Audere VS J-Retro

[SpectorBass]

I can't believe this thread doesn't exist already, but here it is.

Long story short I just picked up a Lakland Darryl Jones 5 string.
My DJ4 sounds great passive, and I don't want to make that active, but with the 5th string I think I want to put an active pre in there to thicken up the low end, and just to add more versatility.

Thing is I ideally want it to sound transparent when flat, so I can still have the passive tone I love.

So, there seem to be 2 very popular choices that are within my price range. I'm definitely leaning towards the audere, a 3 band EQ with 2 volumes.

What I want to know is should I really look at spending the extra $$ on the JRetro? I know it's highly subjective, and either pre would sound great, but I'd just like to hear people's thoughts.

 

[4StringTheorist]

Thing is I ideally want it to sound transparent when flat, so I can still have the passive tone I love.

Do you want an active/passive switch?

If no:
Your preference for transparency leans you in the direction of the Audere, which many people around here have praised for sounding transparent/passive with the EQ flat in Mid-Z mode. The Retro has a built in EQ contour that colors the sound. Since that built in contour includes a bass boost, and the Retro bass EQ is boost-only, you cannot adjust out the built in sound coloration.

If yes:
Either one is still in the ball game. Just be aware of which controls still function in passive mode. I'm not sure with the Audere, but I know that the Retro pickup blend doesn't work in passive: it's bridge only, or bridge+neck equally. Both preamps probably only give a subset of full controls in passive mode.

 

[Arthur SX]

Here is my take... I have a lakland 55-60 and Delano pickups "killer by the way" with the J Retro you are pretty much stuck with one sound ,yes you can tweak it but you have; active with some tone controls and only boost only to bass, and then in passive you loose control over your sound. In passive with the J.R you have bridge or both but nothing in between and no tone control game over.. I hated it!
I purchased the Audere and I really love it I can play in mid/mid and it sounds like my bass passive but with all the bass+mid.L+mid.H+treb. then you can switch the "Z" modes and wow and on top of that you can program the thing to sound any way you like even just like the J retro if you like but NOT visa/versa. Love it!
So if you really like the sound of the Mid-range on all the time J retro. If you like the sound of your pickups and want to add some variety to your controls Audere all the way.
I hope this helped someone with the same questions I had before I a/b ed them.

 

[GBassNorth]

I have an Audere in one of my Warmoth bass builds and an East in another one. From a sound standpoint they both are great. From a functionality standpoint both are easy to dial in just about any tone you want. From a flexibility standpoint both are extremely flexible but the Audere does have the additional z switches you can use to further shape your sound. From a design standpoint the East is very well laid out, very tidy and neat, almost to the point of a work of art. The Audere on the other hand is a rats nest of wires and barely fits in a rear routed cavity. Cost is an issue for the East, which is made in England, exchange rates aren't great right now. The passive control is better on the Audere.

Sound wise overall I find the East preamp to be a little deeper and darker on the bottom and with the bright switches pulled on a little more glassy on top. The Audere preamp is a little more transparent in passive mode but both sound hifi in active mode. You really can't go wrong with either preamp.

Disclaimer: I had both John East and Audere custom build their preamps to similar specs so these were not off the shelf jobs. The layout I wanted was a 3 stacked knob arrangement with a discrete 2 band preamp stacked knob for each pickup wired to a stereo output jack and a stacked vol/vol knob along with a 3 way toggle to activate neck/both/bridge pickups. These were connected to a Split P pickup in the neck and a Stingray pickup in the bridge. John was able to voice the stingray preamp to match a PreEB tone, Audere was not able to do that but Audere did provide the Z switches which work kind of neat on tone shaping.

 

[depalm]

Had both installed on two Js for many years.
Two different sounding preamps, almost an apples and oranges comparison.

