Anyone tried the Sansamp Paradrive DI?

whosgarethparry · #1 04-23-2011, 03:09 PM

as the thread says, what are your thoughts on this pedal?

Rustic · #2 04-24-2011, 04:08 AM

Yes, I recently got one. I've been able to warm up the tone of my carved archtop thru an acoustic image Ten2. It's also been a good educational tool because you can choose the frequency then boost or cut the midrange at that point. Getting it was suggested by John Buscarino, who can also order one for you and walk you thru settings, etc. He's a great guy, very generous with his knowledge.

Rustic

whosgarethparry · #3 04-24-2011, 03:50 PM

thanks for the response, it does look good. have you tried the GT2? or any of the character series? i'll be running into a AI clarus and the consensus on this site is that i'll need a preamp to front end it. Jzucker suggested a barber eq, which i like the look of. just researching at the minute.........all advice welcome

Rustic · #4 04-24-2011, 11:17 PM

I don't know the Barber EQ but it's certainly worth checking out if jzucker suggested it, he really knows his stuff.

What I like about the Paradriver is the tube emulation circuit and the sensitivity of the EQ controls.

What would be nice would be if it had two bands of sweepable midrange instead of just one. I have a friend using a Baggs Venue for his flatop guitars and it has two bands, which gives you a lot more control.

jzucker · #5 04-25-2011, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic

I don't know the Barber EQ but it's certainly worth checking out if jzucker suggested it, he really knows his stuff.

What I like about the Paradriver is the tube emulation circuit and the sensitivity of the EQ controls.

What would be nice would be if it had two bands of sweepable midrange instead of just one. I have a friend using a Baggs Venue for his flatop guitars and it has two bands, which gives you a lot more control.

the paradriver sure looks cool and I think the company seems to know what they're doing. Looks well made too. I wonder about the output impedance though if it's made for DI purposes? I'd also like to know the center freq of the tone controls. The thing about the barber is that the center frequencies are perfect for guitar.

Tech21NYC · #6 04-25-2011, 11:14 AM

Here is some information from our manual:

BALANCED XLR OUTPUT: Balanced 600-Ohm low Z output. Sends effected or uneffected signal
to mixing console/recorder, depending on the orientation of the Footswitch.
XLR Output Level Switch: -20dB pad to match the output to equipment with different input level
requirements. In line level position, the output is 0dB. In instrument level position, the output is -20dB.
1/4” OUTPUT: Unbalanced 1KOhm low Z output. Sends effected or uneffected signal to amp rig or
power amp, as per the orientation of the Footswitch.
1/4” Output Level Switch: +10dB boost to match the output to equipment with different input
level requirements. In instrument level position, the output is -10dB. In line level position, the output is
0dB

BASS & TREBLE: These active tone controls cut or boost ±12dB from unity gain at 12 o’clock. Bass is
80 Hz.Treble is 3.2kHz.
MID SHIFT & MID
Sweepable, semi-parametric EQ controls range from 170 Hz to 3.5 kHz, ±16dB, respectively.With Mid Shift,
you can select the center frequency of the mid-range control (MID), enabling you to notch out specific frequencies
that may be causing your acoustic guitar to feed back. To find the feedback frequency of your guitar,
set MID at max (5 o’clock).Turn Mid Shift to the feedback point and leave it there. Cut MID until feedback
stops. However, you can achieve various unique sounds by boosting MID and selecting different frequencies
with Mid Shift --such as the “Money for Nothing” sample setting. Note: If you set Mid Shift at 1kHz, MID
operates as a traditional mid-range control.

For more info just go to our support page and click on the product from the drop down box for the full manual.TECH 21 - SUPPORT

jzucker · #7 04-25-2011, 12:26 PM

Thanks Tech21. Sounds like the treble might be a tad low for guitar is it a wide Q ?

whosgarethparry · #8 04-25-2011, 12:31 PM

thanks kindly tech21. while you're here, i'll be running the pedal into a Clarus, and various cabs. i'm not looking for distortion tones so much, more from clean to just on the edge. but primarily something to fatten up and 'tube' the amp. I've looked at the GT2 and the character Blonde series, but cant find anywhere in the uk to try them all out at once. which would suit do you think???

Tech21NYC · #9 04-27-2011, 10:19 AM

The Para Driver DI's "Q" is more of a medium or musical "Q." It is designed to react in a musical fashion like a guitar amp. The 3.2kHz for the treble frequency is deliberate and works well for most musical instruments. This doesn't mean that higher frequencies won't come through. The pedal has a frequency response of 10Hz to 20KHz though this response will change when using the SansAmp tube amp emulation.

The Para Driver is a very flexible pedal and can get you a variety of tones. It does require a little effort to get the sounds you desire because it covers such a wide range where the Character Series are designed to be a more simple approach.It's hard for me to suggest one pedal over the other as we all have different tastes. For myself I tend to like more vintage Blackface type Fender tones for clean guitar but I'm not a jazz guy.Then there is the Polytone crowd and that's a bit different.

You might consider our Leeds pedal as well. That pedal has a really open wonderful clean tone. Of course it all depends on your guitar, your hands, and what you decide to monitor through.

jzucker · #10 04-27-2011, 10:55 AM

i'm not worried about the treble frequencies not coming through. I'm worried that if the Q doesn't effect the brilliance in the 4.5k range that you will be unable to get a fender-like tone through a SS amp or mixer which is what the original poster is looking for. If you want to send me one for a demo I'd be happy to demo the thing on youtube.

Check out my demos at YouTube - Kanaal van sheetsofsound

Tech21NYC · #11 04-28-2011, 09:43 AM

Because the Q of the pedal is fairly wide you should have no problem with "brightness" as turning up the treble control will also bring up the surrounding frequencies as well. 3.2khz and 4.5khz are pretty close.

You also have the ability with the Para Driver DI to blend in your straight signal as well which is full range.

I have submitted your offer to demo the pedal and will get back to you.

In the meantime here is a demo of the Para Driver DI.

YouTube - ‪Tech 21?NYC: SansAmp PARA DRIVER DI with electric guitar‬&rlm;