Yeah maybe compression is the wrong word, its that natural change to dynamics a tube always creates. And super subtle for sure.
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Tell the difference: reddi vs no reddi
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I preferred track two. It sounded "warmer" and had more meat (not to mention potatoes and gravy). I wouldn't know a Reddi from a hole in the ground but track two sounded better. BTW Nice playing!! 
+1 I like the fact that the REDDI is adding coloration via harmonic distortion, but just feel it is excessive for ALL applications. (The specs say the distortion is greater than 0.08% but it's probably much higher than that because it's easily audible). As an analogy, there are natural beauties who benefit from little or even no cosmetic makeup. Or, if they already have some makeup on you don't want to just automatically add a lot more.
Then again, that's what makes the world go 'round - if the REDDI's coloration is too much or if one has already acheived it prior to reaching the DI (i.e. Sadowsky preamp, which I use also BTW), he could simply select a cleaner DI as you said. I've actually worked on acheiving the proper amount of coloration with my own DI path (a combination of an active circuit and a Radial JDI) and have installed a "coloration level" control. Ideally, and certainly for the price of a REDDI, I feel that a DI that offers the large amount of coloration the REDDI does should also be equipped with such a control (the ability to "tone it down" a bit). In other words, it would be nice if the DI had the ability to go from totally clean to heavily colored, IMHO.
I guess I could see an argument for a DI like that. But the reasons I'm glad it doesn't have that kind of control are twofold:
1. I like what it does as it is and have no interest in making it sound like a Radial JDV.
2. It would drive the price up to implement it.
The REDDI does what it does, it does it better than anything on the market as far as I'm concerned, and it was never intended to be all things to everyone. Heck, the first ones didn't even have a 1/4" thru jack because Peter Montessi didn't think people would want to use it on gigs, and he only relented after getting overwhelming feedback from customers who wanted to use it on gigs. Some are turned off by this approach, but not me. After all, most dedicated DI's are the same way...one sound, plug them in, adjust their tones at the board, etc.
1. I like what it does as it is and have no interest in making it sound like a Radial JDV.
2. It would drive the price up to implement it.
The REDDI does what it does, it does it better than anything on the market as far as I'm concerned, and it was never intended to be all things to everyone. Heck, the first ones didn't even have a 1/4" thru jack because Peter Montessi didn't think people would want to use it on gigs, and he only relented after getting overwhelming feedback from customers who wanted to use it on gigs. Some are turned off by this approach, but not me. After all, most dedicated DI's are the same way...one sound, plug them in, adjust their tones at the board, etc.
+1 I agree with your point about the price increasing. Ironically, it would also probably be more difficult to market a DI with this "color control" feature, since as you said, most DIs are about their own, singular sound, and are therefore marketed that way.
I completely misread that spec. What DI manufacturer would guarantee a minimum THD, and at a peculiar value of "0.08%"? I would wonder if this a typographical error except that A-designs also specs the MP-2A dual channel tube preamp with a distortion "THD: > 0.08%". Curiouser and curiouser.
Edit: I emailed A Designs Audio for clarification. It appears that it is no typographical error. The Reddi has a specified minimum distortion of 0.08% @ 1kHz.
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There are a zillion DI's on the market that will give you > .0000001% distortion at a quarter of the price. Nobody who uses a REDDI is looking for that. Most of us are looking for tube amp tone and response in DI form, while others who may not be big fans of tube amps and still use a REDDI just like how they're pretty much bulletproof in a mix. So distortion specs are irrelevant to us as long as it still sounds clean. Besides, anything that deviates even slightly from dead flat super clean response is considered distortion, even as little as a slight bump at a certain frequency, so it's not always about dirt.
