Double Bass Avalon U5 DI

[PB+J]

Bolo, it sounds that way to me--open and responsive and much more capable of nuance. In fact with the upright it's a little too revealing. As my tone has gotten better, it's sounding better. The Fishman conceals a lot more than the avalon does.

At first I was a little skeptical about it, because I was more used to hearing more radical eq shapes. I posted a review of it here that's still accurate, IMHO

Kenmore is heavily remodeled--a huge new building, state of the art auditorium/performance space. But my kids went/will go to Swanson

 

[shwashwa]

ok, well, i cant find one of these anywhere in a local store to try out. i'm hesitant to try one out by just buying it due to the price. also , i now see that pb+j is into the fishman, which is way cheaper...

 

[PB+J]

Way cheaper, but not nearly as good. It's more convenient, and sounds fine, but otherwise it's not even close

 

[SteveC]

Why did I start reading this thread? I don't play DB any more, but I have bought and sold an Avalon U5 twice! I am stupid. I wanted (and have) a really small, light and portable rig. I use a BDDI, AI Focus SA Series III power amp and a BErgie HT112 cab. It sounds really nice, but...

Why does the U5 have to be so big? Have you looked inside? There's a lot of empty space in there.

 

[PB+J]

I know--drives me nuts! Why does it have to have those honking big knobs, and all that empty space? Heat dispersion maybe? Seems like it could easily be half the size and half the weight.

I have a focus SA, and bought both a sans amp paradriver AND the fishman, looking for a small, light battery-powered altenative to the avalon, but I'm still lugging the avalon around. I carry the focus and the U5 in one of those "bigmouth" tool bags--looks kinda like an old-fashioned gym bag.

Why doesn't avalon make a single rack space or even stomp box sized version of the U5?

 

[SteveC]

I know--drives me nuts! Why does it have to have those honking big knobs, and all that empty space? Heat dispersion maybe? Seems like it could easily be half the size and half the weight.

Why doesn't avalon make a single rack space or even stomp box sized version of the U5?

I agree. Even something the size of the Focus SA. I think it would easily be one of the, if not the best selling little boxes ever.

 

[shwashwa]

should i take the plunge and buy one sight unseen without trying it for 425?

 

[PB+J]

Yikes! Well if mine blows up I'd buy another one in a second. The one thing it's not good at is copping someone else's sound--you can't eq it to sound like another bass player. So if you want an amp to make you sound like player X, this won't do it unless you already sound like player X. IMHO it does what a good studio preamp does-it sweetens the tone. It doesn't have active eq, so it can't give you a lot of radically different sounds, just a few really good sounds

 

[shwashwa]

i'm not looking to cop someone else's tone, just looking to get the huge tone that my bass already has. i suppose if i needed some EQ i could run it into the normal input of my woods...you can hear my acoustic tone on the sample page (steve swanson)

 

[PB+J]

I didn't mean to imply you were, just making a general observation

Nice sound samples! You sound good. How'd you do the recording?

 

[shwashwa]

ribbon mic in front of the bass about 3-4 feet in a booth..

 

[tombowlus]

should i take the plunge and buy one sight unseen without trying it for 425?

That's a pretty good price (used, I presume; if new, jump on it!), and I am also a fan of this unit.

For those looking for similar functionality in a half-rack, 1U unit, you may want to check out the Summitt Audio TD-100. It is a tube DI/preamp, and it has a variable input impedance, which I really like (you can dial it in for magnetic or piezo pickups). It does not have any tone controls, but I really don't use the tone settings on my U5 anyway. Tonally, I would call it equally as good, though slightly different, from the U5.

Tom.

 

[flatback]

anyone have anything to say about how the Tube direct from Demeter sounds compared to the U5?
I have been using the Demeter into the Focus III these past few gigs and if I use the XLR out of the Tube Direct (instead of the 1/4) It is a real nice sound that takes some of the edge out of the LDS 1x8.
I have been hearing so much about the Avalon, but I wonder does anyone have experience with both boxes?

 

[shwashwa]

would it defeat the purpose of having the U5 if you took the output and put it into the normal input of a bass amp in order to get some more eq options?

 

[bolo]

What does the "Speaker Signal to Input" switch do?

And I assume the "Active to Thru" button controls whether or not the 1/4" output on the front of the unit is treated with Boost and Tone, correct?

Sorry, I checked their web site first. I am just not gettin' what they're sayin'.

 

[PB+J]

Speaker signal to input is for guitar layers really--it lets you take a signal from a speaker jack on a guitar amp, run it into the U5, and then out to the board. Cool feature theoretically, but I've never used it

"Active to thru" routs a signal to a 1/4 inch output jack on the front of the amp. You can use it to send a signal to a power amp with a 1/4 input while also sending a signal via the line or mic level xlr jacks on the back. I rarely use it--I have no problem sending a line level signal (through an xlr cable) to my focus SA and a mic level signal (also via xlr cable--there are two xlr out jacks on the back) to the PA. Simple answer is it routes a signal to one of the two jacks on the front of the unit.

On the front there's a high frequency roll off switch, a switch that engages the "active to thru" output,a switch for the tone stack and one that switches on the speaker signal input.

Shashwa, I would think that sending the U5 signal into the preamp section of another amp would sort of defeat the purpose. The thing that makes it sound good is IMHO, the really high quality signal it sends to the PA/power amp. But I've never tried it. If I wanted more eq--and really, it's never bothered me much, to my suprise--I would put an eq unit in front of the avalon.

 

[bolo]

PB+J, thanks again very much for all the good info. I am really interested in this unit.

So if I want to run the output of the U5 into my amps, and my amps only have 1/4" inputs, I can engage the "Active to Thru" button and run the 1/4" output from the U5 into my amp, no?

And you recommend bypassing the amp's front end by running the output of the U5 into say the effects return of my amp, no?

Thanks again.

 

[PB+J]

Yes to both--use the "active to thru" if you need a 1/4 output to your power amp. And IMHO i would definitely try bypassing the preamp section of any amp i ran it through

I got mine used on ebay for I think $420, which is still not cheap but more than worth it. The thing is solid as a rock and extremely well built

 

[bassame]

Can anyone explain the difference between the U5 and the M5?
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Perhaps the M5 is for microphones and the U5 for pickups?

 

[SteveC]

My G.A.S. has been ignited. I try to tell myself that my Programmable BDDI is just fine, and it is, but I remember how good the Avalon U5 sounded and the only reason I sold it was I didn't want to haul a 4 space rack (2 for the Avalon and 2 for QSC amp) around. Maybe the Avalon U5 and the 3.5 pound Focus SA power amp wouldn't be so bad...