LR Baggs Para Acoustic D.I.

[Daddydex]

I just ordered one of these today. Anyone have any experience they would like to share. I used a much simpler Baggs preamp for years but it has failed me one too many times now. I have been using a Behringer acoustic amp and my V-Amp for over a year and they don't do my D-28 justice. I had to bite the bullet. I am sick and tired of sounding like crap. I hope this does the trick.

I am aware there are better systems but even this was a stretch monetarily.

Dan

[Tim Bowen]

It's a quality and solid piece of gear for reasonable bucks.

I find it more useful as meticulously dialing in toward a single instrument than I do in quickly tweaking it for a variety of stringed instruments (a bit too quirky and difficult to quickly visualize and set in this respect for live work, for my purposes). I also found it odd that, with most of my acoustic-electric instruments, "flat EQ" was basically obtained with the bass, mids, and highs controls at 10:00 or so on the clock dial of the pots. Personally, I find the EQ section to be more than generous as to boost, but a bit lacking in cut capabilities. Obviously, the amount of pre- and post- gain that has been dialed is interactive, but it is nonetheless a bit sensitive for my tastes.

I've decided that a DI with EQ capabilities that can not be bypassed via a stomp of the foot is basically useless for me. Also, be aware that the phantom power will not work with power sources that supply only 15V. It wants 48V.

As carefully dialed, it's a very good sounding preamp/DI with lots of clean headroom to spare. However, I've not found it to be the best fit for me.

[momotrucker]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

It's a quality and solid piece of gear for reasonable bucks.

I find it more useful as meticulously dialing in toward a single instrument than I do in quickly tweaking it for a variety of stringed instruments (a bit too quirky and difficult to quickly visualize and set in this respect for live work, for my purposes). I also found it odd that, with most of my acoustic-electric instruments, "flat EQ" was basically obtained with the bass, mids, and highs controls at 10:00 or so on the clock dial of the pots. Personally, I find the EQ section to be more than generous as to boost, but a bit lacking in cut capabilities. Obviously, the amount of pre- and post- gain that has been dialed is interactive, but it is nonetheless a bit sensitive for my tastes.

I've decided that a DI with EQ capabilities that can not be bypassed via a stomp of the foot is basically useless for me. Also, be aware that the phantom power will not work with power sources that supply only 15V. It wants 48V.

As carefully dialed, it's a very good sounding preamp/DI with lots of clean headroom to spare. However, I've not found it to be the best fit for me.

what do you like? and for what purpose(s)? always interested in reviews
of d.i.'s

[giantslayer]

Even if you put all the knobs to 12 o'clock, it will sound twice as good as with a cheap DI. Seriously. My main tip is to make sure the gain knob on the side is down all the way. It will make it distort.

[Lawn Boy]

I had one as well as as a SansAmp Acoustic D.I.
{now discontinued} I traded it for a pencil condenser mic. It sounded too bright to me
compared to the SansAmp but I'm thinking I
would like it more these days. A solid, quality
unit very versatile and I wish I still had it. You
will get lots of use out of it I'm sure. LB

[aunchaki]

I love mine Para. I've used a few no-frills $20 DIs for various purposes (keyboards, etc... let the sound board deal with the EQ settings), but this is the only one I run my acoustics through. It's a workhorse. You made an excellent choice!

[Tim Bowen]

Originally Posted by momotrucker

what do you like? and for what purpose(s)? always interested in reviews
of d.i.'s

Radial J48.

http://www.radialeng.com/re-products.htm

No onboard tone shaping, just a really great sounding active DI with robust signal and clean headroom to spare. I'd been using an inexpensive Horizon Straightline DI at jobs for about a year, which slowly but surely began to get on my last nerve. It didn't sound very clear and was prone to light clipping when I dug in pretty hard with piezo undersaddle systems (especially with acoustic-electric mandolins, which are quite picky by nature).

For the first outing with the Radial DI, the difference was night and day. The signal was so focused, detailed, and clear that my volume (or perceived volume) was drastically different than what I'd gotten used to with the Horizon. My mixer and boost pedal levels were immediately backed down after the first song of the set. Since I dug the Radial, I figured that the Baggs with the additional EQ shaping would be even cooler (and not to be misunderstood, it IS a good sounding, quality DI). However, I was constantly tweaking the Para DI's knobs to try to get it to sound as good as the simple Radial circuit. Eventually, I had a Homer Simpson revelation and just settled in with the J48. I had similar experiences with the Tech 21 SansAmp Acoustic DI when I gigged with it about five years ago; it had capability of totally bypassing the EQ section, which is what I ultimately wound up doing. In bypassing the tone circuitry, I liked it as a DI quite a bit.

The only time I miss something like a Para DI is when I play my Fender acoustic-electric 12 string live. Its inherent low mids tend to bloom, so some notch capability comes in handy. Otherwise, I really have very limited use for external mids controls with the A/E instruments that I play.

I like the idea of a simple DI that sounds great, as paired with a separate unit that has extensive EQ shaping capabilities that can be bypassed at the stomp of a foot, and I think this tandem approach might be where I'll ultimately wind up going. This EQ/boost is looking pretty good to me:

http://www.empresseffects.com/paraeq.php

I've used lots of garden variety, inexpensive DI's such as Morley and Whirwind, and my opinion is that they mostly sound like the price paid. Not totally bad, not totally great. For the sake of convenience, I used a Peterson StroboStomp as a double duty utility box for a while; I feel that it's a far better tuner than it is a DI, but it does get high marks in the Swiss Army Knife category.

