CreativeAudioLabs Redeemer Circuit. WOW!!!

[seanm]

The boost you are hearing is the redeemer restoring the basses original output , the gain doesn't come from the redeemer itself . If you were to plug the bass into a heavily loading input of an amp and a/b the redeemer in and out you would get the impression of gain ( when the redeemer is functioning ) when what you are hearing is the loss of gain when the redeemer isn't on .

If there is barely any loading happening between your cable , amp , pedels or whatever , you won't hear a drastic difference . Which means your set-up is good . But that is not usually the case . Hence what the redeemer does .

Pete

That could very well be the case. But given that it is active, there *could* be gain. The website shows good specs, but doesn't say it is unity gain. Any chance we can get confirmation that it is unity gain?

Passinwind, are you planning on doing measurements?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

That could very well be the case. But given that it is active, there *could* be gain. The website shows good specs, but doesn't say it is unity gain. Any chance we can get confirmation that it is unity gain?

Passinwind, are you planning on doing measurements?

Go back and listen to the samples I posted. It was unity gain.

 

[Pete skjold]

Pete, where do you buy your strings?

It's only about $32 for two D'Addario XL 5 string sets.

Okay , so four sets of strings

 

[Passinwind]

So, I retract my previous shoulder shrug and give the Redeemer a big thumbs up.

I just started testing mine this morning. It took about 20 minutes to install it in my Travis Bean fretless. The Bean didn't work all that well run passive into my DIY rack preamp, which is optimized for active basses and presents a lower than usual input impedance. The Redeemer appears to be a perfect solution to my situation, and I'm very happy with what I'm hearing so far.

More to follow in a day or two. I can definitely check the unity gain question out on my test bench, but I think that Pete's and Dave's explanations jibe perfectly with what I'm observing.

 

[Passinwind]

More to follow in a day or two.

So I'm a slacker...sue me!

I took the Bean bass out to an open mike last week where I could try it in a variety of musical contexts. Old school country, singer/songwriter folk, Jawaiian and Jamaican dub happiness, some southern rock/jam action, and finally a little Ozzy with hypersonic slide bass. The Redeemer is staying put and I'm putting off building a new DIY preamp for that bass indefinitely. This is one of the very few commercial pieces I've bought in a while that I feel no compulsion to modify it in any way -- and that's about the highest praise I can give.

 

[awelti]

Yes, it is unity, gain and phase 10Hz to 50KHz... any precieved gain and brightening is due to removing the load and cable capacitance. If your set-up is excellent you won't hear a drastic difference. If you build it into a box and put too much cable between the pick-up and the Redeemer you won't hear a drastic difference (make the cable about one or two feet max and put the box in your pocket or on your strap).

As a bass player - recording - you often go direct to track using a DI box - if you have a Redeemer, try plugging your 1/4" cable straight into the converter line input (typically a 10K load) or make an XLR adapter to plug directly into the mic pre (typically a 1.2K load) using no direct box and A/B the Redeemer in/out. Also, A/B a D/I box in/out. I think you will hear something drastic...

 

[seanm]

Yes, it is unity, gain and phase 10Hz to 50KHz... any precieved gain and brightening is due to removing the load and cable capacitance. If your set-up is excellent you won't hear a drastic difference. If you build it into a box and put too much cable between the pick-up and the Redeemer you won't hear a drastic difference (make the cable about one or two feet max and put the box in your pocket or on your strap).

As a bass player - recording - you often go direct to track using a DI box - if you have a Redeemer, try plugging your 1/4" cable straight into the converter line input (typically a 10K load) or make an XLR adapter to plug directly into the mic pre (typically a 1.2K load) using no direct box and A/B the Redeemer in/out. Also, A/B a D/I box in/out. I think you will hear something drastic...

Thanks for the info! The cable was the patch cable shown in the pic, so only about 6".

 

[seanm]

The boost you are hearing is the redeemer restoring the basses original output , the gain doesn't come from the redeemer itself .

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I had the scope all setup to test my fat boost... and decided to test the redeemer while I was at it.

For those how have never used a scope, I have a cheap 20MHz analog dual channel scope. Considered obsolete now, but works great for audio.