J-Retro: (3 band EQ top mounted Jack) It's not a 'purist' preamp. Has a "pre-shape" EQ that slightly boost lows and highs.
Some people love it, some don't but Mr. East told me once that you can order it without this feature.
EQ on J-Retro in kinda counter intuitive.
Bass is boost only and treble boost on a certain frequency but cuts in another freq.
But the mid sweeping is an amazing feature, allowing you to boost/cut a wide range of frequencies to better EQ you tone.
Believe me, its something really nice to be able to fine tuning your tone during a session or live gig, without having to ask the engineer.
It's like having a powerful studio channel strip, right under your fingers.
The bad thing about it in my opinion is it's 'coldness'.
Again, it's not a preamp for someone looking for a "vintage" tone.
You won't find that warmness related to some old instruments. Even when bypassed.
This is a device specially made to turn your J in a modern version of itself. And it really does.

Audere: I have a JZ-3 model (top mounted jack).
This is totally different preamp from J-Retro, it's made to sound more neutral or transparent and keep the natural characteristic of your instrument. In fact, when I installed mine I felt kinda disappointed, once it didn't change nothing on my bass tone. Not even the overall output.
But as soon as I messed with the EQ I found where the beauty of this thing hides.
Boost and cut seems to be more gentle, in spite they are very ample. Mid freq is beautifully voiced although is not sweepable.
The Z modes are not very useful in my opinion, low z sounded a bit muddy, hi z harsh but I love the way mid z mode works.
This is a preamp for whom that wants to preserve the instrument natural tone but wants a great tool to keep things under control.
Really good, really well made.

 

[Arthur SX]

Had both installed on two Js for many years.
Two different sounding preamps, almost an apples and oranges comparison.

J-Retro: (3 band EQ top mounted Jack) It's not a 'purist' preamp. Has a "pre-shape" EQ that slightly boost lows and highs.
Some people love it, some don't but Mr. East told me once that you can order it without this feature.
EQ on J-Retro in kinda counter intuitive.
Bass is boost only and treble boost on a certain frequency but cuts in another freq.
But the mid sweeping is an amazing feature, allowing you to boost/cut a wide range of frequencies to better EQ you tone.
Believe me, its something really nice to be able to fine tuning your tone during a session or live gig, without having to ask the engineer.
It's like having a powerful studio channel strip, right under your fingers.
The bad thing about it in my opinion is it's 'coldness'.
Again, it's not a preamp for someone looking for a "vintage" tone.
You won't find that warmness related to some old instruments. Even when bypassed.
This is a device specially made to turn your J in a modern version of itself. And it really does.

Audere: I have a JZ-3 model (top mounted jack).
This is totally different preamp from J-Retro, it's made to sound more neutral or transparent and keep the natural characteristic of your instrument. In fact, when I installed mine I felt kinda disappointed, once it didn't change nothing on my bass tone. Not even the overall output.
But as soon as I messed with the EQ I found where the beauty of this thing hides.
Boost and cut seems to be more gentle, in spite they are very ample. Mid freq is beautifully voiced although is not sweepable.
The Z modes are not very useful in my opinion, low z sounded a bit muddy, hi z harsh but I love the way mid z mode works.
This is a preamp for whom that wants to preserve the instrument natural tone but wants a great tool to keep things under control.
Really good, really well made.

Well, you really have to play around with programing the z modes I like the neck in low z with the bridge in mid z check it out..

 

[depalm]

Well, you really have to play around with programing the z modes I like the neck in low z with the bridge in mid z check it out..

Yes, but believe me.
I've been putting a lot of work on this device.
I'm not just saying.
Hi and lo Z modes did not work very well for me.
Nevertheless, I consider this amp a piece of engineering.

 

[rojo412]

I've played the Audere preamps a few times and they are VERY transparent. They are less money, they work great, and they don't color the sound in a way that most other preamps do...

