Three DI shoot-out and Fishman Platinum Pro Review
Jul 23, 2017 21:41:35 GMT
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Post by Cams on Jul 23, 2017 21:41:35 GMT
I got my Fishman Platinum Pro EQ on Friday and took it out to play on Friday and Saturday nights. I thought I would compare my three DIs today on acoustic guitar and train myself a bit on the pros and cons of each. They are:
1. LR Baggs Venue DI
2. Fishman Platinum Pro EQ
3. LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI
First, the newbie. Fishman, you're up.
Fishman Platinum Pro EQ
I bought this more for the band than for myself, honest guv! In our weekly restaurant gig, the clarsach player has no DI and goes into the desk with a TS cable. It's a desk with 8 XLR channels and 9/10 and 11/12 jack inputs, so Heather goes into 9/10 and has only gain, high and low. This is where the Fishman steps in. I used it last night and it really worked. I had the Fishman set to guitar mode (it has two modes, guitar and bass, with the switch affecting the frequencies of the EQ). The preamp in the box worked very well to get the signal up to a decent level and it was fairly straight-forward to use the EQ to get some fantastic tone. The bottom end in particular really opened up. Bear in mind that we've been using the same gear in the same venue for three years, so the difference was immediately apparent to us all. Whenever Heather got down to the lower end of the instrument during a tune, she'd turn round with a big grin. So, we have a winner. She uses a Headway EDB-1 on her electro harp, but she's superstitious about tinkering with her pedal board and she said she finds it confusing.
Reason 2: electric upright bass for the bluegrass band. Nicola uses an electric upright through a bass amp and her tone isn't great. The Fishman has a bass setting, so I used that on Friday night, going to her amp and using the DI into the desk. We use an AER Compact 60 for the speaker. It's a small venue so it works reasonably well, but I was a little worried putting bass through it and so we kept it pretty low on the mixer. What really helped though was the EQ and compressor. Of the three DIs I have, it's the only one with a compressor. I didn't use much, but even a little helped to tame the transients. Her instrument or the room is particularly boomy at 126 Hz and when I notched that out on the Fishman, it left a hole. So I switched off the notch filter and used the compressor instead. You can tell when it's active as a green LED comes on.
Reason 3. For bigger ceilidh band gigs in village halls, we'll have three guitars and only two DIs. So, I can let the other guitarist use the Fishman for his, giving him a mute button and tuner at his feet. I had to get a DI anyway, so it made sense.
The Shoot Out
The LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI was my first DI. I bought it in 2005 and used it for open mics in Luxembourg, where I popped my performing cherry. It's served me very well and it's always been solid. It gets used weekly with my Heiner Dreizehnter Model A with a LR Baggs Anthem.
Pros
-- Phantom power. I had this for so long that I was really shocked to learn that not all DIs work off phantom power. Anything that doesn't seems like a step backwards.
-- The notch filter. This has been so useful.
-- Size and build. It's a great size and solidly built.
Cons
-- Fiddly buttons, especially gain
-- Frequencies vs notes. I like to work in frequencies and the mid-range sweep has them on the top, but the notch filter has notes instead. Sure, you can look them up in the manual, but it would be handy to have the frequencies instead.
-- XLR position. It's a little weird having it come out the top rather than the back, but maybe that helps it to have the great size that it has.
-- No clipping light.
Lr Baggs Venue
DI
I've been using this weekly with my SCGC Vintage Artist with a D-TAR WaveLength for bluegrass and I love it.
Pros
-- The clipping light. That might be my favourite feature. I like to know when my input is clipping at the first gain stage so I can keep an eye on it through the chain. It doesn't change when you hit the boost button, so you have to keep some headroom if you're going to use that, and I do.
-- Footprint and size. The boost and mute buttons are on an angled front so it's easier to use them than it is on the Fishman as it's a flat box.
-- Build and size. This thing is solid, with good weight, size and shape.
-- Knobs - these are easy to grab and manipulate, especially compared to the Acoustic DI.
-- Boost and mute. I use these a lot, boosting for solos or going from rhythm to fingerstyle, and muting for tuning
-- It uses frequencies on the box and it has two mid-band sweepable EQs.
-- Notch filter, although for some reason I've not needed it so much on this guitar.
Cons
-- The tuner isn't great and the LEDs are ridiculously bright. I use my heastock tuner instead. (TC Electronics Polytune Clip-on).