I put one channel on the input to the redeemer and one channel on the output. I then invert the output. Why? Because most dual channel scopes can add the inputs. If you invert one input and add, you are subtracting.

I then played various tones, then jumping jack flash into the input and got a nice straight line on the scope. This means I can confirm that there is no gain, or loss, from the redeemer itself.

 

[bongomania]

Good info, thanks.

FWIW, in the past I had jumped on the "it's only an overpriced buffer" posting bandwagon, however a few months ago they sent me one to try out, and I have to say I like it a lot. Plus their price now is half what it was when I made those posts. Anyway it is as transparent as a processor can be, and it really "perked up" a previously kind of dull-sounding passive bass. I know that sort of sounds like a contradiction, but what I mean is it allowed existing high-frequency signal detail to come through, that was previously dulled by inefficient signal transfer.

I still like the slightly colored/fat tone of a basic FET buffer better, but anyone who wants less coloration and more articulation should check out the Redeemer.

 

[walterw]

i recently came into possession of a redeemer, and since i don't use active instruments, decided to try something a little different: i built it into a little metal box with an input, two parallel outputs, and a DC power jack. the website says it can handle up to 18 volts power, so i'm running it with about 13 volts from a random wall-wart i scrounged up.

it now resides under my workbench, where it takes a 10 foot cable from whatever i'm working on, then splits the output, one side going to my tuner (sonic research turbo-tuner, of course), and the other going to my bench amp, a peavey bravo (20 watt tube amp).

as compared to an EMG afterburner that was previously wired in the same way (with its boost off), the redeemer seems a little crisper and clearer. it also does a little better job with passive piezo pickups, even though that's not its purpose.

what's interesting is that when the amp is set to distortion, there's a noticeable hum when the input cable is not plugged into anything. as soon as i plug in an instrument, it's dead quiet. i guess that's the open cable acting like an antenna, something that wouldn't happen with it wired right from a pickup output like it's supposed to be.

this hum doesn't happen with a 9V supply, but i don't mind it if it gives me increased headroom, since it doesn't happen in actual use.

 

[ishouldbeking]

I remember last year at NAMM wandering by the CreativeAudioLabs booth... the guy immediately approaches my guitarist and I promising to show us "something amazing". Turns out it was the redeemer. He starts explaining it, and on the one hand I can appreciate everything he's telling me, and on the other hand I'm thinking... I am sooooo not the type to care about subtlety, and this thing sure sounds like it'll be subtle. So the dude proceeds to attempt to demo the redeemer for us, using an A/B switcher... now keep in mind this was at NAMM, which has to be one of the weirdest places to demo any new piece of gear, nevermind something as subtle as this while literally thousands of dudes are wanking loudly on every piece of gear imaginable. It was like trying to hear a pin drop in the middle of a gunfight. Suffice it to say, after about 60 seconds of A/B demoing, and barely hearing the guitar nevermind the difference between the effected and the unredeemed signal, and then asking how much it cost, I politely bowed out. I'm sure it's cool, but it was hilarious that he actually thought I'd be able to hear the difference in that scenario.

 

[Zootsuitbass]

Where are people hearts and minds on this little doodaad these days?

 

[fenderbassman40]

Anything?

 

[SGD Lutherie]

So, (2) 500k pots = 250k combined, plus Redeemer will preserve the most high end, which can then be adjusted with the tone knob?
I didn't see anything about wiring the Redeemer before the pots, tho- maybe missed it.

The Redeemer is the last thing in the signal path before the output jack.

The Redeemer will maintain the tone you would get with those pots regardless of what's after your bass in the signal path. So it will sound the way the bass does with a short cable.

If you listen to audio samples I posted comparing the Redeemer after the pots, and a JFET buffer after the pots, the Redeemer didn't alter the tone, while the buffer brightened it up. So it won't make the bass brighter, it will just stop it from being duller.

If you want more high end, use 500k pots, and if that's not enough, use a different buffer that has a higher input impedance.

 

[Rodslinger]

yes...on a passive instrument I have no doubt...but on an active, I am QUITE skeptical...

and moreover, I'd venture to say that if you took out the tone pot and volume pot on a passive (straight to jack) you'd be 90% of theway of a redeemer ...

it's no more than a high impedence buffer...a way over-priced one at that...

Man we’re you wrong a decade ago lol.