U5 to Avalon vt737sp....or not???

Y

yetipur

New member
Hi all...I've been experimenting with my gear a bit more, and was just wondering how you guys out ther would do it. So I have an Avalon U5 direct box, and a Avalon VT 737sp. I usually just go with the 737 when using mics and direct injection. But I was wondering if I woud get better quality or more headroom if I went U5 to 737? I have not tried it yet, becaus I was unsure about the compatibility although my gut tells me it woulds be fine. Would I get better results though(clearer sound, more headroom, etc..,?? This is the ultimate question.

Thanks to all and may you have a splendid trip in this thing called life!! :D

PS And yes.....I did just blaze a j!! :p
 
Definately use th U5 as the DI and then into 737 (either via line or mic in)..U5 has both those outs..
 
yetipur said:
Hi all...I've been experimenting with my gear a bit more, and was just wondering how you guys out ther would do it. So I have an Avalon U5 direct box, and a Avalon VT 737sp. I usually just go with the 737 when using mics and direct injection. But I was wondering if I woud get better quality or more headroom if I went U5 to 737? I have not tried it yet, becaus I was unsure about the compatibility although my gut tells me it woulds be fine. Would I get better results though(clearer sound, more headroom, etc..,?? This is the ultimate question.

Thanks to all and may you have a splendid trip in this thing called life!! :D

PS And yes.....I did just blaze a j!! :p
Click to expand...

The 787 is a mic pre-amp. It will not be happy having its input slammed with line level voltage from the U5. Unless I don't understand your question, you should not do this.
 
The VT737sp is one of those pseudo-channel strips that combines preamp, compressor and EQ in one box. It is selectable between mic in, line in and DI in. The DI jack is on the front panel, whereas the mic and line ins are on the back.

With that in mind, you don't *need* the U5, you can plug direct into the DI on the front of the 737.

That doesn't mean that you can't use them both. You can, if you want, also plug direct into the U5 and then run that into the line in on the 737.

The only reason I can see for doing that 2nd option, though, would be if you liked the sound of the U5 better than the sound of the DI in the 737, if there is indeed any real difference. The only way you can determine that is to try it both ways and see what your ears have to say about that.

G.
 
Thanks dor the responses!! Well, it is more of a signal to noise ratio thing. When I use the 737 as a DI, I notice that I have to turn ALL the EQ knobs down completly in order to get the sound on tape (synth, guitar,etc.) that sounds comparable to a REAL recording.

You see I'm trying to not have to use EQ at all(or very very minimally) after the fact during mixdown.

By turning down all the eq, I don't get very much gain out of the preamp, unless I crank the gain and use the high gain switch as well. But, this gives me alot of hiss. So I thought if I used the U5 in front of the 737 for gain purposes, what would that be like? I just wasn't sure if I should be boosting that much gain from the U5 into the 737.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
That doesn't mean that you can't use them both. You can, if you want, also plug direct into the U5 and then run that into the line in on the 737.

.
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Or run the mic level signal out of "mic out" on U5 into the mic input on 737 and use its mic preamp as well as eq and comp. This is actually what the DIs are for, bringing it to mic level.U5 has just that extra option of running line out directly to your recorder (or 737 "line in" in this case, as Glen suggested)
 
This is a theory but what is bound to happen is the U5 will cause the 737 to saturate and you might make the worlds most expensive fuzz box:p
 
darrin_h2000 said:
This is a theory but what is bound to happen is the U5 will cause the 737 to saturate and you might make the worlds most expensive fuzz box:p
Click to expand...

lol, I could see that happening too.

So you want to get rid of the hiss by introducing another gain stage into the chain?! :confused:

I must not be understanding the question too well. If you're not getting enough CLEAN gain from the 737, you might want to check other parts of the chain... Are you using active pickups? If so, are the batteries new? Etc.
 
I'm not sure why you would want to do this with two pieces of equipment from the same manufacturer.

Basically, the circuitry in both units is going to be very similar if not identical. Using the DI input on the 737 will essentially produce the same result as using the separate DI box. I would think, anyway.

I could see doing it if you had a DI box that had some special feature or color, like a tube DI for example.

Anyway, if you use the U5 line output you'd go into the DI input of the 737, and if you use the DI mic output you'd go into the mic input of the 737. I can't imagine you'll get results that differ much between those two options.

Generally, I follow the principle of "the less circuitry in the signal path the better". So tossing another box in there that basically extends the signal path and duplicates functions seems to be somewhat an exercise in futility. And it puts the recording device a bit further away from the source.
 
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