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REDDI Tube DI Mega-thread-III

I have debated changing from my Radial JDI to a REDDI as almost all my playing is via PA/IEM's. I am afraid that if I do that, my little SS Genz Benz combo (which I really like and use for small jazz gigs) will need to be replaced by either a small tube combo or a "PA" type powered cab that I can run the REDDI into to serve as a small gig rig.

Right tool for the right job. If you like the Genz for those smaller gigs, keep using it for those. And let the REDDI eat the Radial's lunch on your PA/IEM gigs. They are not mutually exclusive, in other words.
 
I have debated changing from my Radial JDI to a REDDI as almost all my playing is via PA/IEM's. I am afraid that if I do that, my little SS Genz Benz combo (which I really like and use for small jazz gigs) will need to be replaced by either a small tube combo or a "PA" type powered cab that I can run the REDDI into to serve as a small gig rig.

I'm always in the house with my band so I can't imagine not bringing the Reddi to anything. I basically bring an amp to "float my own boat" so to speak. I'll never request a mic again.
My experience so far is that there is the Reddi and then there are other DI's. The other ones sound different but they're in a different category.
 
Peter, my first though when I saw your rack mountable REDDI and the flurry of name suggestions was that I would pay what ever it cost for a RED-PRE. The guts of a REDDI with a 2 band portaflex type EQ like the Barber Linden circuit and a 1/4" out to go to a power amp. PM me if you'll take a deposit.
Build it and they will come.
 
Not a bad idea, Jeff, but while I can only speak for myself, I'd like a button you can push to engage an SVT 810-y frequency rolloff that doesn't otherwise mess with the character of the REDDI. It's become a little less important to me since I got this nifty new EMG Geezer Butler P pickup in my Precision, since its highs are much prettier (available any day now at your local music stores... ;) ), but I'd still like one, and I'd like one without having to resort to a big rackmount Palmer dealio.
 
Not a bad idea, Jeff, but while I can only speak for myself, I'd like a button you can push to engage an SVT 810-y frequency rolloff that doesn't otherwise mess with the character of the REDDI. It's become a little less important to me since I got this nifty new EMG Geezer Butler P pickup in my Precision, since its highs are much prettier (available any day now at your local music stores... ;) ), but I'd still like one, and I'd like one without having to resort to a big rackmount Palmer dealio.


I've got one of those too! My favorite EMG to date.
 
I've been doing so much IEM playing lately (church an musical pit) that I actually am starting to prefer (or maybe it's just that I'm used to it) the sound of my basses (Roscoe's) through IEM's. I only have a Radial JDI but it still sounds good - if a little sterile.

Right tools for right gig... I brought my REDDI almost to 90% of my IEM gig... :D I couldn't be happier!

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I tried running the XLR out of the REDDI when I had it into a few different things(my FX return, front of amp, PA, etc). This DI really shines though a good PA system or recording console. Its not really a preamp and I didn't find it really suited to that application. The "magic" of it is how well it sits in the mix, and the fatness it gives to the notes as you move up the fingerboard. Its subtle though. I would not use it to replace an amplifier rig(ie// REDDI > Powered speaker). It will work of course, but IME not going to sound like you might think if you haven't used one.
 
I tried running the XLR out of the REDDI when I had it into a few different things(my FX return, front of amp, PA, etc). This DI really shines though a good PA system or recording console. Its not really a preamp and I didn't find it really suited to that application. The "magic" of it is how well it sits in the mix, and the fatness it gives to the notes as you move up the fingerboard. Its subtle though. I would not use it to replace an amplifier rig(ie// REDDI > Powered speaker). It will work of course, but IME not going to sound like you might think if you haven't used one.

I get what you're saying. I know it hasn't worked as a preamp, but the powered cab I'm thinking of has a preamp/mixer built in and sounds fantastic for FOH. I'm just thinking that as I (almost) always play via PA/IEM and prefer the way I sound in that situation that maybe a "PA" type cab would be good for smaller background music type gigs.
 
Peter, my first though when I saw your rack mountable REDDI and the flurry of name suggestions was that I would pay what ever it cost for a RED-PRE. The guts of a REDDI with a 2 band portaflex type EQ like the Barber Linden circuit and a 1/4" out to go to a power amp. PM me if you'll take a deposit.
Build it and they will come.

I'll take a REDPRE as well.
 
