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Firefly or Reddi

#81
There is no such thing as absolutely transparent - Jensen transformers and burr browns is about as close to transparent as you’re going to get. But “true” tube preamps have that natural compression and real warmth/color that SS has been striving to emulate for years. Many tools for different task/goals - SS, true tube, starved plate tube, so called transparent, colors, etc - heck just having a variable impedance input changes the sound.
 
#82
People talk about this "natural compression" that tubes have, and I get it when they're being pushed, but I've never had a more dynamic experience than playing out of a clean running SVT or B-15 or a DI like the REDDI. I just don't hear it as compressed at all, and I hear solid state as being more compressed. Yet all the experts tell me there is compression going on, so I guess I have to believe them, but certainly doesn't come across that way to me.
 
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#87
Bonemeister said:
...a charge pump that delivers about 130 volts to the tube filament (heater)...

Peter Janis
President
Radial Engineering Ltd.
Click to expand...

While all you guys go on about drag, transparency, compression, red eyes, etc, I am curious about this 130 volts to the filament thing, here! :eek: Maybe, that is why it is called a Firefly!!! :D

Invalid Link Removed

:hiding:
 
#90
Here's a Dropbox link of Tony Levin recording through several different DI's (REDDI and Firefly included)...

Musician: Tony Levin
Composition: by Tony Levin
Studio: Dreamland Studios
Files owned by: Silvertone Mastering / Larry DeVivo & Tony Levin


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6kx71g7wtrckujg/lF9PfeGh5P
 
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#91
#92
Answered my own question. From the top of the Invalid Link Removed by Larry DeVivo

The ultimate comparitive bass DI test...
We just did a little Ultimate Comparative Bass DI test this past weekend at Dreamland Studios. Jerry Marotta and Pete Caigan hosted it for me, Adam Armstrong was our engineer for the day and Ken McKim was our tech to run tones and make sure levels were matched for each box. Ken left right after we were done recording the files as we had one of his boxes in the mix and he did not want to influence any comments by being made in the room (a true professional). Terry Plunket was our camera man for the day. Our bass played was Tony Levin. (I can't thank you all enough for your time and effort).

For the test Tony did not want to hear any bass in the headphones... only a click track. He wrote a bass part with three different passages (soft, medium and heavy playing) and read that as he played each time. He did not want the sound of the DI's in his headphones as he said it would influence his playing. We had him play his active Music Man bass and then he played my passive Fender Jazz bass. Same line, 13 boxes twice over. To see and hear how accurate his playing is is an amazing thing. The wav forms tell the story.
Click to expand...
 
#93
IIRC, Tony's was an active Musicman (appears to be the stingray in the pic), the passive was a Fender Jazz

287780d1334753276-ultimate-comparitive-bass-di-test-tlev-dis.jpg


Ukiah Bass said:
Thanks ... downloading now. Do you happen to know what bass/basses he used for tracking?
Click to expand...
 
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#95
Hmm, I actually kind of dug the Firefly. It was not bad at all. But I think the biggest surprises were how well the Director 2 came off and how poorly the Neve came off. I was shocked that a company known for such hi-fi work would make such a dark sounding DI. But as usual, the fatness of the high notes on the REDDI puts it over the top for me, and the Evil Twin to a slightly lesser degree.

OTOH, I hated the Stingray on every clip. I guess I'm just not a Ray kind of guy.
 
#96
I was glad to hear the Firefly in the context of the others, including the Radial JDI that I currently use.

Based solely on those clips, I wouldn't move from the JDI to the Firefly.

I was most impressed by the Avalon U5. . . I loved that bass sound. . . And, to me, a multi instrumentalist, the U5 would probably be the most useful and versatile preamp/DI of the bunch. . . It works for bass, guitar, magnetics, piezos, etc.
 
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#97
As I think I'm the only TB'er to have ever posted about the TAB V71 before, I'm very curious to hear other peoples' opinions of how it sounded to you in this test.

I actually won't have opportunity to sit and listen through the test clips myself until prob. Thursday... but I am looking forward to it. The description of how the test was set up pushes all the right buttons for me.
 
#98
I agree. The U5 remains one of the best sounding DI's every made IMO, and I prefer it in this sample to everything else. I've never once had a bad experience with a U5, recording or otherwise. It just always sounds fantastic.
 

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