GT Brick vs Avalon u5 vs ?

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dynomike
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Post by dynomike » Tue May 27, 2008 9:16 am

Hamptone JFET preamp has a really awesome DI for bass. Costs less than the Avalon (per channel). I don't own a avalon though, and would still consider getting one from all I hear on this messageboard.
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GetHimEatHim
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Post by GetHimEatHim » Tue May 27, 2008 11:43 am

Hey, thanks Kayagum! That was a really really fun show, still one of my favorites that we've ever played.

I think I'm gonna wait a few paychecks and then snag a u5.

In terms of "demo," I'm talking as much about the purpose of the recording as I am its quality; this is going to be our fifth sorta-home-recorded EP, each of which has been made under pretty drastically different circumstances..... We did our first one in my dorm room with a bunch of borrowed SM57s and a Behringer mixer, our second at a radio station with a Samson drum mic kit and some SM57s, our third at Brown University's fairly modest recording facility (mostly high end-ish prosumer mics -- SM81s, Studio Projects stuff), and our fourth in our living room with a small handful of mics I can't even remember, tracking drums to an old 1/4" tape machine and then mixing and dumping to digital. The one we did "in-studio" is still my least favorite... it wound up sounding pretty generic and bad-slick (not even high-quality "slick," just kinda smooth and flavorless "slick"), largely because of my own lack of experience using anything even resembling proper recording equipment.

I'm hoping that our next session will be a nice balance of high-end options (a decent collection of mics and pres, both ours and borrowed) and weird variables (the room itself, our ever-changing selection of functional and semi-functional drum equipment, my own lack of experience with most of the equipment we'll be using). I like the idea of moving towards a more comfortable and stable home-recording setup, and the u5 seems like a worthy investment, especially since we've had our best luck when we track drums, direct bass and scratch guitar simultaneously.

ivanovich
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Post by ivanovich » Tue May 27, 2008 1:00 pm

the other feature i like about the U5 is the thru switch...
so you can grab the DI while at the same time feeding an amp(and micing that ) to get some contrast.....i know this can be done by multing, but having it all in one box, hum free is really handy when you're tracking live and having to oversee the whole picture. less shit to think about.

it has some other features that i've never used....like feeding the speaker output of the amp into the box...

oh yeah i forgot to mention that it sounds DOPE!

i.

GetHimEatHim
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Post by GetHimEatHim » Tue May 27, 2008 1:03 pm

ivanovich wrote:less shit to think about.
This is a huge part of what appeals to me about this box.... things are complicated enough for us logistics-wise as it is!

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calaverasgrandes
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Post by calaverasgrandes » Tue May 27, 2008 1:39 pm

If I remember correctly the speaker in on the u5 can supposedly handle 400 watts?
Finally we have a DI that can handle an SVT.
Thouh I dunno if its 400 tube watts or solid state watts.
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dynomike
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Post by dynomike » Tue May 27, 2008 1:51 pm

calaverasgrandes wrote:If I remember correctly the speaker in on the u5 can supposedly handle 400 watts?
Finally we have a DI that can handle an SVT.
Thouh I dunno if its 400 tube watts or solid state watts.
I would hesitate to plug a tube amp into anything that isn't a speaker, or isn't explicity designed to load tube amps properly (ie weber mass, thd hotplate, etc)
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calaverasgrandes
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Post by calaverasgrandes » Tue May 27, 2008 2:16 pm

well durrrrrr, you loop it through to the cab.
Most of these DI that have a speaker input have a corresponding parallel out. they usually are some huge impedance like a billion billion ohms so the amp doenst see a funny load. After all, why would you DI anything BUT a tube amp output?
??????? wrote: "everything sounds best right before it blows up."

dynomike
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Post by dynomike » Tue May 27, 2008 3:39 pm

calaverasgrandes wrote:well durrrrrr, you loop it through to the cab.
Most of these DI that have a speaker input have a corresponding parallel out. they usually are some huge impedance like a billion billion ohms so the amp doenst see a funny load. After all, why would you DI anything BUT a tube amp output?
aha.
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Huntlabs
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Post by Huntlabs » Tue May 27, 2008 8:27 pm

dynomike wrote:Hamptone JFET preamp has a really awesome DI for bass. Costs less than the Avalon (per channel). I don't own a avalon though, and would still consider getting one from all I hear on this messageboard.
I just did some comparisons of the U5 and the Hamptone JFET DI on Bass. Had them side by side daisy chained. The U5 and the JFET sound almost identical, if the eqs are out on the U5. I couldn't hear the difference. The eq's add some great sounds on the U5. The JFET is a kick ass mic pre too, unlike the U5. Oh and the JFET is two channel.

Just look at the U5 user guide, they show the eq profiles, eq in a similar fashion and use the JFET. If money is tight and you can't get both..... I cant say enough good about the JFET.
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