| Author | Message | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1932 Registered: 5-2002 |
One of the perks of living in Boulder is that Grace Design is here. I've known Mike and Eben for more than 20 years and have watched Mike go from being a dedicated member of the taping community to developing and manufacturing some of the best mic preamps, monitor controllers, and other studio goodies out there. Eben is also a wonderful guitar player who I've had the good fortune of playing with a number of times. A couple of years ago, I got one of their channel strips, the M103, to use as a bass preamp. It works very well, but has a few quirks that come from it being designed primarily as a recording device, so there's no separate volumes for the XLR outputs and the 1/4" output, but the tone is ridiculously great. However, now that I'm stereo most of the time, it's been sitting around, as I've used my F2B and a Radial stereo DI. Well, Mike and the gang at Grace Design have come up with a new instrument preamp called Felix (I don't know how it got that name, as most of their gear has much more abstract appellation). It's a stereo preamp with 3 band EQ (low shelf/fully parametric mids with a range of 70Hz to 8Khz/high shelf), sweepable high pass filter that can be converted to a notch filter, a mic pre available on channel one (with 48v phantom power or 12v phantom for some of the mics used in acoustic instruments), a tuner output, a blend output for the two channels, a foot switchable boost, a tuner output with footswitch to mute the main outputs, a headphone output, two XLR outputs that can be assigned, and a main 1/4" output that can go to your amplifier. Lots of features (such as selectable input impedance, polarity switches, etc.), a veritable audio Swiss Army knife. The only other preamp I've used that has as many features and options is the D-TAR Solstice, which is also a fine unit, but doesn't really operate in the same range of fidelity. One of the goals of the preamp was to provide acoustic musicians with a studio quality stereo preamp to blend mics and pickups with the best of fidelity. I didn't get to check it out with those instruments, but I'm sure it's stunning. So, Eben was kind enough to lend me one of the demo units (actually, Jamie, who is one of the designers and techs at Grace pretty much assembled it for me at the last minute) for my gigs last weekend. I was trying to figure out in my head how I would integrate it into my system, where to put my effects, which are stereo, where to put the F2B, etc. Finally I decided that I would just use it straight into my power amp. I wanted to hear what it would do all by itself. So, 1/4" output to my Peavey power amp and the Sunn 200S and the DI outputs to the splitter for the PA and my recording rig. From the moment I plugged in and fired it up, it was clear that this is something special. The clarity of tone is spectacular. It's a solid state unit, but the sound is very warm and full. In fact, it's the best low end I've heard from any preamp I've used, save the M103, which has been my gold standard for DI. Having the 2 EQ sections is great, but truthfully, I ended up setting it pretty much flat. The sound man, who has mixed us many times and has been very patient with all my sonic experiments, was extremely impressed (although he's a pretty laid back guy, not given to outbursts of enthusiasm). We've played through this PA (Meyer speakers) many times and I've got a good feel for the PA and the room. The low end was definitely the best I've gotten, not in terms of amount, it's easy to crank up a bunch of bass, but in terms of being deep, and powerful, but not muddying up the signal. The rest of the band all noticed a huge difference in the tone. Just for fun, I decided to pan the pickups hard left and right in my in ears and it sounded great. So, the downside? It's not cheap. I don't know if they've set a price yet, but list is probably going to be just under $1k. However, these basses we love are also not a casual investment, so in my view, it makes sense to get the signal out there in the best way you can. It's also extremely versatile, so if you play multiple instruments, it can blend them, or footswitch between them, etc. And, it's definitely in a whole other class above the Radials, Countrymen, etc. It's probably more in line with Millennia and other high end studio gear. If you google Grace Design, you can see what their reputation is, and visiting their factory is not unlike visiting the mothership, in terms of seeing a place where people are fanatically dedicated to making incredible gear to make great music (when I was returning it today, I had a conversation with Jamie about the difficulties and expense of finding good potentiometers, which was very similar to a conversation I had with Mica a month ago). There are absolutely no corners cut in the quality. I know I'm raving a little bit over the top here, but it was one of those experiences where you hear in your ears what you've been imagining in your head. Another issue I had is that channel one, which has the mic input, is higher gain, designed to accommodate DPA microphones, so my neck pickup was right up against the upper