube either. A great starting sound the board should be able to EQ correctly. The Direct level knob IS functional, I like mine at noon, good strong signal without the noise.

Post-EQ: For the bold. 1st thing is first... you need to do your homework. Gain is now active which means if you have a hot bass & the gain up you are clipping the board. Practice at home into your own mixer to see where your particular bass needs to be to have a signal that is similar in level to your Pre-EQ. My gain is set to 10 o'clock so that the pre-post EQ switch is near the same volume... now your soundman will be happy & you may convince him to send a post EQ signal. Now you can play with the compressor, tone, foot pedal etc. to your liking controlling more of the sound that goes through the PA to the people.

So do your homework for ANY amp prior to a gig, learn your best direct settings\level. When buying an amp make sure you have direct input flexibility.

[SB Dog]

Thanks for the advise. I will definetely keep this in mind for future reference.

[4Mal]

The Nav's DI is decent. Most 'good' soundmen will want PRE-EQ if their board or their outboard gear supports a bass friendly EQ. (e.g., he has a parametric EQ as an insert on the bass channel strip.) That way you can step on the compressor, and muck about in general with your stage tone without screwing with his mix.

It is sometimes helpful to remember that the sound guy's ears are where they are while your's are on stage. Typically what he is hearing is closer in context to that of the general audience and so making the assumption that he is as good at his job as you are at yours, means that his ears are probably in the more relevant location to assess the mix overall...

I've mixed from the stage and from out front. As a bassist I prefer to be on stage and not have to worry about it.

IMO - Post EQ should be used when the board or outboard gear isn't bass friendly. Board without at least 1 sweepable mid and preferrably 2 - should be outlawed... Even with a pre as good as the Navigator, I find it helpful to have some bass friendly EQ in my kit that I can use to help the soundguy just in case the board ... well, sucks ... that way I can have control of my local monitor and let him worry about the FOH.

[pedulla-2007]

Many thanks!

[prd004]

Correction, most good soundmen will have a direct box they like for bass. Check that ALL GOOD soundmen have one!

[Tunaman]

Thanks guys, I agree with all you posted.
Pre-EQ is the way to go, have a sense of what your signal is though so you can set the DI level appropriately & not clip the board OR have too much fuzz.
Your sound will differ at your cab then what is best for the audience.

The only reason I use Post EQ is when we are the soundmen