That said, the East preamps are hands-down the finest preamps I've ever played. I've owned about 6 or 7 different versions and every single bass was made better by its installation. I wondered why people spent that much, right up until I fell in love with them. They are simply the best preamps in my mind, PERIOD.
Yes, they change the inherent tone a little bit, but in a really positive way.

 

[joebar]

I was just reading this thread earlier from the search function-
I am seriously considering the audere for my fender jazz.
all I really want is a tad more output with the ability to add some mids at the bass.
transparency is good because I like the inherent sound of my bass.
and its cheap.

 

[Arthur SX]

I was just reading this thread earlier from the search function-
I am seriously considering the audere for my fender jazz.
all I really want is a tad more output with the ability to add some mids at the bass.
transparency is good because I like the inherent sound of my bass.
and its cheap.

The J retro does sound very good with jazz pickups that are stock or close to stock but not good with the delanos they don't need anything lol I just like to switch the modes on the Audere for slap and then to finger and then again to bright for solo

 

[joebar]

The J retro does sound very good with jazz pickups that are stock or close to stock but not good with the delanos they don't need anything lol I just like to switch the modes on the Audere for slap and then to finger and then again to bright for solo

I ordered the audere -should be here in a day or two.
cant see how I can go wrong

 

[Arthur SX]

I think you will love it. I have mine set up as 1st position neck/low z-bridge/mid z..slap.....2nd mid/mid ...3rd n/mid-b/high for articulsation..mid z is the natural sound leave the program swich hanging out from the plate and have fun...

 

[Deleted member 269102]

I ordered the audere -should be here in a day or two.
cant see how I can go wrong

I love my Audere pre. I'd never played anything but complete passive until quite recently, and I'm just blown away on what the little guy can do.

 

[joebar]

just installed the audere this morning with no issues-
I called dave @ audere and spoke with him a bit.

it turns out that you still get the single coil hum if you favor one PU over the other; I guess there is no way to get rid of it. I was hoping that was one of the perks of this pre...

it still sounds like a passive jazz which I like-
lots of powerful EQ shaping at your fingertips.

 

[Deleted member 269102]

it turns out that you still get the single coil hum if you favor one PU over the other; I guess there is no way to get rid of it. I was hoping that was one of the perks of this pre...

Yup. But if you want that single coil sound...

One of the things I love about the Audere is that I can leave the pups equaled out for the hum cancelling, yet still get a really nice range of tones.

That I got mine with stacked volume and pan makes that much easier.

 

[joebar]

Yup. But if you want that single coil sound...

One of the things I love about the Audere is that I can leave the pups equaled out for the hum cancelling, yet still get a really nice range of tones.

That I got mine with stacked volume and pan makes that much easier.

I think the next step is to fully shield the cavities. I want the ultimate jazz bass.
I am naïve enough to believe I can minimize the noise.

 

[Deleted member 269102]

I think the next step is to fully shield the cavities. I want the ultimate jazz bass.
I am naïve enough to believe I can minimize the noise.

Shielding my Jazz with copper tape cut the hum down an amazing amount. It may not be the magic bullet, but it certainly made quite a difference. For a $10 mod, there's no reason not to.

 

[joebar]

Shielding my Jazz with copper tape cut the hum down an amazing amount. It may not be the magic bullet, but it certainly made quite a difference. For a $10 mod, there's no reason not to.

if we can put a man on the moon 40 years ago with sliderules, surely we can quieten down single coil PU's .

 

[joebar]

I think the next step is to fully shield the cavities. I want the ultimate jazz bass.
I am naïve enough to believe I can minimize the noise.

I shielded it a few weeks ago-
turned out great; no noise to worry about really.
for ten bucks and a few hrs labour, it is worth doing-if for no other reason than to getting to know your instrument.

 

[Sav'nBass]

I had a J with a U Retro 01 in it... and I have an Audere PZ4 in my 55-01 with Bart Mk5s. The Retro is a very nice pre .. but I prefer the Audere.. If I had it to do all over I'd just get a 3 band PZ.