Tech 21 para driver

[Prime_BASS]

I realise there is a few threads about these, but I wanted to share my experience.

I just took delivery of mine today but as the missus' was round so I have to pretend like I'm not a bass geek.

I got chance to play with it just now though my orange ad140, it's my only form of low level practice, also it can do clean as a wistle. It also meant I could compare the tone I wanted (the OD of my orange with my bass) with the tone I could get from the little black box.

I used the standard SVT bass setting, lowered the mid shift to give it some warmth and backed off the treble, uped the bass and boom, I practically nailed the orange's overdrive tone. If I could blind test myself I'm sure I wouldn't be able to hear the difference, and I know my oranges tone like the back of my hand.

I must say I didn't have a great deal of faith in this pedal/di. However the proof will be in the pudding when I get to let rip with my bass rig. I hope it delivers on what I'm looking for. Tube grit, not farty mud.

[Wil]

Sansamps sound fantastic to me. My head is afaik a BDDI and Paradriver with a power amp, and I love it! Very versatile and a massive range of rock bass tones.

[Bottle]

Cool stuff!!

I got my Para-driver last year - works a treat to feed my power-amp with some grit (I'm running tri-amped this weekend - the grit will be handled by a pair of 12" cabs). Glad to see yours is working out the way you intended.

I've found some useful YouTube clips of it in action - it's perfectly OK to use on guitar as well (might use it on acoustic as well to warm things up a bit - if I'm on PA it sometimes can sound a little 'sterile' and crisp, OK if you're after that tone, but sometimes handy to mix a little warmth into a spare channel on the mixing desk and go from there)

Good luck when it comes to gigging - I've been very happy with mine in a live setting - range of tone available is phenomenal

HTH, Ian

[Lifer]

I quite tempted by the programmable 3 ch one, is it the same internals in a different box?

[algmusic]

[quote name='Lifer' post='877254' date='Jun 25 2010, 11:32 AM']I quite tempted by the programmable 3 ch one, is it the same internals in a different box?[/quote]

I've the 3 channel.. it's great for gigs if you want different sounds or volumes during the gig or a different bass.. and it helps when you're starting out remembering what sounds good and sounds guys love them.. (just don't give them to much bass (more than75%) or the mix might sound muddy..

I know i'm being fussy.. its shame you can't get the sanamp sound through DI and a bypass sound out that goes into you cab as well as the coloured sound.. I'm just being geeky..

It's great for recording either at home or in the studio tooo . the think the 'blend' dial is the important key to it

[Lifer]

[quote name='algmusic' post='877267' date='Jun 25 2010, 11:45 AM']I've the 3 channel.. it's great for gigs if you want different sounds or volumes during the gig or a different bass.. and it helps when you're starting out remembering what sounds good and sounds guys love them.. (just don't give them to much bass (more than75%) or the mix might sound muddy..

I know i'm being fussy.. its shame you can't get the sanamp sound through DI and a bypass sound out that goes into you cab as well as the coloured sound.. I'm just being geeky..

It's great for recording either at home or in the studio tooo . the think the 'blend' dial is the important key to it[/quote]

There's probably a way to do it with some sort of splitter pedal...

Just need to fix and sell my old peavey and I reckons I'll be getting one of these then

[Mr. Foxen]

[quote name='algmusic' post='877267' date='Jun 25 2010, 11:45 AM']I know i'm being fussy.. its shame you can't get the sanamp sound through DI and a bypass sound out that goes into you cab as well as the coloured sound.. I'm just being geeky..[/quote]

The single BDDI sansamp has a parallel out jack to do that. Really missed it when I went to the programmable, so had to go back.

[johnnylager]

[quote name='Lifer' post='877254' date='Jun 25 2010, 11:32 AM']I quite tempted by the programmable 3 ch one, is it the same internals in a different box?[/quote]
Nope, yer Paradriver loses the Presence control & gains Mid & Mid Freq controls you can use to offset the Sansamp mid-suck tendency. If I had to get one again, I'd get the Paradriver, again.

