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3Leaf Audio Club - Episode 2

#941
Some questions for Enabler users:

1. Does the Enabler's line driver / DI out compare well to dedicated, pro-level DI boxes (passive and active)? Does the Enabler have to be on for the line driver to function (i.e., is the pedal true or buffered bypass)?

2. Is the Enabler meant to be placed at the end of your signal chain, even after delay, reverb, etc.? I assume this is the case.

3. Does the Enabler shine as an always-on preamp? From what I've read, it's a pretty transparent but useful EQ section. Is this pretty accurate? Is anyone using it as their dedicated, always-on preamp?

Thanks! :)
 
#942
Cloverfield said:
Some questions for Enabler users:

1. Does the Enabler's line driver / DI out compare well to dedicated, pro-level DI boxes (passive and active)? Does the Enabler have to be on for the line driver to function (i.e., is the pedal true or buffered bypass)?

2. Is the Enabler meant to be placed at the end of your signal chain, even after delay, reverb, etc.? I assume this is the case.

3. Does the Enabler shine as an always-on preamp? From what I've read, it's a pretty transparent but useful EQ section. Is this pretty accurate? Is anyone using it as their dedicated, always-on preamp?

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

It's buffered bypass so that you can use the DI independently of the 1/4" output.
 
#943
Cloverfield said:
Some questions for Enabler users:

1. Does the Enabler's line driver / DI out compare well to dedicated, pro-level DI boxes (passive and active)? Does the Enabler have to be on for the line driver to function (i.e., is the pedal true or buffered bypass)?

2. Is the Enabler meant to be placed at the end of your signal chain, even after delay, reverb, etc.? I assume this is the case.

3. Does the Enabler shine as an always-on preamp? From what I've read, it's a pretty transparent but useful EQ section. Is this pretty accurate? Is anyone using it as their dedicated, always-on preamp?

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

I keep it at the end of my chain and it's always on. I haven't really used it as a DI much yet, because I run into a REDDI at church, but works/sounds great for everything I've used it for.
 
#944
Cloverfield said:
Some questions for Enabler users:

1. Does the Enabler's line driver / DI out compare well to dedicated, pro-level DI boxes (passive and active)? Does the Enabler have to be on for the line driver to function (i.e., is the pedal true or buffered bypass)?

2. Is the Enabler meant to be placed at the end of your signal chain, even after delay, reverb, etc.? I assume this is the case.

3. Does the Enabler shine as an always-on preamp? From what I've read, it's a pretty transparent but useful EQ section. Is this pretty accurate? Is anyone using it as their dedicated, always-on preamp?

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

My Enabler is set up at the end of the chain so that everything conveniently feeds into the headphone amp section.

I've used it as a preamp for dates and rehearsals when I've been able to leave my rack rig at home...plugging into a power amp and using it as a warm, portable alternative to my Alembic F-1x tube preamp/rack system, or forgoing a traditional rig entirely and running it directly into a sound board, assuming a capable monitor setup is available.

I've been very happy using it in both applications. Just make sure you know how your respective bass will work with the gain staging on the Enabler and you'll be in great shape.

Lonnybass
 
#946
Spencer! said:
It's buffered bypass so that you can use the DI independently of the 1/4" output.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's what I thought; that's good.

p0k said:
I keep it at the end of my chain and it's always on. I haven't really used it as a DI much yet, because I run into a REDDI at church, but works/sounds great for everything I've used it for.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback! If I had an REDDI, I'd be showing it preferential treatment over all other DIs available to me, too. ;)

Lonnybass said:
My Enabler is set up at the end of the chain so that everything conveniently feeds into the headphone amp section.

I've used it as a preamp for dates and rehearsals when I've been able to leave my rack rig at home...plugging into a power amp and using it as a warm, portable alternative to my Alembic F-1x tube preamp/rack system, or forgoing a traditional rig entirely and running it directly into a sound board, assuming a capable monitor setup is available.

I've been very happy using it in both applications. Just make sure you know how your respective bass will work with the gain staging on the Enabler and you'll be in great shape.

Lonnybass
Click to expand...

So The Enabler's preamp section is pretty warm, you'd say?
I was aware it's very capable at driving a power amp, which is very cool.
 
#947
Yep, warm, fat, clean. Kind of like a good studio preamp. A few of the pedal pre's are on the sterile side, whereas this one will take your basic signal and beef it up. I guess the only downside - or upside, depending on how you look at it - is that it doesn't impart a specific sound on your bass (like the Sadowsky and Eden pre's do, for example) but if you don't really want that, it's not a big deal. But yeah I would definitely consider my Enabler as a portable alternative to an upper end rack pre.

