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Para Driver or BDDI?

#21
I got a ParaDriver recently and have since all but abandoned all of my other gear. I use my bass direct into the PDDI and straight to FOH. If monitors are not available, I will run my own amp/cab on stage, but it has made my loading much easier.

I used to run a Country man type 85 DI along with a full bass rig to FOH and blend the two. Now I do the same thing with a tiny little black box (PDDI). I don't know why I haven't been using it for years!
 
#25
The midrange control on the Para Driver is before the SansAmp circuit. This is why the Para Driver DI is capable of more gain and distortion than the Bass Driver DI. It also means that adjusting the midrange will usually mean that you need to adjust the drive as well.
 
#28
I loved my BDDI, never really noticed the mid loss as my cab is quite mid heavy. I hardly ever adjusted my BDDI at gigs between songs, it just seemed to work.

This year i thought i'd give the PDDI a go and sold my BDDI. Bad move IMO.

The PDDI is fantastic, there doesn't seem to be any tone i cant get (i dont use the drive as i prefer clean tones) but i find myself messing about with it too much at gigs. With the BDDI it went on at the start of the gig, i made any adjustments that the room required so as not to sound boomy, and that was it. Now im forever tweaking and messing about between songs. We dont use a full PA so this is just bass/PDDI/Wireless/amp, and it stays on all gig.
I wouldn't say this is a fault of the PDDI, far from it, but i do miss the simplicity of the BDDI and will go back to that. Ive not managed to find the warm, round BDDI tone i loved. Im sure its in there somewhere though.
 
#29
I wish there were comparisons/sound clips somewhere, the make it easy to choose between the two. I'm lokning for a full and warm (vintage?) sound, with a dash of tube-like drive to it. No heavy overdrive - what should I get of the two?
 
#30
iSteen said:
I wish there were comparisons/sound clips somewhere, the make it easy to choose between the two. I'm lokning for a full and warm (vintage?) sound, with a dash of tube-like drive to it. No heavy overdrive - what should I get of the two?
Click to expand...

Well, to further complicate issues, we now have the VT series in contention...this would be my first choice.

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I use the VT rackmount as a dedicated preamp.

Riis
 
#31
iSteen said:
I wish there were comparisons/sound clips somewhere, the make it easy to choose between the two. I'm lokning for a full and warm (vintage?) sound, with a dash of tube-like drive to it. No heavy overdrive - what should I get of the two?
Click to expand...

I think there are quite a few sound clips over on Talkbass, but it's not easy finding them.

Have a look at the Darkglass vintage tubes, I'd say this will do the tube stuff just perfectly.

Oh, and this is a very, very, old thread. Plenty of info has been posted since this thread started.
 
#32
Thanks guys for answering, even though this thread might be old.
I can't seem to find any sound comparisons between the Bassdriver and the Paradriver. Let's hope the good folks at Tech21 someday will try to boost the sales by recording samples of their great units.

Thanks for joining in

Cheers

Steen
 
#34
taylor16 said:
Bump- Considering both have newly revised editions out. Interested in how both compare/contrast.
Click to expand...

Actually, I'm wondering if at this point, the discussion is moot, since Tech21 launched the BDDI with a mid control last year. The lack of mids control was probably the main reason why some players switched from the BDDI to the Para, from what I read on TB anyway. I had the Para for a short while for my guitar rig and A/B'd it with my PBDDI. I stuck with the PBDDI, I like that baked-in mid scoop tone and I'm assuming its more tuned for bass than the Para. It also has 3 switches for presets and presence knob for additionnal tweakability. I also had a previous generation BDDI for a couple of years and apart from the 3 switches, couldn't tell the difference with the PBDDI.
 
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