I've seen Demeter tube DI's pretty often at studios.

http://www.demeteramps.com/products/...es/vtdb2b.html

I've cut some split-signal bass and acoustic (-electric) guitar tracks with Demeters, and I've always thought the tones were really warm and pleasing. It's been a long time since I've used a Countryman, but I've always liked them. I did a bass session last year where the signal was split between an old Ampeg SVT and a David Eden pre/DI, which sounded pretty amazing.

There's tons of stuff out there that I haven't tried. I hear really good things about Schertler. http://www.schertlerusa.com/preamps.htm You can spend anywhere between about twenty bucks and several thousand dollars on this stuff. I'm pretty happy with the Radial for now as a dedicated DI, but I'd like to pick up a Demeter at some point.

[fakeocaster]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

Radial J48.

http://www.radialeng.com/re-products.htm

No onboard tone shaping, just a really great sounding active DI with robust signal and clean headroom to spare. I'd been using an inexpensive Horizon Straightline DI at jobs for about a year, which slowly but surely began to get on my last nerve. It didn't sound very clear and was prone to light clipping when I dug in pretty hard with piezo undersaddle systems (especially with acoustic-electric mandolins, which are quite picky by nature).

For the first outing with the Radial DI, the difference was night and day. The signal was so focused, detailed, and clear that my volume (or perceived volume) was drastically different than what I'd gotten used to with the Horizon. My mixer and boost pedal levels were immediately backed down after the first song of the set. Since I dug the Radial, I figured that the Baggs with the additional EQ shaping would be even cooler (and not to be misunderstood, it IS a good sounding, quality DI). However, I was constantly tweaking the Para DI's knobs to try to get it to sound as good as the simple Radial circuit. Eventually, I had a Homer Simpson revelation and just settled in with the J48. I had similar experiences with the Tech 21 SansAmp Acoustic DI when I gigged with it about five years ago; it had capability of totally bypassing the EQ section, which is what I ultimately wound up doing. In bypassing the tone circuitry, I liked it as a DI quite a bit.

The only time I miss something like a Para DI is when I play my Fender acoustic-electric 12 string live. Its inherent low mids tend to bloom, so some notch capability comes in handy. Otherwise, I really have very limited use for external mids controls with the A/E instruments that I play.

I like the idea of a simple DI that sounds great, as paired with a separate unit that has extensive EQ shaping capabilities that can be bypassed at the stomp of a foot, and I think this tandem approach might be where I'll ultimately wind up going. This EQ/boost is looking pretty good to me:

http://www.empresseffects.com/paraeq.php

I've used lots of garden variety, inexpensive DI's such as Morley and Whirwind, and my opinion is that they mostly sound like the price paid. Not totally bad, not totally great. For the sake of convenience, I used a Peterson StroboStomp as a double duty utility box for a while; I feel that it's a far better tuner than it is a DI, but it does get high marks in the Swiss Army Knife category.

I've seen Demeter tube DI's pretty often at studios.

http://www.demeteramps.com/products/...es/vtdb2b.html

I've cut some split-signal bass and acoustic (-electric) guitar tracks with Demeters, and I've always thought the tones were really warm and pleasing. It's been a long time since I've used a Countryman, but I've always liked them. I did a bass session last year where the signal was split between an old Ampeg SVT and a David Eden pre/DI, which sounded pretty amazing.

There's tons of stuff out there that I haven't tried. I hear really good things about Schertler. http://www.schertlerusa.com/preamps.htm You can spend anywhere between about twenty bucks and several thousand dollars on this stuff. I'm pretty happy with the Radial for now as a dedicated DI, but I'd like to pick up a Demeter at some point.

Tim

As a matter of interest what boost pedal are you using with your acoustic?

[Tim Bowen]

Originally Posted by fakeocaster

Tim

As a matter of interest what boost pedal are you using with your acoustic?

Current fave is Xotic RC booster.

[Telesavalis]

For DI on my acoustic guitars I always use a simple DI and let the guitar do it's thing...
but I use my Baggs for 5 string banjo since the banjo needs some tweaking due to the
resonance of the head in an amplified situation.

[grasspicker]

Telesavalis, tell me about your banjo rig, ie, your weapon of mass destruction and pickup.

[cooktimj]

I've gigged my Para Acoustic DI for about 4 years now and have yet to have had a problem with it. Here are some pros and cons I've found.

Pros
-Rock solid construction, very strong casing
-Fairly simple, easy to discern controls
-Sweeping notch filter to locate and eliminate feedback
-Easier to carry than an amplifier!

Cons
-No power source input other than Phantom or 9V battery
-IMO, 1/4" jack inputs should be on sides. Would be more convenient in pedal chain setups, but not [i]that[i] important.


Typically, my experience has been that in DI applications, you are at the mercy of the sound engineer. If he EQ's you on the mixer with very little low end and all mids and highs, your $3,500 Taylor is going to sound like a Hohner (no offense to the Hohner owners out there!) This DI is great in that it can compensate for that some as it has it's own EQ, but it's limited as to what it can correct.

As for these other setups, tandem DI's and EQ, etc. It really depends on what you're willing to do to acheive your tone. If portability is paramount, then a compact unit like the Baggs should fit your need. If you want greater control from where you sit on stage (and run effects, boost, etc.) then the tandem setup is probably for you.