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Radial J48 vs. Trickfish Minnow
- Thread starter aah63
- Start date
It doesn’t include the J48, but Janek Geizdska’s di/preamp shootout includes both the Minnow set flat and a JDI (as well as a bunch other great sounding boxes).
Both the Minnow and the Radial sound great in the shootout , in fact pretty much all of them do. My takeaway from the video is that we bass players over obsess about this stuff when a good player makes pretty much any decent piece of gear sound great… I need to practice more.
Both the Minnow and the Radial sound great in the shootout , in fact pretty much all of them do. My takeaway from the video is that we bass players over obsess about this stuff when a good player makes pretty much any decent piece of gear sound great… I need to practice more.
No recordings right now, but I own and use both. With the preamp bypassed on the Minnow, the J48 is a little rounder on the top due to the 220k input impedance, vs. the 2.2Meg of the Minnow. Both have a very similar bottom with good low-end extension, but the Minnow is a little brighter - again, due to the input Z. If you engage the EQ, you can do all kinds of things with the Minnow.
FWIW, I have a J48 on a board with a Sadowsky SBP-1, and the Minnow on a separate board. Both are very clean and accurate.
For those who don't know: One should expect a passive bass to respond much more significantly than an active bass.
FYI Radial says their PZDI is based on the J48. The PZDI has switchable input impedance and the options are 220K, 1Meg, and 10Meg. I tried the different settings with my active Yamaha TRB6P. The differences were almost indistinguishable, but I preferred the 1Meg setting. Seemed a little leaner but was more focused and clear. I am certain I would not be able to tell the difference in a live mix.
The PZDI input Z settings are way more noticeable with passive basses, and especially piezos, than they are with active basses. A P w/flats is certainly noticeably affected, but a jazz w/fresh rounds or a Strat are very much affected by the input Z settings on the PZDI.
I don't own a PZDI, but I have access to one and had it in my posession for several months last year, so I did a lot of testing with it with Ps, Js, DB, fretless 4s and 5s, active 5s, passive 6, Strat, rounds, flats, half-rounds, etc.
I spent a bunch of time today with a P (G&L LB100) wearing flats (10yr old Chromes), an ABY box to isolate the DI from each other, a Minnow, a J48, a Mackie 1202VLZ4 mixer, and AKG 240 phones. I spent a LONG time refining the levels so that they were as comparable as I could possibly get them when switching back and forth. I used some background noise to reference the audio levels as I dialed them in. The Minnow output level was set about equal to the J48 so the input gains on the mixer would be in the same place, then I did further fine tuning with the mixer channel level controls (easily within about 1/2deg of rotation with each other - extremely close).
The Radial might be considered more "warm", "round", "subdued", or possibly "dull" in comparison to the Minnow's EQ-off DI sound. The Minnow is more "clear", "crisp", "detailed", "bright", etc. Both have great bottom and full mids. The difference was primarily in the high-mids/top end of the spectrum. I could make them really close by backing the bass's tone knob off about 10% with the Minnow vs. full up with the J48. If you play flats with the tone knob rolled off, you probably won't hear much difference between the 2 DIs. If you want a little more treble, the Minnow will give you more without using any EQ.
I didn't plug in a passive Jazz, but I did try an active jazz and the differences were less noticeable. The top end on the J48 opened up considerably when it was buffered by a preamp.
The J48 is tried and true, but the Minnow is very good - plus it gives you the option to EQ or not. I've used the J48 for 16+yrs, but I'm really pleased with the Minnow, too. I wouldn't hesitate to use either. FYI, the J48 requires phantom power. The Minnow requires an external 12VDC supply.
The Radial might be considered more "warm", "round", "subdued", or possibly "dull" in comparison to the Minnow's EQ-off DI sound. The Minnow is more "clear", "crisp", "detailed", "bright", etc. Both have great bottom and full mids. The difference was primarily in the high-mids/top end of the spectrum. I could make them really close by backing the bass's tone knob off about 10% with the Minnow vs. full up with the J48. If you play flats with the tone knob rolled off, you probably won't hear much difference between the 2 DIs. If you want a little more treble, the Minnow will give you more without using any EQ.
I didn't plug in a passive Jazz, but I did try an active jazz and the differences were less noticeable. The top end on the J48 opened up considerably when it was buffered by a preamp.
The J48 is tried and true, but the Minnow is very good - plus it gives you the option to EQ or not. I've used the J48 for 16+yrs, but I'm really pleased with the Minnow, too. I wouldn't hesitate to use either. FYI, the J48 requires phantom power. The Minnow requires an external 12VDC supply.
That's hard to say. With the Minnow EQ off, the slight edge might (barely) go to the J48. With the Minnow EQ turned on, they're neck-and-neck.
