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REDDI Tube DI Mega-thread-III
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
You could but if you ever wanted to DI you'd have to get another preamp or DI. As a few of us have discovered through experimenting the REDDI won't function effectively as a preamp and a DI at the same time. For the $700 a REDDI costs you could probably find a preamp you'd be happier with. Personally I'd rather use something like a VT Bass or Barber Linden stompbox pre in front of the amp over a REDDI. I don't know your exact situation but huge part of what I need a preamp to do is compensate for sonic anomalies from room to room and a REDDI would be useless for that.
Your REDDI is designed to go to a mixing board which is driving a power amp. So a small mixer will work just fine. You'd want to go REDDI XLR output into the mixer's input XLR.
When it comes to mixers, you pay for what you get. An inexpensive mixer will not sound as good and will take away some of the goodness of the REDDI.
I used my REDDI in some recording sessions this past week. It was absolutely perfection! The producer described it as "hugging" the track. It sat perfectly in the mix with the kick drum. Very excited to hear the final mix. I am continuing to use it live with astonishing results!
A less expensive alternative to a mixer would be a good quality re-amping box like a Radial X-Amp. Honestly though by the time you sort this out you're probably going to spend enough that a tool more designed to do the job you're asking it to do like a [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] won't be out of the running. Bottom line is the REDDI is one of the greatest DI's ever built but no one that I recall has had much success using it as anything else.
Mixers can get expensive fast. The [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] is nice but it costs about $450. On the plus side, it has a digital interface to your computer so you can use it for recording. It has been around for a few years, not sure if a new one (USB 3) is coming out this January at NAMM.
Yep, my feelings exactly. The REDDI does one thing, it does it better and at a better price point than anything else on the market, and that's it and I'm perfectly happy with it that way. The first REDDIs didn't even have a thru jack because Peter didn't think people would want to use it live, and he only added it when so many people wanted to use it live and he couldn't ignore the demand.
I am only asking the Reddi to do what it's designed to do. I don't see what difference it makes if I'm sending a signal to the FOH or if I'm controlling it. Flexibility is key. A Jule Monique is $1300, twice what I would pay for a Reddi. I'm not sure how that would work for me anyway. I have three pieces of the equation. The Mackie looks like a pretty flexible piece.
There was one time not long ago where I just wanted to see what would happen when I would run my REDDI into a mixer and then into a power amp to power my Berg cab. Mainly I did this so that I could compare various DI's at home. In this particular case I ran the main out from my mixer (an old Mackie 1402-VLZPro) into the FX return on my Mesa M6 Carbine, which by all accounts is supposed to go directly into the very powerful MOSFET power section.
I have to say I was pretty damn impressed by the tone and would rank it up there with anything else I've tried to date. Right then I wished I could Frankenstein a REDDI/M6 with some sort of EQ/gain staging in between them within a 2U chassis to use as a gigging setup, but that's not something I'm going to tackle anytime soon!
I have to say I was pretty damn impressed by the tone and would rank it up there with anything else I've tried to date. Right then I wished I could Frankenstein a REDDI/M6 with some sort of EQ/gain staging in between them within a 2U chassis to use as a gigging setup, but that's not something I'm going to tackle anytime soon!
All I was saying is that in the long run at $700 plus another $400+ for a board you're into the price range you could start looking at dedicated preamp/DI's that might be more compact, more versatile and sound better. All my experiments with a couple of different "REDDI as preamp" rigs (including a reamper/mic splitter and small Soundcraft and Mackie boards) quite noticeably lost the magic of the REDDI through the PA....and at that point the amp didn't really sound any $700 better either. What you're doing will probably work pretty well if you don't try to split the signal from the REDDI to FOH....so what about FOH then? Buy another REDDI?
What I'm telling you is my hands on experience born of my genuine desire to have gotten the magic of the REDDI through my amp. Ultimately I solved the problem with a V4B head and just let the REDDI deal with FOH. But hey go for it, maybe you'll succeed where I and a few others have failed. That said I'd strongly recommend you borrow the gear or buy it from a place that has a very good return policy.
I was under the impression that you wanted to use the mixer to drive a power amp and the mixer would also allow you to use headphones for practicing.
With the Mackie, you don't need a DI. It has an instrument input on a couple of channels. Some mixers require a DI to get the instrument signal in, some have a DI built in. If on the other hand you need a DI on some occasions, you can't beat a REDDI. It can also be used with a mixer.
Of course, another alternative is to buy a preamp that can drive your power amp. There are many nice mic preamps with an instrument in that can be used. Some of these can get costly. There are more affordable preamps available.
With the Mackie, you don't need a DI. It has an instrument input on a couple of channels. Some mixers require a DI to get the instrument signal in, some have a DI built in. If on the other hand you need a DI on some occasions, you can't beat a REDDI. It can also be used with a mixer.
Of course, another alternative is to buy a preamp that can drive your power amp. There are many nice mic preamps with an instrument in that can be used. Some of these can get costly. There are more affordable preamps available.
I did want to use the mixer into the power amp. But, I also wanted to try and capture the goodness of the Reddi.
I know you didn't ask me, but that's a trick question, isn't it? 
I prefer to think of my amps vs the REDDI as different tools for different jobs. I got the REDDI for two different reasons:
1. Occasional soundmen who balked at micing my cab and started arguments without even trying it first, like I shouldn't even have a say about it on my own gigs
B. Changes I'd make on my amp during the course of a gig getting way exaggerated in the PA when running a speaker level DI between amp and cab
3. Once in a while I use amps that, while smaller and easier to transport for gigs that are impossible for me to bring the big tube stuff, just don't sound as good through their DI's as the REDDI.
But yeah, my tube amps rule and the REDDI represents me getting that tube amp sound to the PA in a form factor that's palatable to soundmen.
I prefer to think of my amps vs the REDDI as different tools for different jobs. I got the REDDI for two different reasons:
1. Occasional soundmen who balked at micing my cab and started arguments without even trying it first, like I shouldn't even have a say about it on my own gigs
B. Changes I'd make on my amp during the course of a gig getting way exaggerated in the PA when running a speaker level DI between amp and cab
3. Once in a while I use amps that, while smaller and easier to transport for gigs that are impossible for me to bring the big tube stuff, just don't sound as good through their DI's as the REDDI.
But yeah, my tube amps rule and the REDDI represents me getting that tube amp sound to the PA in a form factor that's palatable to soundmen.
Ok Jimmy, here's the real question. If you had to choose, would you use a Reddi to FOH, or mic you B-15?
The real question here is actually where does the number 2 come into play? Here I've been using the number 2 after the number 1 all these years when in fact, I learned from Jimmy that the letter "B" comes after the number 1.