limits of level with the gain turned all the way off. But, Jamie assured me that they have already designed into it a system of jumpers, so that the gain get be set to unity like the other channel. Grace, like Alembic, is very accommodating to modding their designs to suit individual customers, so if you might have an individual desire for something to be a bit different, it's usually possible. So, I recorded the show and while the general sound quality isn't as good as the Row Jimmy as I posted, the bass sounds great. I'll work on finding some good clips and post the solo bass sound, in stereo. I also played a set with my Modulus, but I'm so spoiled by the Alembic pickups and electronics in my Starfire that it was a bit frustrating. I think an upgrade in that bass in order. So, look for a future link here to clips. And, in the meantime, check out http://www.gracedesign.com/products/felix/felix.htm I have to say that it's going to be a long month or two of waiting until these go into production and I can finally get one of my own! Again, sorry for being such an unabashed fanboy, but I get excited about things like this. Good sound rules!   | ||
| elwoodblue
Senior Member Username: elwoodblue Post Number: 1559 Registered: 6-2002 |
good stuff Edwin, thx for the heads up...I'm gonna read up on Grace design. | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 2164 Registered: 2-2005 |
Looks pretty nice. The only thing that would keep me from considering it is the fact that it is in pedal form. For me it would need to be rack mountable with a separate control pedal. Keith | ||
| moongerm
Intermediate Member Username: moongerm Post Number: 118 Registered: 8-2013 |
Nice work Edwin, thanks for sharing this! I am certainly going to check it out once they are available. | ||
| moongerm
Intermediate Member Username: moongerm Post Number: 119 Registered: 8-2013 |
BTW I have been eyeing up an Avalon U5 DI and if this unit is just as quiet and as flexible tonally, plus its two channels, will be a nice alternative. | ||
| 5a_quilt_top
Senior Member Username: 5a_quilt_top Post Number: 452 Registered: 6-2012 |
Thanks for the tip, Edwin! Your timing is impeccable! This is just what I've been looking for to use with my Series II - which is nearing completion. | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1933 Registered: 5-2002 |
Keith, I certainly understand your hesitation and I actually had the same initial reaction, especially when it came to dealing with the cabling necessary to interface with my effects. But, the feature set and sound quality encouraged me to reevaluate that reaction. I should also mention that there is an external footswitch jack so that all the footswitch functions can be accessed by an external footswitch if the unit is either rack mounted or stand mounted (there are mounting holes on the bottom to mount a bracket so that it can go on a mic stand or something similar). Then, I started thinking about times when I am dealing with a back line situation and also the ease of bringing it into a studio for quick sessions. My rack gear sits in a shed in my car port when not in use, so using my preamps, etc., is a bit of a pain to lug it into the basement in my home studio. This is a lot easier. Also, for when I am engineering location recording sessions, I can bring this along to provide a DI for other people to use for a variety of instruments. So, for me, after I thought about it, the pluses might not outweigh the minuses in form factor, but they at least match them. But, everyone has different needs. I'm not trying to rebut your position, but relate that I had the same reaction. It would be interesting to put this up against an Avalon. The Felix would get the nod from me as it is stereo and the EQ is a lot more flexible. My guess is the sound quality is equal or better. No corners were cut. | ||
| stephenr
Junior Username: stephenr Post Number: 49 Registered: 9-2014 |
Hey Edwin... thanks for posting this. Looks interesting and based on your feedback probably sounds pretty amazing. Must admit, though, that I fall in the camp of being wary of the actual physical design. If they made a rack-mount version I think it would be an easier sell as far as a unit for live performance. I have a U5 that I have been very happy with but never use the preset tone curves. The EQ possibilities on this unit offer much more flexibility and seem impressive. On the other hand I find that I rarely use outboard EQ to shape the tone of my basses. If I use the EQ on my amp it is to make my instrument easier for me to hear on stage but I always send a "flat" signal to the house and any recording devices. That said I would love to take Felix for a spin... | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 3940 Registered: 5-2009 |
It is interesting that their design does not call for an external power supply .Some old school engineers could have issues with that perhaps  . Hopefully that does not delegate this piece to the " prosumer " ranks. There is line voltage potential right next the the balanced outs . | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 2322 Registered: 11-2004 |
