DI/EQ's --> M80 vs Tone Hammer vs PDDI vs...?

vin*tone · #1 12-10-2008, 06:58 PM

Hey folks.
A recent discussion in the amps forum about Pre/post EQ to DI convinced me it's a really good idea to have a separate EQ in your signal chain to shape tone before sending to FOH. This leaves you free to tweak your amps eq to specifically compensate for any tonal curiosities you may be experiencing on stage (including colouring of your cabs, being too close to musician X, being in a boomy corner.... etc...).

Anyhoo- I've been looking at the options and the 3 main contenters are Aggy Tone hammer, MXR M80, Sansamp PDDI or possibly the EHX Metaphors. All seem to be getting good user reviews, all seem to have their own cool bonus features. Here's what attracts me to each...
Aggy TH and PPDI have Semi parametric EQ, MXR M-80 has a noise gate- probably really useful for my vintage basses. Metafors has built in compression (is it useful? is this even out yet??)

SO has anyone done any back to back comparisons? maybe other options to consider? I'm looking specifically for something with a DI out.

BTW Distortion is a non issue for me- I tend to run clean but when I do - I use a dedicated pedal.

Tx! Vin

runmikeyrun · #2 12-10-2008, 07:30 PM

I wrote a review on the M-80, do a search it'll come up. It's quite in depth. FWIW The gate feature doesn't work all that well on my bass, it just sort of quiets things down, not a complete gate.

vin*tone · #3 12-10-2008, 07:41 PM

Still useful for live though? A few users have said they want to be buried with their M-80's.

hyperba55 · #4 12-11-2008, 10:08 AM

I'd be curious to know how these compare as well, but I need a semi-para-mid on anything that I use, so I am mainly interested in the PDDI and the Tone Hammer.

has anyone had a chance to A/B these? Thoughts, opinions? I would be using it mostly to go direct into a PA for gigs w/o an amp.

I have (and use) a Tone Bone right now - it works well, but I find myself missing more control over the mids ...

stflbn · #5 12-11-2008, 10:15 AM

The ToneHammer is essentially an Aguilar OBP-3 in a box with the addition of the AGS circuit which some like and some have said is a so-so implimentation... with the additional benefit of a good D.I. in the box.

The PDDI is more prone to introducing some native Sansamp type tone shaping to your core sound. Some love it, some hate it.

Personally I was really excited about the ToneHammer, then I realized that I have OBP-3's in both my main basses so it would be duplication of the same basic preamp. But I love the OBP-3 preamps themselves.