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Aguilar ToneHammer or Avalon U5?

ecadad

ecadad

Guest
Sep 4, 2011
95
98
#1
I know there's a big price difference, but which unit would you suggest? About 75% of the time it'll be used in the studio for recording, the rest of the time will be jamming and gigs. Which is versatile but not too complex, and sounds best? Also, for live use, which would be easier to bring to a club in terms of speakers, poweramps, etc...

Has anyone used both and have an opinion? Thanks! When I've tried them they both sound fantastic.
 
#3
Well, the TH is definitely more portable than the U5. I have a U5 but have never used it on stage. To me the U5 can be a useful option in the studio but I don't have much desire to use it as a DI for shows. For that I would probably go with a REDDI or something similar (a Broughton, for example).
 
#6
How mid/dark of a tone do you like/want? That Ag box is big and chewey. It definitely has a darker, warmer, thicker voice, and you get the AGS circuit for some grit. The U5 I've used is the VST plug in model in Logic, and I've looked at buying one. Everything I've seen and experienced says you'll get a very transparent, clean, clear sound, with a few eq points baked in. Don't expect any compression or clipping. I believe Alex from Barefaced used one into a power amp, at one point.

Form factor of the Ag is smaller and more compact. If you've already got a pedal board, then you're set. That U5 doesn't seem travel-convenient. You'll probably want to rack mount it.
 
#7
I like the TH for live use. Most studio work I've done involved a very high end DI with no extra features - the engineers usually wanted a full frequency, clean signal from my bass.
 
#8
I have a Aguilar TH 500 and for studio DI purposes, the Avalon provides a clearer full spectrum sound while the Aguilar as others have said has a character and chewey sound. So many engineers in studios use the Avalon all the time. I confirmed with Nathan East that he uses the Avalon in the studio on a regular basis as well as hundred of other studio musicians.
 
#9
I use a U5 pretty much twice a week live and it is absolutely beautiful. I dont know much about the technical side of it but as a frequent user, I just thought I'd throw that out there. It took my sound from okay to amazing. It's incredibly clear and just makes your bass sound the way a bass should in a mix through a PA.
 
#10
I'd pick ToneHammer. smaller,cheaper, and from my experience great piece of equipment. I was in the studio the other day and I brought my TH DI/pre as I do everytime..they had some Avalon,not U5 but (pardon my ignorance) a bigger and much more expensive unit. We did take or two with that and I said, shall we try my ToneHammer, for a fun..we did and producer, his assistant and me,we agreed that it sounded-not necessarily "better" but more pleasant and suitable. more grit,juice and character, for the particular song at least.
 
#11
I won both and gig with both. The U5 will have a cleaner bottom end and compliments most preamps very well. I send 2 signals to FOH, one from the U5 and the other from my preamp of choice. These days it's a rackmount Ampeg SVT-IIP (non pro) but for a long time I used preamp pedals for the second line. I have tried Sansamp, Darkglass, Sadowsky, and Aguilar TH. Of those, the Aguilar TH was my favorite. In fact I carry it with me in my cable bag incase the Ampeg tube pre ever had issues at a gig. If that happened I would substitute it with the TH and not worry about it.

Like most of the people have said, the TH to me was just a "thicker" sound than all of the other pedal preamps I tried. I love my mids and to me the TH had the best out of all of them. I do use the gain/dirt circuit and keep the gain knob below 9:00, sometimes even 8:00 when I do.
 

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