It's not as surprising as you might think. To get to the point where "coloration" caused by harmonic distortion becomes easily audible, the THD amount will be considerably greater than that of very clean and transparent (hi-fi) gear. We're talking in the ballpark of about 0.1 to 1% or even a bit more. While these figures may seem excessive, this type of distortion can be sonically desirable in that it adds harmonics that were not present in the original signal (which of course is the very definition of harmonic distortion) in a way that we often find pleasing and "musical" or "euphonic." The tube in the REDDI adds predominantly second harmonic, and its transformer adds some third harmonic. This is exactly what goes on in most musical instrument tube amps run "clean" - and we probably wouldn't want to know their THD specs either! (See if you can even find them published!) But they sound good, and that's all that matters in the end, not the numbers on the spec sheets. (And yes, a certain amount of compression is another inevitable side-effect of harmonic distortion.)
As far as where the REDDI's THD figure of 0.08% came from, it's one of two things: either that's just what the thing happened to measure on the test equipment, OR, the figure is actually higher than that under typical conditions and they came up with the 0.08% figure by running a lower level signal through it while testing. You'll note that while the frequency (1 Khz) is specified, the level used to come up with the spec is NOT - it's missing from the spec sheet. Well, the distortion produced by this type of circuit is directly proportional to signal level. They may have felt that publishing a higher figure than 0.08% would have not been as attractive, even though in reality it's those higher figures that give it its mojo!
svtb15
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- Mar 22, 2004
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- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
Thread needs pics!!!!
Here is my road REDDI from last weeks gigs.. scratched etc.. I have not found another thing that like in 8 years.. . went through the UAsolo610, Evil Twin. radials,Demeter, aguilar, ADL, countryman etc... REDDI has stayed... FOH engineers and rec engineers LOVE this box... And most of my gigs are IEMs these days. adn nothing can compare to a REDDi in IEMs for my needs. So much so that i bought a second to leave at home in my studio and take this one out on gigs with me,
Here is my road REDDI from last weeks gigs.. scratched etc.. I have not found another thing that like in 8 years.. . went through the UAsolo610, Evil Twin. radials,Demeter, aguilar, ADL, countryman etc... REDDI has stayed... FOH engineers and rec engineers LOVE this box... And most of my gigs are IEMs these days. adn nothing can compare to a REDDi in IEMs for my needs. So much so that i bought a second to leave at home in my studio and take this one out on gigs with me,
Very true. Compression is a form if distortion so it isn't always about dirt. The non-linear nature of tubes is what makes them sound so good. It's about adding depth to the sound.
Slightly veering OT:
A one-to-one-to-one comparison of recordings with fretted and fretless basses into
A one-to-one-to-one comparison of recordings with fretted and fretless basses into
- REDDI
- Radial JDV (class A active)
- Radial JDI (passive)
The thing about tubes is that they are non-linear devices. The tube, the power supply, and the output transformer all contribute to the character and warmth of the device. I think that linear DI's aren't as interesting.
The harder you push tube gear, the more non-linear they react. That has to be taken into account both when playing and comparing. But tube DI's aren't dirt monsters. I like to think of them as harmonic monsters.
The harder you push tube gear, the more non-linear they react. That has to be taken into account both when playing and comparing. But tube DI's aren't dirt monsters. I like to think of them as harmonic monsters.
Kirk has nailed it to me. I love the REDDI...don't own one. I've been on the fence for ages. I play through IEM's almost exclusively. Using any high quality DI is very noticeable with IEM's. For example, as great as the JDI is, going to an Avalon U5 or REDDI is just all that much better. There is a certain milky-ness to the tone that just comes through. It's inspiring in the moment, which is all the point to me. A great tone makes you play better and feel less inhibited. I appreciate the OP taking the time to do this comparison and post up clips, but for the listeners out there who are judging the usefulness of the REDDI based on whether or not you can hear a difference from a pair of clips in this thread, you'll just have to trust some of us who say that you are totally missing the point.
According to audiologist the "Just Noticeable Difference" is approximately 0.5dB, but that is dependent on frequency and SPL.
At 1-3KHz and above 90dB, the "Just Noticeable Difference" falls to approximately 0.25dB.
In several academic studies differences in gain matching as low as 0.1dB have been demonstrated to cause perceived improvements in sound quality
Thanks for the info. My problem was with the description of 0.7dB as "a lot" of level difference.
