Eden WTDI Direct Box/Preamp

[chessrocks]

The problem with the Eden unit is that the "gain" knob is kind of mis-labeled.

If you scratch off the word "gain" and write "input volume" with a magic marker, then you'll be closer to the mark.

This thing has no useful distortion or saturation, so any attempts to get that out of this box will only give you a serious case of "what the crap is this?"

That said ... I found the Equalizer to be very simple to use and musical-sounding. And even though it lacks any actual controls (it's just one knob), the compressor is also very musical-sounding and useful. This is actually a pretty good box for a guy who doesn't like fiddling a lot, and just wants a basic DI with a few simple controls for bass, treble, and some compression.

 

[Chadfish]

I recently got mine after waiting for months... I find I can get a good sound out of it. I engage the -20db pad on my MOTU Traveler to prevent clipping. However I find the "Enhance" knob to be a bit useless... It's more like a "Lose definition and make more muddy" knob. Not fun for recording. If I do use it I keep it at around 10% max.

 

[chessrocks]

I recently got mine after waiting for months... I find I can get a good sound out of it. I engage the -20db pad on my MOTU Traveler to prevent clipping. However I find the "Enhance" knob to be a bit useless... It's more like a "Lose definition and make more muddy" knob.

Ah yes, I forgot about that one.

You've discovered the "suck knob."

 

[road-cat1]

I got one of these a few months ago and have been using it on shows that I back up. I have been backing up the "HAIRSPRAY" Broadway show on the Oasis of the Seas cruiseship and didn't want to trust the small combo amp or DI's that would be part of the back line equipment.
It works great and I got many compliments on my sound. I could send MY eq and sound to the sound board and that was what I was hearing throgh our headphonesand in our stage monitors. The ship had small ampeg combo amps and a small Fender rumble in the orchestra pit, so I was glad to get a sound that was not foreign to me.
The WTDI is the same front end preamp as the WTX 500amp (I don't own that amp)and gets the same sound as the WT405 that I have. ( I also have a traveler 400, and a powered Navigator)...talk about overkill......I have about 6 bass amp heads and if I didn't make my living playing shows, my wife would have me committed! Doesn't get as warm a sound as the Traveler 400 (my favorite head), but a close second. I also have the GK MB500 and it gets a similar sound to that. The enhance control does the identical function as on their other amps.

I did find that I got a high frequency sizzle on one of the shows that I backed up...but I think that it had to do with the fact that the cruise ship does not have a ground (because it is in water and using a ground defeat really does not do anything to remedy this. I did not have any sizzle in other venues that I have used it in, so I don't think that it is a problem with the unit.

It is small enough to pack in your gig bag with cables and that is what I do. You can actually run the output directly to a power amp and I have also worked that way for some shows. A GREAT PRODUCT.

 

[DannDubblewe]

Awesome review! Im seriously Thinking about picking one up to use as a tone shaper with my current amp and as a good DI. hopefully that will cure some GAS for an Eden head.

 

[road-cat1]

As others have found, overuse of ANY control is just asking for trouble. The gain really is overkill and I find that I am using it about 7-8 oclock setting with the master at about 1-2 oclock setting. A good way to check on the correct amount of gain is to do a simple A-B by depressing the "bypass" footswitch and comparing the volume of your bass. Since the bypass is exactly that....it is bypassing the controls of the WTDI and none of the knobs will affect the bypass sound (even the output volume master control). In my opinion, you do not want to drastically alter the gain of your bass. Even if you are using this WTDI as a second sound choice, I can't imagine that you want a drastically different volume.

The enhance knob really can take the midrange out of your sound quickly, so I find that a 8-9:30 oclock position is about as far as I go with it. I slight tweak of bass and mid goes a long way, and that is how I have been setting it for the shows I am backing up.

It is NOT a Navigator Preamp (I have one, so I know)...but in situations where you want to send a really sweet tone to the sound board or to an amp that is NOT an EDEN, this really can get you mostly there for not a lot of money. The fact that it can be used as your DI or recording preamp or directly to a power amp or powered speaker, really convinced me to carry it with me. It can really nail the "Marcus Miller" sound very easily and with the foot switch bypass, can effectively give you an additional sound to add to your "bass sound" inventory

 

[Codyandsoul]

Thank you all for convincing me to purchase one

 

[RaginRog]

I just picked up a used one for $99 at GC. It's got a great sound, but also encountered the issue with the gain being a bit too much. I bought it for the purpose of recording through my Tascam GT-R1. What I had to do was mess with the input setting on the Tascam device. Not being able to turn the gain (on the WTDI) higher than 9 o'clock doesn't really bother me though.

I must recant...I guess it did eventually bother me that I couldn't dial in new sounds via the the eq, because my recording device couldn't handle the gain. Took it back and bought a nice Markbass Compresorre...glad I did...this was actually more useful to me.