Nice piece of kit, the finish reminds me of the 80's Roland stuff(Drumatix etc). Would be useless in my hands though..too many controls ! LOL | ||
| moongerm
Intermediate Member Username: moongerm Post Number: 122 Registered: 8-2013 |
Edwin, This is a great post. Again thanks for sharing as it is great timing for me. The reasons for considering this device you laid out are mine as well. The main concern (for me) from a recording perspective is to be able to shape the tone so its sits in the mix with the kick as well in the context of the overall mix. There is also the added dimension of creating some unique eq'ing for color depending how/if I would want to stand out/cut through on a particular mix. I also wonder how this would work with class d stereo power amp without any other preamp. Talk about a compact stereo flexible live rig. Wow. | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 3941 Registered: 5-2009 |
Edwin I certainly appreciate and respect your enthusiasm about this piece. I am just echoing what has been drilled in my head by so many old school cats that I have learned from and worked with in the past regarding power supply isolation in these type of designs. Therefore if this is truly a great piece they might miss out by relegating the design as prosumer. I would like to check it out as well personally , I do not want to appear as judgmental. | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 1934 Registered: 5-2002 |
Wolf, I would invite you to call them up and talk to them about the power supply issue. They can explain why they did what they did way better than I can. Even their mic pres that costs thousands have built in power supplies. It's definitely not prosumer gear; they spent a lot of time and money getting the power supply right. There was no induced hum or noise that I could discern. I think that their concern was that if they had an outboard power supply it would have two consequences: 1) most musicians wouldn't want to deal with it and 2) it's another part and more cabling to get lost or damaged. My guess is that the final reason they went this way is that they could do it with no sonic penalty. I would invite anyone to call them up with questions. Not only are they great about answering questions, they are also interested in hearing what people's concerns might be, so that when v. 2 comes out or upgrades get made, they can incorporate the ideas that actual users have. Brian, it works great with a Class D power amp. I ran it straight into my Peavey IPR 3000 and it worked perfectly. The gain structure was easily adjusted for maximum headroom and minimum noise. I had that thought, too. This pedal plus a small 2 space rack= a very powerful and flexible bass rig that would cover 99% of my gigs. You can set it up (I believe, I didn't try it) so that you can have different EQ's on each channel and footswitch between them, as a way of having presets. | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 3942 Registered: 5-2009 |
Edwin ,Yes , I can see your two points of an integral power supply design regarding grater acceptance by some individuals . | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 2096 Registered: 5-2002 |
Here's an update: 1. They did some tweaking to the input gains, so they are now more or less matched. 2. I discovered some instances in which the unit was vulnerable to hum. It was when I was mixing the inputs and sending DI 1 to the PA and DI 2 to the in ear amp in my rack. When there were issues that would normally be solved by hitting the ground lift to isolate my rig from the PA, that was subverted by the fact that the 1/4" amp out and one of the DIs were both going to my rack and the result was hum. Mike did some mods to the power supply, which will now be standard, and the noise is gone. Dead quiet. I finally opened up my F2B and replaced the tubes. It had gotten noisy and one of the tubes was very microphonic. With the new tubes, it's once again very quiet and the tone is back. I had been going from my SF-2 into the Felix, but I didn't find myself using the SF-2 all that much, so I swapped the F2B back in. Going into the Felix sounds amazing. This is the sound! I guess John Patitucci just got one. For those who double on electric and acoustic, it just the thing. | ||
| ed_zeppelin
Junior Username: ed_zeppelin Post Number: 25 Registered: 2-2010 |
>>> It's a solid state unit, but the sound is very warm and full. In fact, it's the best low end I've heard from any preamp <<< I love solid state, ever since the beat-up Standel Studio 60 bass amp owned by my high school's jazz band. It was simply perfect, and perfectly simple (uh oh, I'm spouting country song lyrics this morning, better warn my wife). In fact, my back appreciates solid state even more than my ears. I used a half-ton Ampeg SVT 810 for years - primarily with upright bass (Roomful of Blues roadies called it "the Monolith" and the first time they set it up, they reenacted the opening scene of "2001: A Space Odyssey," acting like apes howling and chattering, challenging each other to touch it). That's the last tube anything I've had. I have nothing whatsoever against tubes, in fact I'm sure that if anyone gave me an F2B, I'd happily accept it (HINT!) Upscale Audio is the best source for