Lonnybass
 
#949
Lonnybass said:
Yep, warm, fat, clean. Kind of like a good studio preamp. A few of the pedal pre's are on the sterile side, whereas this one will take your basic signal and beef it up. I guess the only downside - or upside, depending on how you look at it - is that it doesn't impart a specific sound on your bass (like the Sadowsky and Eden pre's do, for example) but if you don't really want that, it's not a big deal. But yeah I would definitely consider my Enabler as a portable alternative to an upper end rack pre.

Lonnybass
Click to expand...

Yup yup. Listen to Lonnybass, he knows his stuff. He sold me on the Enabler a couple of months back, and it's become one of the more indispensable tools that I have now.
 
#950
I guess I can finally stop lurking on this club page, as I got an Enabler back in January. It has been great as a practice tool, but even better as a DIbox. As a bassist with bad back problems, it has been nice to just carry a small pedal board and my gig bag, and just send it direct. The only problem is that now I'm hooked and want a few more. Great pedal/headphone amp/Direct box.
 
#951
I haven't had a chance to replicate this experience yet, but I tried out the DI on my enabler setting up for a gig Saturday night (which was awesome) and got a very distorted signal coming from it. I had it set for pre-EQ operation, I'm using a 9V 300mA supply, and the gain was set around 9. I'm going to try and reproduce this tomorrow at practice, but I hope I haven't lost some functionality.

FYI, this is the first hint of trouble I've ever had with a 3Leaf pedal and I didn't spend a lot of time trying to diagnose it because I didn't have time before the show. Don't e'rbody get all nervous about your gear. :) Just seeing if anyone else has had this problem.
 
#954
overbybr said:
I haven't had a chance to replicate this experience yet, but I tried out the DI on my enabler setting up for a gig Saturday night (which was awesome) and got a very distorted signal coming from it. I had it set for pre-EQ operation, I'm using a 9V 300mA supply, and the gain was set around 9. I'm going to try and reproduce this tomorrow at practice, but I hope I haven't lost some functionality.

FYI, this is the first hint of trouble I've ever had with a 3Leaf pedal and I didn't spend a lot of time trying to diagnose it because I didn't have time before the show. Don't e'rbody get all nervous about your gear. :) Just seeing if anyone else has had this problem.
Click to expand...

Could be a bad XLR cable.
 
#958
overbybr said:
I haven't had a chance to replicate this experience yet, but I tried out the DI on my enabler setting up for a gig Saturday night (which was awesome) and got a very distorted signal coming from it. I had it set for pre-EQ operation, I'm using a 9V 300mA supply, and the gain was set around 9. I'm going to try and reproduce this tomorrow at practice, but I hope I haven't lost some functionality.

FYI, this is the first hint of trouble I've ever had with a 3Leaf pedal and I didn't spend a lot of time trying to diagnose it because I didn't have time before the show. Don't e'rbody get all nervous about your gear. :) Just seeing if anyone else has had this problem.
Click to expand...

Spencer! said:
Email me.
Click to expand...

overbybr said:
Will-do. I'll be sure to give it a full diagnostic at practice tomorrow night.
Click to expand...

Sorry I kept the thread hanging so long. I was able to replicate the distorted sound, but it's not due to a fault of the enabler. I recently changed my board arrangement and I mistakenly used a 9v 100mA socket instead of the 9v 500mA socket I previously had the Enabler being fed from. I don't usually use the DI from the Enabler, and it's often off unless I'm playing at church (horrible DI).

Mea culpa
 
#959
overbybr said:
Sorry I kept the thread hanging so long. I was able to replicate the distorted sound, but it's not due to a fault of the enabler. I recently changed my board arrangement and I mistakenly used a 9v 100mA socket instead of the 9v 500mA socket I previously had the Enabler being fed from.
Click to expand...

This actually happened to me during my last board re-patching. I had to go back through the documentation for my Pedal Power to make sure using the right output...the PP has two that can be set up that way, but neither of them are well marked and extra care needs to be taken to make sure everything is patched int the right places.

Lonnybass
 
#960
overbybr said:
Sorry I kept the thread hanging so long. I was able to replicate the distorted sound, but it's not due to a fault of the enabler. I recently changed my board arrangement and I mistakenly used a 9v 100mA socket instead of the 9v 500mA socket I previously had the Enabler being fed from. I don't usually use the DI from the Enabler, and it's often off unless I'm playing at church (horrible DI).

Mea culpa
Click to expand...

Good to know it wasn't the Enabler! I have seen a couple cases where the power chip in the Enabler fried, but usually when things aren't working it has been either a bad cable or not enough current to the pedal.
 

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