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29 Pedals EUNA - baked-in EQ?

Mr_BK

Mr_BK

Supporting Member
Mar 21, 2023
756
1,774
Germany
#1
Hi.
I recently got myself one of those for the perfect signal chain:

www.believableaudio.com

29 Pedals EUNA

An input driver that replaces a conventional buffer, EUNA is built to protect and condition your instrument's signal to prepare it for whatever you want to do with it. Console grade build, three great sounding filters, and an alt-path insert loop for your classic fuzz and wah circuits that don't...
www.believableaudio.com www.believableaudio.com

1739314135817.webp

(pic taken from site)

Very nice unit that oozes quality. And interesting concept.

However ... I was expecting nothing spectacular regarding my sound, I bought it to get the best quality signal.

What I hear though ... with all switches disengaged ... is a clear and obvious increase in the high frequency spectrum. Upon hitting the foot switch, the sound gets brighter or clearer. In a very pleasant way.

My signal chain is bass --> EUNA --> Caveman BP-1 --> amp. There are 5 other pedals present, all true bypass and switched off.
Now the Caveman claims a very high quality buffer itself and I am puzzled that the tone changes that obviously with the EUNA.

My question: is the EUNA really just a clean amplifier / buffer or does it have a baked-in EQ? Because the site sure doesn't say so.
If it were a neutral buffer this would mean that my signal chain would have very high losses. Which I can't believe given the set-up.

So I am a bit lost here.
 
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#3
sunbeast said:
Tough to say exactly what is happening, probably best to ask the company itself! That said, my experience with adding buffers is that the change can be pretty striking if you are listening for it. Are you absolutely certain all your other pedals are true-bypass?
Click to expand...

I am. A Cali76 BigBox, 2 Broughtons, Little Lehle and Bassics ToneRanger.

Besides, they all reside in the FX-Loop of the Caveman, meaning behind the buffer of the Caveman. What I find odd is that The EUNA gives that high boost with the Caveman buffer running. My only explanation was that it has a baked-in EQ since this makes no sense otherwise.

I will ask them of course. I do prefer to check with the knowledgable folks here first though.
 
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#4
What is odd is that Caveman specify the compact to have a 5Meg input impedance, but for the non compact they only say it is a “Hi-Z input”. I would imagine it would be the same or similar as the compact version.

Also not knocking Caveman’s design or necessarily buying into 29s marketing, but I think I remember reading that the Euna’s input impedance is 1.5Meg across almost the entire audio spectrum whereas a lot of companies say 1Meg or whatever, but that may only be at 1khz for example and not the whole audio spectrum.

I would think 5Meg would still be sufficient even if that number really does drop off at higher frequencies though. Definitely curious to hear what 29s response is.
 
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#6
Mr_BK said:
Hi.
I recently got myself one of those for the perfect signal chain:

www.believableaudio.com

29 Pedals EUNA

An input driver that replaces a conventional buffer, EUNA is built to protect and condition your instrument's signal to prepare it for whatever you want to do with it. Console grade build, three great sounding filters, and an alt-path insert loop for your classic fuzz and wah circuits that don't...
www.believableaudio.com www.believableaudio.com

View attachment 7149414
(pic taken from site)

Very nice unit that oozes quality. And interesting concept.

However ... I was expecting nothing spectacular regarding my sound, I bought it to get the best quality signal.

What I hear though ... with all switches disengaged ... is a clear and obvious increase in the high frequency spectrum. Upon hitting the foot switch, the sound gets brighter or clearer. In a very pleasant way.

My signal chain is bass --> EUNA --> Caveman BP-1 --> amp. There are 5 other pedals present, all true bypass and switched off.
Now the Caveman claims a very high quality buffer itself and I am puzzled that the tone changes that obviously with the EUNA.

My question: is the EUNA really just a clean amplifier / buffer or does it have a baked-in EQ? Because the site sure doesn't say so.
If it were a neutral buffer this would mean that my signal chain would have very high losses. Which I can't believe given the set-up.

So I am a bit lost here.
Click to expand...
What you describe and from what I read this is the input impedance shifting the resonant peak of your pickups.

Similar occurs famously with a zvex sho, for example.
 
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#8
Those switches look pretty ambiguous to me as to what position is on vs off. Are you sure that they're disengaged?

I do have some pedals that impart a certain quality even with all settings flat (ParaEQ MKII comes to mind) so maybe it's the same type of thing?
 