Edited June 25, 2010 by johnnylager

[escholl]

[quote name='Lifer' post='877254' date='Jun 25 2010, 11:32 AM']I quite tempted by the programmable 3 ch one, is it the same internals in a different box?[/quote]
I love my three channel one, I think it's basically the same thing without the parallel out. No mid control, but you can more or less get round that by clever use of the EQ and blend knobs, just like the original -- I run quite a mid heavy sound, and have never had an issue. Everything is stored as a preset, so once you set it up, that's it, you're done. It's also really well built, a great sounding DI, and sound guys love it.

[algmusic]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='877306' date='Jun 25 2010, 12:33 PM']The single BDDI sansamp has a parallel out jack to do that. Really missed it when I went to the programmable, so had to go back.[/quote]


Hmm.. a new toy me thinks.. the mrs is going to kill me I just bought a bass on tuesday It's a shame the 3 channel didn't have it though

[Prime_BASS]

What made me choose the paradriver over the bass driver was the mid controls.

The way the mid works on the bass driver isn't for me.

I finally got chance to use it with my rig with some real volume, I love all the bass sample settings, the active simulator is wierd.
Again to get the OD I liked, I started with the SVT sample setting, backed off the treble, upped the bass and lowered the mid frequency to get a warmer sound, then set gain to jaw shaking.

Have a gig coming up this Sunday so I will see what the sound guy has to say, and how it works with my OTB in a live situation.

I would have probably benifited from the proggramable version that way I could have had a clean channel and a dirt channel.

[Wil]

For me I set the mid freq. at about 3 o'clock, give the mids and bass a touch of boost, and back the treble off a touch. Instant punch!

[Prime_BASS]

Even more tinkering was had

I can now achieve a cleaner sound through the OTB. I set the gain on the the amp enough to buzz slighty and punch, then used the box's output pad.

Got miles more clean head room now

[wateroftyne]

I picked up a Para Driver after fighting with the SansAmp's mid suck for a year or so. Even with the mid control on the Para Driver I still couldn't get any decent mids out of it. There's still an inherent scoop that you have to put back in - and it didn't do it very naturally, IMO. I ended up with an EBS MBII which sounded much more natural.

I can see why the Para Driver will appeal to some, though.

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='878615' date='Jun 27 2010, 08:38 AM']I picked up a Para Driver after fighting with the SansAmp's mid suck for a year or so. Even with the mid control on the Para Driver I still couldn't get any decent mids out of it. There's still an inherent scoop that you have to put back in - and it didn't do it very naturally, IMO. I ended up with an EBS MBII which sounded much more natural.

I can see why the Para Driver will appeal to some, though.[/quote]

Haha, I just searched the EBS and the first result was your review.

The more I use it the more I notice that mid scoop, but I'm quite generous with the mid, to add some back and bring back the warmth.

I suppose the mid scoop is good for those who are using the drive a lot.

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='878647' date='Jun 27 2010, 09:35 AM']Haha, I just searched the EBS and the first result was your review.

The more I use it the more I notice that mid scoop, but I'm quite generous with the mid, to add some back and bring back the warmth.

I suppose the mid scoop is good for those who are using the drive a lot.[/quote]
Absolutely!

The reason it bothered me so much is that I use a fretless P quite a bit. In the mix at a gig, I'd swap from the fretted P to the fretless, and it sounded pretty much the same...!

[ezbass]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='878650' date='Jun 27 2010, 09:39 AM']I'd swap from the fretted P to the fretless, and it sounded pretty much the same...![/quote]

I used to have that problem with my old Ashdown rig as the 2x10 cabs were voiced with a mid scoop, I get a much better fretless sound with my Schroeder 1212.

[Prime_BASS]

Overall, I think it's pretty hard to get a transparent signal through anything 'solid state'. With some settings, both my custom jazz, fender jag and Epi EB-1 all sound roughly similar with very little to distinguish between them.