-- No phantom, but I'm used to that now
-- notch filter is sweepable but at a fixed gain
-- The db adjustment for the boost button is a bit fiddly, but it's more of a set-it-and-forget-it thing anyway.
Fishman Platinum Pro EQ
This is the new kid on the block so I'm still learning its ways. So far I'm really enjoying what it does, particularly on the bottom end. It not only opened up the clarsach, but also my Heiner Dreizehnter Model A. I struggled a bit to get a good balance, but I guess that's a learning curve thing with this particular box. I'm not keen on its plastic body. If feels cheap compared to the other two.
Pros
-- Really musical EQ that I need some more time to learn.
-- Usable tuner
-- Clipping light
-- Compressor. I need to get used to what this can do for me, but I think it'll be useful across the board.
-- the knobs are somewhere between the fiddly Para Acoustic DI ones and the Venue DI ones, so between footery and easy.
Cons
-- body material. It feels plastic and cheap compared to the other two
-- notch filter is sweepable but at a fixed gain
-- No phantom power, again though, I'm getting used to it. The Para Acoustic DI just spoiled me I guess.
-- Fiddly gain trim and db boost pots. You really need a plectrum or something like that to move these. The db one isn't so important, but the gain one is.
Conclusion
They're actually all great boxes with pluses and minuses across the board. If I was to buy just one, it would be the Venue DI, although it's £100 more expensive, maybe a bit more depending on your vendor. If you think a compressor would be useful without needing another pedal, the Fishman is your only option, and it's a good one. Same if you want to use the same box for bass and guitar/violin/harp etc. Although I haven't tried the Venue DI on the bass. Maybe I'll try that next time to compare. The Para Acoustic DI wins hands down for size and phantom power, but no clipping light and fiddly buttons. For me though, playing acoustic guitar and having a one-trick pony, it's the Venue DI hands down.
Recordings
I recorded the same tune with all three DIs tonight. I used a Zoom H4N Pro with the built-in condensers in front of a PreSonus ULT15 coming through a StudioLive Series III mixer. I also recorded direct from the mixer and these recordings are all the same blend of both sources with the same settings. Let me know which you like and don't like. Obviously it's subjective as I used my ears to EQ the guitar on the different DIs, but it was still a worthwhile thing for me to do just to compare them for my own interest.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/cams-campbell/di-comparison-1-lr-baggs-venue
https%3A//soundcloud.com/cams-campbell/di-comparison-2-fishman
https%3A//soundcloud.com/cams-campbell/di-comparison-1-lr-baggs-para
1. LR Baggs Venue DI
2. Fishman Platinum Pro EQ
3. LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI
First, the newbie. Fishman, you're up.
Fishman Platinum Pro EQ
I bought this more for the band than for myself, honest guv! In our weekly restaurant gig, the clarsach player has no DI and goes into the desk with a TS cable. It's a desk with 8 XLR channels and 9/10 and 11/12 jack inputs, so Heather goes into 9/10 and has only gain, high and low. This is where the Fishman steps in. I used it last night and it really worked. I had the Fishman set to guitar mode (it has two modes, guitar and bass, with the switch affecting the frequencies of the EQ). The preamp in the box worked very well to get the signal up to a decent level and it was fairly straight-forward to use the EQ to get some fantastic tone. The bottom end in particular really opened up. Bear in mind that we've been using the same gear in the same venue for three years, so the difference was immediately apparent to us all. Whenever Heather got down to the lower end of the instrument during a tune, she'd turn round with a big grin. So, we have a winner. She uses a Headway EDB-1 on her electro harp, but she's superstitious about tinkering with her pedal board and she said she finds it confusing.
Reason 2: electric upright bass for the bluegrass band. Nicola uses an electric upright through a bass amp and her tone isn't great. The Fishman has a bass setting, so I used that on Friday night, going to her amp and using the DI into the desk. We use an AER Compact 60 for the speaker. It's a small venue so it works reasonably well, but I was a little worried putting bass through it and so we kept it pretty low on the mixer. What really helped though was the EQ and compressor. Of the three DIs I have, it's the only one with a compressor. I didn't use much, but even a little helped to tame the transients. Her instrument or the room is particularly boomy at 126 Hz and when I notched that out on the Fishman, it left a hole. So I switched off the notch filter and used the compressor instead. You can tell when it's active as a green LED comes on.
Reason 3. For bigger ceilidh band gigs in village halls, we'll have three guitars and only two DIs. So, I can let the other guitarist use the Fishman for his, giving him a mute button and tuner at his feet. I had to get a DI anyway, so it made sense.
