D-TAR Solstice Two Channel Mixer

[membluz]

Has anyone auditioned or purchased this preamp that Bob G. has on his website?

It looks very interesting. Please let me know.

Tony


jazzplayer@mts.net

[Ike Harris]

I've used it for doubling on concerts on the road and it's miles better than it's Fishman and Raven predecessors. Very roadworthy and flexible. Two identical channels w/1/4 inch and mic inputs with separate volume controls. Phantom, phase, tuner out, ground lift, but no battery power if you can live w/o it. Never have to move the tones very far from flat. I highly recommend it.

Ike

[Andy Allen]

I have one - and it's a high quality piece of audio gear. It is all that it claims to be - rare in gear these days - and is well designed and built.

I bought it specifically to blend a mic. and pick-up, and it works very well for this. It has a comprehensive set of outputs, and the input impedance matches perfectly with the BassMax and Realist pickups I used it with. Be aware that it is not designed for exclusively for bass, so the eq frequencies are not ideal, but it's functional, and I never found the need for drastic eq anyway.

I've also used it as a stand-alone dual mic. pre-amp for recording, and it is quiet and essentially neutral.

I haven't used it recently - my jazz gigs are mostly acoustic-only, and I bought an Azola EUB for the louder Latin work. I have taken it with me when I was using a house amp or PA and it has made all the difference having a front end that I knew would supply 'my' sound into other's gear.

Andy

[bolo]

I bought mine to blend a mic and pickup too.

Works and sounds real nice just like Ike and Andy said.

[jtlownds]

I have to agree with everything that Andy said. I have been using one for a little over a year. I have an adapter that lets me attach it to my bass stand (Hamilton) and makes volume and EQ changes a lot easier. I usually run a full circle into it and then into an AI Contra. I find that it colors the sound of the Contra a little bit, but in a good way. I feel that it is one of the best quality pieces of equipment on the market today.

[larry]

I'm very happy with mine.

[membluz]

Thank you all for your replies to my post. All have been positive and reassuring. I ordered one from Gollihur Music and should have it in a few days allowing me to sell some of my other preamps and amplifiers. I'll let y'all know how it works for me.

Tony

[TVD]

I bought one a few weeks ago, and I'm extremely happy with it. It's not cheap, but it's a really good piece of gear. I'm using mine with my upright bass and electric bass in each channel, as a way to switch off fast between the two, because I'm in a musical situation where I need to make fast switches. I'm pretty new to upright bass, but I must say my RSII pu sounds really, really good going thru the D-Tar Solstice. Many say the RSII does not need a pre-amp, but it sounds much better this way to me. Only thing I wish it had is the ability to mute each channel seperately, but it's really not been a big issue when gigging.