I love gut photos.. NICE pic

No worries, but that's just a simple blackberry pic. I can make much sexier photos with my proper camera :D

Apart from my day job (sound engineer/ promo producer) I shoot and edit promo videos like this one: https://vimeo.com/64094247

Gotten better skills and gear since that old video. Now I can make a really smooth video showing the guts, the glowing tube, some bass and guitar playing etc etc. Pete could always quietly send me another REDDI or give me a discount on the rack-mount version :hiding:

haha j/k Pete, don't think you need any more marketing for your products at this point ;)
 
Hi All,

It is neat that you're trying different applications for the REDDI. For the last 11-12 years, it has been as important to me as having a bass when I go to play. After having tried the REDDI in multiple formats, I can most assuredly say it is a DI only. The fact that it has 16db of gain is helpful in many a situation. To turn it into a pre with the addition of an EQ would change the basic qualities so much that you might not like it as much as you thought. (Don't think that we didn't already try it. :) ) If I told you all of the mods that I wanted to try and have tried with this box, you'd think that I was a kook!

Hold on a little. I talk to Pete regularly and he tells me that he has a few things up his sleeve. Since he's a bass player like us, he gets it and is constantly searching for a box that has power, killer tone and sex appeal... and great pizza. Gotta have great pizza.


(By the way, giving me Einstein's hair will only make look like Don King. Not that that's good or bad...)

Stay groovy,

RH
 
Thanks for the insight Reggie!

I think I mentioned it before, but in the past when I was comparing all of the different DI's I had (different pedals, the REDDI, and a couple of different heads), I sort of setup a fake PA. I used an old Mackie mixer I had laying around with my Mesa M6 Carbine power section being used as the power amp into a couple of different bass cabs (all Bergantinos FWIW). I then hooked up each DI into a different mic channel, matched all gains and set the EQ flat on all channels. After going back and forth, the REDDI just blew everything else away.

I think if the REDDI plus tone section/integrated amp is going to work at all, it needs to mimic a PA setup as much as possible. Like you mentioned, trying to stick tone controls and other things in (before the XLR output stage) most likely would change what we all like about it. However, I'm thinking if the XLR is used as the output into the next section (leaving the REDDI circuitry completely unchanged), feeding into a quality channel strip-like device, then matched with a good power section, I think it might just give what some of us are looking for. The only difference is that the tone section would need to be designed so that its EQ points match best with typical bass cabs, not PA style cabs. One other benefit of this type of setup is that the DI send would be before the tone controls, leaving the FOH signal as the pure REDDI-only signal. Of course, this is provided the signal can be split on some way without messing things up, and maybe that's where the problem lies.

Peter, does this makes sense at all or am I just dreaming? One box with the integrated REDDI + channel strip + power amp.
 
This concoction you speak of is pretty much what Jule Amps' Monique is. I use Monique and REDDI. Both are great. But Monique is definitely more of a Swiss army knife at this point of both devices' evolution. DI performance is quite similar.

DI Test: REDDI vs. Monique
Direct link to sub-thread / recorded test results: www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/reddi-tube-di-mega-thread-iii-993448/index8.html#300
 
Currently in my home I have an old Ampeg 810 that I use for practice (keeps me from resetting up my gig rig at home). Since I mostly use my GB streamliner for live work (venues too small for large PA) I leave my REDDI hooked to a mackie 8 channel board into a power amp and out to my 810 with low volume. i also sometimes run a VT bass in front of it but not always. Now, although the tone coming out of this is pretty good, it is not the REDDI tone I hear from a large PA or recording situation. There is just something amiss with this type of setup. So over time I also gave up on the REDDI as preamp as badly as I wanted to make it work. For direct to board and recording though, the bomb no doubt.
Enjoy your path with the best DI on earth.
 
Hi All,

It is neat that you're trying different applications for the REDDI. For the last 11-12 years, it has been as important to me as having a bass when I go to play. After having tried the REDDI in multiple formats, I can most assuredly say it is a DI only. The fact that it has 16db of gain is helpful in many a situation. To turn it into a pre with the addition of an EQ would change the basic qualities so much that you might not like it as much as you thought. (Don't think that we didn't already try it. :) ) If I told you all of the mods that I wanted to try and have tried with this box, you'd think that I was a kook!
Yep, even after a paltry 2 years compared to you, I've figured that out as well, and it's a consensus between those of us who have tried different combinations and uses for it. Only natural to want to see if it'll do other things, but it's a DI and I'm cool with that. Anything else would make it cost a lot more, and I like the idea that it's a very specialized device that does what it does better than anything in DI world and that's all it does.