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#11
I've looked at the euna schematics and it shouldn't be adding anything. I think I have the simulations on my computer somewhere.

I would say that it might just be that the different impedance is getting along with your pickups in a pleasing way but the fact that it's happening with active basses kinda rules that out.

Try the euna into something else and see if you still get that lift. Maybe it's just the interaction between the two
 
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#12
OK ... I did some more testing based on the suggestions here.

Only my bass and the EUNA (battery powered this time).

EUNA straigt into the LINE IN of my interface:
- passive bass: night and day. Dull and low volume vs. perfect with the EUNA
- active bass: very little difference with and without EUNA, but noticeable

EUNA straight into the INSTR IN of the same interface:
- passive bass: noticeable difference, but not as dramatic as above
- active bass: very little difference with and without EUNA, but noticeable (same as above)

So ... my attempt at a conclusion:
- With passive basses it is indeed an impedance thing which is dramatically emphasized with the Line In
- With active basses impedance is irrelevant and what I can hear is just the amp/buffer of the EUNA doing its job
- There is an interaction of the EUNA and the Caveman which produces or emphasizes the change of tone caused by the EUNA. A guess could be that there are 2 buffers next to each other and interactions are to be expected.

Could this be correct?

Thank you very much, all! :bassist:
 
Last edited:
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#13
I was interested in the Euna just as I've heard loads of good stuff, its so expensive though 😭. I've heard a few reports that it adds sparkle, even with pretty short signal paths.

I've found a bunch of captures on the Quad Cortex so going to load them up and see what they do out of curiosity.
 
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#14
MrDinsdale said:
I was interested in the Euna just as I've heard loads of good stuff, its so expensive though 😭. I've heard a few reports that it adds sparkle, even with pretty short signal paths.

I've found a bunch of captures on the Quad Cortex so going to load them up and see what they do out of curiosity.
Click to expand...

That would be cool ! :thumbsup:

The EUNA is way less expensive than the Quad Cortex ... :roflmao:
 
#15
Mr_BK said:
OK ... I did some more testing based on the suggestions here.

Only my bass and the EUNA (battery powered this time).

EUNA straigt into the LINE IN of my interface:
- passive bass: night and day. Dull and low volume vs. perfect with the EUNA
- active bass: very little difference with and without EUNA, but noticeable

EUNA straight into the INSTR IN of the same interface:
- passive bass: noticeable difference, but not as dramatic as above
- active bass: very little difference with and without EUNA, but noticeable (same as above)

So ... my attempt at a conclusion:
- With passive basses it is indeed an impedance thing which is dramatically emphasized with the Line In
- With active basses impedance is irrelevant and what I can hear is just the amp/buffer of the EUNA doing its job
- There is an interaction of the EUNA and the Caveman which produces or emphasizes the change of tone caused by the EUNA. A guess could be that there are 2 buffers next to each other and interactions are to be expected.

Could this be correct?

Thank you very much, all! :bassist:
Click to expand...
It sounds like the EUNA is sensitive to the impedance of whatever is after it. Does it have a transformer in it?
 
#17
Here's the answer from BelievabelAudio ... claiming it is 100% flat, meaning no baked-in sound:

Thanks so much for your email! To answer your question, EUNA, when the filters are out, is razor flat from 10Hz to 50Khz. What you're hearing is just loss prevention! Great care was taken to optimize the circuit and layout for this reason. It also doesn't hurt that it has great headroom and great transient response. Let me know if I can help further!
Click to expand...

Now ... that would mean that in my expensive set-up with no long cable-runs and a transformer-equiped input buffer I'd still have losses.
 
#19
The euna is about as standard as a buffer circuit as you can get.

I don't know what the input of the caveman looks like but since it's based on a neve there's a good chance you're hitting a transformer first. This has the potential to shift around some of the baked in eq of the caveman
 
#20
Jared Houseman said:
The euna is about as standard as a buffer circuit as you can get.

I don't know what the input of the caveman looks like but since it's based on a neve there's a good chance you're hitting a transformer first. This has the potential to shift around some of the baked in eq of the caveman
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound too fancy when you say it like that :)

The Caveman BP1 is here:
caveman-audio.com

BP1 Bass Preamp - Studio quality bass preamp at your feet

The basic version of our BAS1 Bass Preamp System. The perfect Bass Preamp/D.I. for small gigs and travelling.
caveman-audio.com caveman-audio.com

And looks like this:
1739541564186.webp
 

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