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REDDI Tube DI Mega Thread . Potential megathread that is.

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#381
Interesting little experiment, I like the B15 the most, the higher notes still sound too "DIish" with the REDDI, although not as much as the Countryman. I would be interested to hear them in a full mix, my guess is the B15 would be easy to pick out but the rest would all sound too similar. I have to say that I also prefer the sound of the JDI over the countryman too, maybe because i just dont like the sound of an active DI with passive basses.
 
#382
Nice, Jimmy. Thanks for all that effort!

I hear the differences for sure. There's an underlying fatness/warmth to the notes through the B-15 and the REDDI. Could I pick it out of a mix? I like to think so, but it is a subtle difference.

I look at everything in my signal chain as an opportunity to either preserve or degrade my tone. Any one piece might make a subtle difference like this. Add up 3-4 pieces that all make subtle changes, and you can easily get a significant tone degradation happening. DI's, cables, pedals - they can all take a little piece of our tone away. IMHO.
 
#383
Regarding the difference in clips, I found it pretty noticeable whether I played it through a 2.1 speaker system (an older set of Klipsch Pro-Media's) or my KRK Rokit 5's. So I'm not playing through anything super fancy but both are what I'd consider a fairly full range response. I will say the sub on the ProMedia's really made the extra thickness in both the B15 and (to a slightly lesser extent) the REDDI stand apart from the rest.
 
#385
Very nice clips Jimmy. The REDDI offers deep rich tones but also the clarity of the notes is really impressive. I kept thinking that the bass had a piano like quality.

In your clips you set the tone of the B-15 to match the REDDI. I know you aren't set up to do this but it would be interesting to set the B-15 up optimally, then run the REDDI through a board and set the mixer's EQ/post processing to match the tone of a mic'ed B-15. The B-15 has versatility because it has tone controls. With the REDDI, you do it a little bit differently, using post processing to tweak the tone. The high end artifacts that was mentioned, such as clicking and fret buzz, can be easily fixed.

The B-15 has a rich honey like smoothness that makes it great. I think that the REDDI could emulate this with a touch of high quality compression. The B-15 adds this naturally when it is pushed a bit.

The REDDI is a great sounding DI that is designed to reproduce bass tones in an impressive way. I think that it holds up fairly well against the B-15 which says a lot. But the purpose of the REDDI is not to be a B-15 emulator. The fact that it can do that is an added bonus. Add to that the convenience factor and it looks like a very nice DI to have.
 
#387
beans-on-toast said:
Very nice clips Jimmy. The REDDI offers deep rich tones but also the clarity of the notes is really impressive. I kept thinking that the bass had a piano like quality.

In your clips you set the tone of the B-15 to match the REDDI. I know you aren't set up to do this but it would be interesting to set the B-15 up optimally, then run the REDDI through a board and set the mixer's EQ/post processing to match the tone of a mic'ed B-15. The B-15 has versatility because it has tone controls. With the REDDI, you do it a little bit differently, using post processing to tweak the tone. The high end artifacts that was mentioned, such as clicking and fret buzz, can be easily fixed.
Click to expand...

True, and also could be true of the other DIs. ;)
 
#391
beans-on-toast said:
Yes, but I love the tone this one has. Too much honesty in the high end can be adjusted if desired. Lots of iron in the output transformer never fails to help deliver a high quality tone.
Click to expand...

It does sound great, and that's coming from someone who owned and quickly discarded a B-15 in the early 70s, and never looked back at getting a tube bass rig again. :p
 
#392
jumbodbassman said:
thanks for those clips Jimmy. crappy laptop speakers at the office don't do them the justice they deserve. will give a better listen at home. Can the REDDI with the thru act as a preamp and go right into an amp?? Are we looking at 1000 watt b 15??
Click to expand...
Nope. The REDDI is a DI box only, and isn't designed to be used as a preamp. They do make preamps, though...of which Svtb15 mentioned a couple. Haven't heard their preamps directly yet but pretty much everything they make has transformers and/or tubes.
 
#394
beans-on-toast said:
In your clips you set the tone of the B-15 to match the REDDI.
Click to expand...
Well, not exactly ;) I did give the B-15 an advantage with EQ. After sleeping on it, I can definitely hear it. But I tried.

I know you aren't set up to do this but it would be interesting to set the B-15 up optimally, then run the REDDI through a board and set the mixer's EQ/post processing to match the tone of a mic'ed B-15. The B-15 has versatility because it has tone controls. With the REDDI, you do it a little bit differently, using post processing to tweak the tone. The high end artifacts that was mentioned, such as clicking and fret buzz, can be easily fixed.
Click to expand...
Going to try that, but I should be scrubbing grout on the kitchen floor today. Oh well, I guess I can put it off for a few minutes ;)
 
#396
True.. A-Design did not sit on their butts.. They are constantly coming with new products.. They make some nice toys.. And display at AES often... It is top shelf Pro Audio Studio type gear with All Custom wound transformers and discrete components screened and selected for performance and NOT to appease the bean counters .. And privately owned and built in South Cali.....

JimmyM said:
Nope. The REDDI is a DI box only, and isn't designed to be used as a preamp. They do make preamps, though...of which Svtb15 mentioned a couple. Haven't heard their preamps directly yet but pretty much everything they make has transformers and/or tubes.
Click to expand...
 
#397
I just finished moving so things are all over the place.. But i did find my essentials... They aren't even screwed in yet...

REDDI > BAC500 in the HR500 rack.. Side chain into Pod XTpro or (Eleven) not shown...

IMG_8267-001.gif
 
#398
OK, after a little experimenting around with EQ:

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I plugged in an EQ and EQ'd these REDDI and B-15 tracks to sound more alike. I only did these two tracks and that's all I'm doing, sorry. Again, I don't know if I have it nailed, but for purposes of this discussion, it's close enough. Anyway, once you get the EQ's more similar, I think you can hear that the REDDI does, indeed, hang quite well with the B-15, especially given the B-15's two-tube preamp, its tube rectifier, its output tubes, and its transformers that are twice as big as the REDDI's. To be honest, I knew the REDDI would be much better than a Countryman but I thought the B-15 would clearly beat it. But again, the closer I EQ them, the closer they sound to me.

As President of the Talkbass Ampeg Portaflex Club, I pronounce the REDDI "Portaflex worthy" ;) Now it's time to go scrub some grout.
 
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