tubes on the planet. http://www.upscaleaudio.com/product_images/uploaded_images/inthenews/nytarticle.pdf I wanted to suggest Tom Dowd's ( http://www.allmusic.com/artist/tom-dowd-mn0000930984/biography ) technique for using parametric EQs, which is exactly the opposite of the way most people use them. He said that it's a lot easier to pick out what sounds bad and get rid of it than it is to decide what sounds good and enhance it. What a revelation. I used to twiddle knobs and gaze at the horizon, going; "does THIS sound better than that?" as I swept through the frequencies ... The first time I tried Dowd's technique, I jammed the level, swept through the frequencies - once - and the crap stuck out like a steeple in a pea patch. "There it is!" I said, and when I turned the level down, the crap went away. (It's usually in the same place, too.) One last thing: I use a Fishman Bass Blender for string bass, which unfortunately has been discontinued. It has a lot of the same features as "Felix" (particularly the flexible output matrix). Here's the manual, so you can see what I mean: http://www.fishman.com/files/acoustic_blender_system_user_guide.pdf (The acoustic blender and bass blender are essentially identical except one is optimized for string bass, which is why the manual is oriented toward acoustic guitar.) The reason I mention it is because the most essential feature, in my astoundingly humble opinion, is that it mounts on a mic stand. I simply cannot explain how handy that is to anybody who hasn't experienced it for themselves. We try to set everything up so we don't turn turn around during songs, bending over, squinting at knobs in the stage lighting, waiting for an open string to free up our left hand to shoot out and tweak a knob - or worse, squatting to twiddle knobs on a floor unit - when just having he essentials right in front of your steaming eyeballs is unexplainable liberating. Maybe Grace could consider something similar. I haven't had a floor unit since my belly became what they call in the South a "dickey do." ("It sticks out over my belt buckle farther than my dickey do!") Jeez, I just realized I've reached the age where my back and belly have become bigger factors in choosing equipment than my ears! (Message edited by Ed_zeppelin on August 05, 2015) (Message edited by Ed_zeppelin on August 05, 2015) | ||
| 5a_quilt_top
New Username: 5a_quilt_top Post Number: 4 Registered: 6-2012 |
Oh baby - thanks for that update, Edwin. This is sounding more and more like the perfect solution for a wide variety of purposes and it's attaining significant upward mobility on the wish list as I write this. | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1921 Registered: 10-2006 |
(Brief hijack) - When were you with RFoB? One of my favorite bands ever since we did a weekend with them back when Jimmy Wimpfheimer was on bass! Peter | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 2097 Registered: 5-2002 |
You can put the Felix on a higher surface (and even mount a mic stand adapter to it) and control the footswitches with a remote footswitch. At this point, I'm using the F2B for tonal shaping and the Felix for EQ necessary for the room, etc., so once it's set, I don't touch it. Most of the time, it's flat with the high pass set to what seems like a good frequency to get rid of the mud. As far as use of parametric EQ's, what you refer to as the Tom Dowd method has always been the method that everyone I know has always done. It's always struck me as the obvious way to use a parametric. Cutting what you don't need is always the best thing to do. It preserves headroom and dynamic range. | ||
| ed_zeppelin
Junior Username: ed_zeppelin Post Number: 27 Registered: 2-2010 |
>>> As far as use of parametric EQ's, what you refer to as the Tom Dowd method has always been the method that everyone I know has always done. It's always struck me as the obvious way to use a parametric. <<< The term "obvious" is relative (ask any married man) but I didn't know about the Tom Dowd method until somebody told me, and I walked around for a week with my mouth forming a perfect "O" shape, mumbling to myself; "I never thought of that!" It was the weirdest thing. As soon as I said "I do" I lost my ability to see what's right in front of my face, apparently. My obvious wasn't anymore. It's okay. I'm married to a Scot who never tires of pointing out my dumbassery (I got back at her though, by marrying way better than she did. Ha! That'll show her!) So I've learned that when people use absolutes like "everybody" and "always" (thrice, in your case), it's usually to subtly notify me that I've achieved a level of obliviousness rarely seen (outside a Florida voting booth), so I should appreciate the edification. The odd thing is that EVERYBODY I've told about the Tom Dowd thing has ALWAYS said; "I never thought of that!" | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 2371 Registered: 10-2003 |
Wow. That looks like it might just be that the answer to some configuration issues I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to work out with my rig, the major one being the challenge of running bass pedals and bass guitar through the same amp and speakers. John |
