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Firefly or Reddi

#124
SteveC said:
I have had the chance to use/hear my Geddy Lee in a number of settings recently. Church, jazz gigs and now recording some really cheesy arrangements of standards. I have also been going strictly IEM (nothing fancy, just a Rolls box and Yamaha buds - but it sounds pretty darn good) and man is that nice.

Anyway, I have been pretty happy with how much I can do with my Geddy, some volume/tone knob tweaks and my right hand placement. Been sounding pretty good lately if I do say so myself. The best DI I've used lately has been the Radial JDI - and yes, there is a difference between it and say a "insert brand" basic $40 DI - especially with IEM's.

Because a majority of my playing is at church (IEM) these days, and all my tone is coming from my fingers, bass and DI, I have given thought to getting a really good DI - even more than getting a new Roscoe 5 string bass.

I know it sounds fine to everyone - even me - but even other guys I play with can tell when the DI is good, and I'm hearing better and playing better. I may be changing my mind on the "no one notices or cares" debate.

Still not sure about a DI that costs almost as much as my bass.
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The cheap bass/DI comparison is N/A as far as I'm concerned. Cheap basses can be awesome but I could never say the same for DI's.

I'm glad to see you get out of this "nobody cares" thinking, though. I find that kind of attitude pathetic. The audience doesn't care what you use for gear, but they darn sure care if you sound good or bad. Seen enough bands booed off the stage for sucking to know that the audience is more sophisticated than some bands would like to think. And so do the people you work with. I say you should just go home if "nobody cares" is your attitude.
 
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#125
JimmyM said:
The cheap bass/DI comparison is N/A as far as I'm concerned. Cheap basses can be awesome but I could never say the same for DI's.

I'm glad to see you get out of this "nobody cares" thinking, though. I find that kind of attitude pathetic. The audience doesn't care what you use for gear, but they darn sure care if you sound good or bad. Seen enough bands booed off the stage for sucking to know that the audience is more sophisticated than some bands would like to think. And so do the people you work with. I say you should just go home if "nobody cares" is your attitude.
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I do not think if someone uses a good DI which can be a countryman, radial etc and may not use a reddi is going to sound bad and get booed off the stage. There is much more to it than the bands that don't use a Reddi. Bands get booed off the stage for much more reasons. If a bassist uses a JDI and another uses a Reddi and with the same sound-man, I believe if he gets a bad sound out of one he will equally with another. Not that Im saying you are taking it to that extreme. But somehow we are getting into the differences between all the good DI's. If a good sound man get a good sound from a Reddi he will with a firefly. And arguably equally well. I think there is more of a difference between a LA2A and a 1176. Both are great but there is more of a difference wlth them than there is a difference between a Reddi and a Firefly. Again maybe your not taking it to that extreme but it is something to think about.
 
#133
diglo said:
I went with the reddi. It's what I wanted so I stuck with my gut. Had a feeling I wouldn't been satisfied with the firefly.
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Good choice. You won't regret it. I've never even thought about another tube DI since I started using the REDDI. And every sound guy I deal with would KILL me if I showed up without it, by the way. Sound people LOVE the REDDI.

As for the only issue I have with the REDDI... it's the THRU port not being part of the active tube signal chain. It's just a clean THRU port. But it's not a big deal. I just ended up buying a $10 XLR AB/Y splitter to plug into the OUT port so I can use one signal to send to FOH/Sound and one signal to go to my amp as a monitor. Works well for me.

With the Radial you might have had some more choices/features, but you would have probably lost in the tone end methinks. I've heard good things, but I doubt it stacks up to REDDI tone. Just my opinion, I could be wrong. :D
 
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#134
stingraysvt said:
Does the REDDI thru give you the tone the DI out does?
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Nope. Dry signal straight from the bass. But see above post for my solution. It's dead simple.

31EB2RKjNjL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Works perfectly for me.
 
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#140
I used both DIs in my recent recording session, and even tried linking them together during one tune. I plug my bass into Radial Firefly as my "Cdefenlean Channel", used the AUX out of it connecting to AGS-opened Aguilar ToneHammer as an overdrive pedal, then to REDDI as "Drive Channel". The result was pretty phenomenal! The REDDI can tolerate overdrive really well, it's darker sound is quite good for driven sound, while Firefly supplies defined, clear overall tone.
Besides the different sound, I found REDDI seems can defend more hiss from the bass, Firefly is more sensitive to the electronic noise. These two DIs are all very outstanding, but generally I'll use Jazz Bass or similar with REDDI for more traditional sound, and Firefly to my Warwick for very modern and clear sound.
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