Radial Tone bone PZ or?

[HighAndDry]

I am shopping for a good unit to blend my K & K pickup with my mini flex 2 mic. What other options are out there?

[MrErikJ]

The PZ is a great preamp (I use the PZ Deluxe) but it's not really intended as a dual source blender. It has more than one input but that's intended to allow you more than one instrument.

Also, the PZ is designed for ultra-high impedance piezos (a passive pickup, like the LB6 or Fishman AG series) and the K&K runs on the low end of high-impedance and may not sound the best w/the PZ Deluxe. It might work fine, but its PZB buffer circuit is intended to either drop the gain and impedance for something active (like a Baggs Element) or boost the gain and impedance for something passive (like the LB6). It's a remarkable preamp but it's not a mixer and it's probably not the best fit for the K&K. The impedance mismatch might make the K&K sound muddy, but perhaps someone here has tried it and made it work. A little EQ can go a long way, afterall.

If you want a mixing preamp, K&K has several of their own, and the Headway EDB-2 has a dual source mixing capability AND adjustable impedance for whatever your source is. It's about $365 but the next preamp that compares is probably the Grace Felix which is around a $1000.

I'd recommend seeing what K&K offers.

[lschwart]

If you've got the scratch, and want the blender in pedal-form, this would be the device of choice:

http://www.gracedesign.com/products/felix/felix.htm

Louis

[lkingston]

Zoom A3 would be a good blender option if you want digital effects.

[douglasfan1]

I'm also using miniflex 2 mic (model 7), with sunrise pickup, I have Grace Felix for them & very satisfied!

[HighAndDry]

Originally Posted by MrErikJ

The PZ is a great preamp (I use the PZ Deluxe) but it's not really intended as a dual source blender. It has more than one input but that's intended to allow you more than one instrument.

Also, the PZ is designed for ultra-high impedance piezos (a passive pickup, like the LB6 or Fishman AG series) and the K&K runs on the low end of high-impedance and may not sound the best w/the PZ Deluxe. It might work fine, but its PZB buffer circuit is intended to either drop the gain and impedance for something active (like a Baggs Element) or boost the gain and impedance for something passive (like the LB6). It's a remarkable preamp but it's not a mixer and it's probably not the best fit for the K&K. The impedance mismatch might make the K&K sound muddy, but perhaps someone here has tried it and made it work. A little EQ can go a long way, afterall.

If you want a mixing preamp, K&K has several of their own, and the Headway EDB-2 has a dual source mixing capability AND adjustable impedance for whatever your source is. It's about $365 but the next preamp that compares is probably the Grace Felix which is around a $1000.

I'd recommend seeing what K&K offers.

Thanks a lot. I didn't really know that it wasn't a blender

[HighAndDry]

Originally Posted by lschwart

If you've got the scratch, and want the blender in pedal-form, this would be the device of choice:

http://www.gracedesign.com/products/felix/felix.htm

Louis

That looks very cool. but yes. Pricy!!

[atticus1019]

I blend my fishman ust with my 2 mic using a dtar solstice. You can usually pick one up for not too much more than a pz if you watch the used market. I like it because I have the option to blend at the preamp or send 2 separate signals if I have the channel count at the gig. Also lots of cool insert configurations possible and a very musical eq. If you have a miniflex model 4 the solstice also provides the phantom power required to not have an inline battery pack.

[HighAndDry]

thanks for all your help everyone. The K & K quantum blender and the headway look pretty good. Yes it looks like the grace felix is the cadillac. but pricy!

[lschwart]

Originally Posted by HighAndDry

Thanks a lot. I didn't really know that it wasn't a blender

Just to clarify: the PZ-Pre can work as a blender (it has a switch that either allows switching between the two channels or for blending the two). The drawbacks are lack of phantom power for condenser mics and the fact that it has a single, global EQ section--so you can't EQ differently each channel separately.

Louis

[HighAndDry]

Originally Posted by lschwart

Just to clarify: the PZ-Pre can work as a blender (it has a switch that either allows switching between the two channels or for blending the two). The drawbacks are lack of phantom power for condenser mics and the fact that it has a single, global EQ section--so you can't EQ differently each channel separately.

Louis

Ok thank you. global eq. ya that is less than ideal