[algmusic]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='879396' date='Jun 28 2010, 12:02 AM']Overall, I think it's pretty hard to get a transparent signal through anything 'solid state'. With some settings, both my custom jazz, fender jag and Epi EB-1 all sound roughly similar with very little to distinguish between them.[/quote]


I agree.. I guess most of us are looking for the balance between warmth, punch and a distinct tone, which you get from a tube amp.. but my back couldn't handle that on gigging a number of times a week... on tour.. yes.. at a wedding with your own back... hmmm maybe not.

I like the fact I can take most of my rig on the train (minus the extention cab), which means gigs in the city are a breeze are getting a lift with another band member is easier etc ao for that reason, with my little mark and orange cab... i'm old

[rmorris]

[quote name='Lifer' post='877269' date='Jun 25 2010, 11:49 AM']There's probably a way to do it with some sort of splitter pedal...

Just need to fix and sell my old peavey and I reckons I'll be getting one of these then [/quote]

it's just an unbuffered split of the signal ( please correct me if I'm wrong about that ) so you just need to sort out a 'Y' connection with a cable or a metal box and a few jack sockets. a bit of hassle sure , but worth it if it's the pedal you want to use ?

[Prime_BASS]

I guess I kinda did the ultimate test.

I hooked te driver into my oranges effects return, which cuts out the nice warm tubes. With the parrallel out feeding my orange ad140 (all tube)

First I worked on getting a flat signal through driver. I A/B with the dry signal until I got something I couldn't distinguish between them. When setup like this it takes away the apparently "colouring" pre-amp stage.

For anyone else wanting a flat(ish) signal with the box engaged I notched the bass a tad up, between 12 and 1, the mid at 3 with mid frequency set at 750 then notched treble to nearly 11.

Great now I have my dry signal (surprisingly nice) a flat signal through the box and an all tube amp to compare.

The driver does an a warmth to the signal but compared to my all tube head it sounds slightly artificial. Also it supposed to emulate the tube compression, I witnessed no such thing. However the signal when it's engaged does sound nice, there's no harsh peaks and it's warm enough to notice and in a real situation you wouldn't notice the difference.

Ok good test?

The thing is sometimes I do feel that it's more a warm DI with some amp simulation, rather than tube amp emulation.

[algmusic]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' post='891865' date='Jul 11 2010, 11:48 AM']I guess I kinda did the ultimate test.

I hooked te driver into my oranges effects return, which cuts out the nice warm tubes. With the parrallel out feeding my orange ad140 (all tube)

First I worked on getting a flat signal through driver. I A/B with the dry signal until I got something I couldn't distinguish between them. When setup like this it takes away the apparently "colouring" pre-amp stage.

For anyone else wanting a flat(ish) signal with the box engaged I notched the bass a tad up, between 12 and 1, the mid at 3 with mid frequency set at 750 then notched treble to nearly 11.

Great now I have my dry signal (surprisingly nice) a flat signal through the box and an all tube amp to compare.

The driver does an a warmth to the signal but compared to my all tube head it sounds slightly artificial. Also it supposed to emulate the tube compression, I witnessed no such thing. However the signal when it's engaged does sound nice, there's no harsh peaks and it's warm enough to notice and in a real situation you wouldn't notice the difference.

Ok good test?[/quote]

Very good test. 'warmth' is the key word. But I think that's why tube pre amps/solid power amps are starting to appeal to this problem. I've been looking at markbass tube, shuttle 6.0 or 9 and possible the terror bass but I hearthe EQs don't relate change the sound much

The thing is sometimes I do feel that it's more a warm DI with some amp simulation, rather than tube amp emulation.

Edited July 11, 2010 by algmusic

[Prime_BASS]

I guess it's good at the warm DI bit as I've gone straight to the PA with that mxr di thing an that was rather cold an clinical, if the hi fi sound is for you, you won't get it with the paradriver. However I did use this with my Marshall practice amp into the power amp in and it does do a good job of emulating tube pre amp, although it's very quiet compared to using it straight into to the amps input.

I can also add that yes the oranges EQ is very very subtle.