The Shoot Out
The LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI was my first DI. I bought it in 2005 and used it for open mics in Luxembourg, where I popped my performing cherry. It's served me very well and it's always been solid. It gets used weekly with my Heiner Dreizehnter Model A with a LR Baggs Anthem.
Pros
-- Phantom power. I had this for so long that I was really shocked to learn that not all DIs work off phantom power. Anything that doesn't seems like a step backwards.
-- The notch filter. This has been so useful.
-- Size and build. It's a great size and solidly built.
Cons
-- Fiddly buttons, especially gain
-- Frequencies vs notes. I like to work in frequencies and the mid-range sweep has them on the top, but the notch filter has notes instead. Sure, you can look them up in the manual, but it would be handy to have the frequencies instead.
-- XLR position. It's a little weird having it come out the top rather than the back, but maybe that helps it to have the great size that it has.
-- No clipping light.
Lr Baggs Venue
DI
I've been using this weekly with my SCGC Vintage Artist with a D-TAR WaveLength for bluegrass and I love it.
Pros
-- The clipping light. That might be my favourite feature. I like to know when my input is clipping at the first gain stage so I can keep an eye on it through the chain. It doesn't change when you hit the boost button, so you have to keep some headroom if you're going to use that, and I do.
-- Footprint and size. The boost and mute buttons are on an angled front so it's easier to use them than it is on the Fishman as it's a flat box.
-- Build and size. This thing is solid, with good weight, size and shape.
-- Knobs - these are easy to grab and manipulate, especially compared to the Acoustic DI.
-- Boost and mute. I use these a lot, boosting for solos or going from rhythm to fingerstyle, and muting for tuning
-- It uses frequencies on the box and it has two mid-band sweepable EQs.
-- Notch filter, although for some reason I've not needed it so much on this guitar.
Cons
-- The tuner isn't great and the LEDs are ridiculously bright. I use my heastock tuner instead. (TC Electronics Polytune Clip-on).
-- No phantom, but I'm used to that now
-- notch filter is sweepable but at a fixed gain
-- The db adjustment for the boost button is a bit fiddly, but it's more of a set-it-and-forget-it thing anyway.
Fishman Platinum Pro EQ
This is the new kid on the block so I'm still learning its ways. So far I'm really enjoying what it does, particularly on the bottom end. It not only opened up the clarsach, but also my Heiner Dreizehnter Model A. I struggled a bit to get a good balance, but I guess that's a learning curve thing with this particular box. I'm not keen on its plastic body. If feels cheap compared to the other two.
Pros
-- Really musical EQ that I need some more time to learn.
-- Usable tuner
-- Clipping light
-- Compressor. I need to get used to what this can do for me, but I think it'll be useful across the board.
-- the knobs are somewhere between the fiddly Para Acoustic DI ones and the Venue DI ones, so between footery and easy.
Cons
-- body material. It feels plastic and cheap compared to the other two
-- notch filter is sweepable but at a fixed gain
-- No phantom power, again though, I'm getting used to it. The Para Acoustic DI just spoiled me I guess.
-- Fiddly gain trim and db boost pots. You really need a plectrum or something like that to move these. The db one isn't so important, but the gain one is.
Conclusion
They're actually all great boxes with pluses and minuses across the board. If I was to buy just one, it would be the Venue DI, although it's £100 more expensive, maybe a bit more depending on your vendor. If you think a compressor would be useful without needing another pedal, the Fishman is your only option, and it's a good one. Same if you want to use the same box for bass and guitar/violin/harp etc. Although I haven't tried the Venue DI on the bass. Maybe I'll try that next time to compare. The Para Acoustic DI wins hands down for size and phantom power, but no clipping light and fiddly buttons. For me though, playing acoustic guitar and having a one-trick pony, it's the Venue DI hands down.
Recordings
I recorded the same tune with all three DIs tonight. I used a Zoom H4N Pro with the built-in condensers in front of a PreSonus ULT15 coming through a StudioLive Series III mixer. I also recorded direct from the mixer and these recordings are all the same blend of both sources with the same settings. Let me know which you like and don't like. Obviously it's subjective as I used my ears to EQ the guitar on the different DIs, but it was still a worthwhile thing for me to do just to compare them for my own interest.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/cams-campbell/di-comparison-1-lr-baggs-venue
https%3A//soundcloud.com/cams-campbell/di-comparison-2-fishman
https%3A//soundcloud.com/cams-campbell/di-comparison-1-lr-baggs-para