I also noticed another one that was returned as well. I think this thing is probably good to add life to a low-end amplifier...aside from that...save your $150 or buy a Sansamp or MXR-M80.

 

[Chadfish]

I've heard the Markbass Compresorre is a thing of beauty and wonder! My brother bought one and swears by it.

 

[jazzMikeonly]

i just bought one of this and it works great for me..

i don't need to shape the EQ's to much to dial my tone.. never put the enhance knob more than 9-10 o'clock , the compressor works fine.. a lot of gain.. nice, recomended item..

 

[bradjonesbass]

I have one (well, sort of, I bought one for my church and leave it there). At this point, I'm kind of meh... about the thing. I can barely turn the gain up at all before it starts clipping - I play an active 7 string bass with bartolini pickups. It's definitely got that Eden sound, but the input is so sensitive it's ridiculous. To be honest, I wish I'd not gotten it. I was planning on getting another one initially to put on my pedal board for my main gig, but no way I'm doing that now. I'll just stick with my radial bassbone (and I'm actually still using the bassbone at church too). The other bass players seem to like it though. At least it's better than the cheapo DI they had been using. Though one of them brought his Ashdown head and used the DI out of that last week - Now THAT sounded killer. It's some sort of short run head that they only made 25 oor 30 of, basically the exact specs of the Mark King head only it's a weird bad 70s green color...

 

[Trunk]

Hi. First of all - sorry for my English...
I have passive CIJ JB'75RI and Ampeg BA115TU. This combo have special input (-15dB) for active bass. Can i plug output from this Eden preamp to this active input in that ampeg combo, because it have not direct input to the poweramp? Or it designed specialy for plug in to poweramp input?

 

[raymondl3]

You can go straight to the preamp of your combo.

 

[agandr]

> Can i plug output from this Eden preamp to this active input in that ampeg combo, because it have not direct input to the poweramp? Or it designed specialy for plug in to poweramp input?

That's what I do with GK combo: just set all eq knobs on a combo to 12 o'Clock and plug EDEN WTDI to active input. It works very well.

 

[Trunk]

raymondl3 and agandr, thank you!

 

[raymondl3]

The WTDI is not specifically designed to feed a power amp, although it can. You can run it to your active input. Just adjust the gain and/or master controls on the unit to avoid distortion / clipping from your amp.

 

[rmic]

To anyone already has one:
Can the wall wart power supply work with 200~240V AC (Europe, Asia)?
They say it's 'universal power supply' without any details.

Thanks.

Yes, it can. Input voltage range specified on the power supply:
"INPUT: 100-240V ~ 50/60Hz 0.2A"
Therefore, you can safely use this power supply with simpe "US to EU AC power plug converter".

 

[Chadfish]

I just recorded a cover for a contest, using the WTDI on the bass. The cover is "Under Pressure" and I think it turned out pretty good. I wasn't 100% pleased with the tone of the WTDI alone, so I put an EBS MultiComp in front of it set to the "Tubism" setting.

ReverbNation Player

 

[bassMG]

Are there any TBers who've tried one out yet?

I'd love to hear some reviews.


~esa

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I used it at practice with Hartke LH500 head and a SWR SOB 1x15 cab. The Eden made my little half stack sound like a svt 4pro and a 810e. Well maybe not that good, but i would say for sure the improvement was 100%. I was thinking the extra gain fron the Eden pedal drove the hartke preamp tube to a different level like fat svt tube tone.

 

[alainkills]

As others have found, overuse of ANY control is just asking for trouble. The gain really is overkill and I find that I am using it about 7-8 oclock setting with the master at about 1-2 oclock setting. A good way to check on the correct amount of gain is to do a simple A-B by depressing the "bypass" footswitch and comparing the volume of your bass. Since the bypass is exactly that....it is bypassing the controls of the WTDI and none of the knobs will affect the bypass sound (even the output volume master control). In my opinion, you do not want to drastically alter the gain of your bass. Even if you are using this WTDI as a second sound choice, I can't imagine that you want a drastically different volume.

The enhance knob really can take the midrange out of your sound quickly, so I find that a 8-9:30 oclock position is about as far as I go with it. I slight tweak of bass and mid goes a long way, and that is how I have been setting it for the shows I am backing up.

It is NOT a Navigator Preamp (I have one, so I know)...but in situations where you want to send a really sweet tone to the sound board or to an amp that is NOT an EDEN, this really can get you mostly there for not a lot of money. The fact that it can be used as your DI or recording preamp or directly to a power amp or powered speaker, really convinced me to carry it with me. It can really nail the "Marcus Miller" sound very easily and with the foot switch bypass, can effectively give you an additional sound to add to your "bass sound" inventory

damn.. nice review there dude. i really like this part "It can really nail the "Marcus Miller" sound very easily and with the foot switch bypass" pow!

Thanks!