![]() ![]() The Redeye 3D features two of these excellent transformers for simultaneous direct box and re-amping use. This transformer was chosen for its sonic character- istics and is made with the same core material and winding technique as the legendary UTC transformers found in many classic pro audio devices. The heart of the original Red Eye was a Little Labs custom wound transformer. This also assures you a re-amped guitar sound that will be exactly what was heard when laying down the track. This simple way of listening thru the chain (re-amp mode) and being able to bypass the mic pre and DAW or tape machine in the chain (DI mode) makes level adjustments a snap. In re-amp mode the instrument / re-amp out on the front of the Redeye 3D signal comes from the line level output of the DAW or tape machine (converted to HI z guitar level signal) to feed your guitar amp. In DI (direct box) mode the instrument / re-amp out on the front of the Redeye 3D works as a thru signal so you can simultaneously feed your guitar amp while supplying a signal from the rear xlr to your mic pre and DAW or tape machine. More people are re-amping now than ever before, and we at Little Labs know re-amping! We made this new major Redeye revision because we wanted to make sure we continued to make the best sounding, most flexible, easiest to use, and reasonably priced re-amping and direct box product available.įor easy accurate re-amping the Redeye 3D lets you listen thru your whole recording chain, from Redeye 3D direct box, to mic pre to DAW (or tape machine), to Redeye 3D Re-amp, to your guitar amp. You may like/prefer it or may not.The Red Eye 3D phantom is the new improved major revision of the popular Little Labs Redeye direct box / re-amp box. It's a choice everyone should make for themselves. You may be looking for 'effect boxes' (the preamps that are said to be more musical to some) that may have tube amplification or LDR volume control. There are also passive amplifiers (so there is some gain) but this requires extra care with the connected loads. In all other circumstances a good active one is preferred for reasons already stated by others. When you don't need more gain and don't need to switch between XLR and RCA then a passive one might be a solution. In both cases one can choose between stepped (or relay) or stepless. If yes consider: A good pre-amp is better than a passive one.Ī passive (volume control + input selector) can be better than a mediocre or poor pre-amp.Īn active pre-amp and some passives require mains voltage. If you can answer with at least one yes you do need a pre-amp. And most analog pots, even the good ones, have some degree of channel imbalance at low volume settings, and are noisier than metal film resistors of equivalent resistance.ĭo you need more gain than just 1x ? (power amp/speakers not reaching clipping levels as it is)ĭo you need / want a physical volume control ?ĭo you need balance and tone control (on more than 1 input) ?ĭo you have a mix of RCA and XLR inputs / outputs ?ĭo you want to add 'effects' (think tubes, LDR volume control etc.) ? A passive attenuator can give you that 30 dB reduction with a smaller drop in SNR. If your listening level is 30 dB below max, the SNR might only be 80 dB. The preamp spec might say for example 110 dB SNR but that is at max volume which nobody uses. So when you turn down the volume, the SNR drops with it. ![]() Most active preamps have an analog stage that has a fixed gain ratio with attenuation. The nicer more expensive ones have 48 or more steps with finer spacing.Īs I see it, the most relevant benefit of the passive is that it preserves SNR and perfect channel balance even as you turn down the volume. The volume you want may be between steps. The cheap ones have 24 steps which are typically 2 dB apart which is a lot. Also, a passive using stepped attenuators only gives you discrete volume levels. An active preamp is more flexible and buffers the devices from each other, so you don't have to worry so much about impedance matching. A passive that doesn't meet the above conditions can be worse than an active. IF all of your upstream devices (sources) have low output impedances, all your downstream devices have high input impedances, unity gain is more than you need, the attenuator's resistance is as low as possible but not too low (10k works in most cases), and you can use short cables. ![]() I'll bet you can find it with search.Ī passive using stepped attenuators of metal film resistors can be more transparent than an active preamp, under certain conditions. There's another recent thread on this same topic with lots of opinions & advice for you. ![]()
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