audere or retro preamp....

I have a J-retro in my Geddy but I'm thinking of swapping it out for an Audere. The J-retro seems like it colors the tone too much. It's a bit sterile for my taste. From what I've read, the Audere is much more transparent. I like a bit of grind or growl and I can't get it with the J-retro.

 

I have used and liked both types of preamp. The Audere is more subtle; the J-Retro provides more tonal coloration. If I had to pick one, I would choose the J-Retro for most applications. I never heard the J-Retro as sterile, but YMMV. My favorite is the J-Retro Deluxe, which has a passive treble roll-off. I'm not sure how the words "grind" and "growl" translate into sound, but neither preamp provides any overdrive.

 

Maybe sterile wasn't the right word I was looking for. To my ears, the J-Retro seems "hi-fi" compared to how a stock Geddy sounds. I bought the bass with the preamp already in it. I do like the tone options that a preamp offers, but I'd like a enhancement of what I already have as opposed to totally changing the way the bass sounds as I feel the J-Retro does.

 

To my ears, when in middle-Z mode, the Audere sounds just like the bass does passive. Perfectly transparent. Low-Z makes it sound thicker, beefier, and warmer. High-Z makes it sound thinner and brighter.

Basically, here's what I'd recommend to anyone thinking about an Audere: It will give you a massive amount of EQ versatility right at your fingertips, which is the only reason you should buy it. However, it's still going to sound like your same old bass, just EQ'd differently. Don't expect it to make your bass sound significantly better. A crappy bass is still going to sound like a crappy bass.

 

Thanks for posting. That is exactly what I was hoping to hear from someone. I do like the way my Geddy sounds. I just want to enhance the natural sound of the bass and have some EQ flexibility.

 

let us know how it goes. ive ben looking at these preamps for my geddy also. i have some dimarzio model Js in my geddy, and i was thinking of doing the pre, just havent decided yet. anyone have any experiance with this set-up?