Does this work as a preamp volume booster ? I'm going back and forth between this and the pb-100. I'm acoustic but my main concern is volume
575793
This works better as a tone enhancer. This provides a limited amount of amplification and would not have the amount needed to boost a non amplified piezo pickup.
575794
Yes it does. I have an acoustic with a pick up and no volume control and have always had a problem getting volume up enough at different venues. This DI does it well. Can't beat it for the money.
575795
It does boost the signal (and has some tone adjustment that I like). We use it to preamp the transducer pickup attached to the sound board of an orchestral harp so it can be heard in an electric band. If we plug the transducer straight into the board we have to run the channel volume around 9 to keep up. With the AD121 we can run the board volume around 4 with MUCH better sound. The ground loop lift is a nice plus. I'm not familiar with the pb-100 so I can't compare the two. We do use a battery eliminator power supply so I don't know how long batteries last.
575796
I can't say how well the V Tone amplifies magnetic pickups, but it does very well for the (passive) piezos in my guitar. I've never used a pb100, but I see that it has two bands of eq. (bass and treble). The V Tone has a bass and treble eq., plus a sweepable mid band eq. That sweepable mid band is a feature that like, and find very useful. I also like the feature of V Tone's direct out, for patching into a mixer. Not knowing your specific situation, I would still gamble on the V tone. They're not all that expensive, and have more features than the Pb-100.
575797
Yes, it works quite well to boost your volume, but does much more to improve your sound. And you control how much of the "processed sound" you want to add to your "dry" sound. This is an amazing tool for the price...I wouldn't want to play without it now.
575798
I would have to say that the AD121 does work as a preamp. I am sorry, I have never used the pb-100 by behringer so I can't offer any comparison. I use Martin OOCXAE, which has Fishman electronics. By itself, the Martin sounds good, with the AD121 I feel it sound is louder and I am able to tweek my sound and tailor it to my taste. I still can preserve the acoustic/electric sound with out it getting muddied up from too much processing.
1045445
Jim,Yes. I use mine with a 250 watt per channel amp and it sounds great, and the speakers can handle it. However,if you crank an amp too high, too much power can damage just about any speaker. However, a quality high power amp doesn't necessarily just make things louder but reaches into the signal and pulls more out of it (nuances) for you to hear and enjoy. In that case, these Pioneer speakers paired with my amp/preamp pulls out and makes prominent sounds and nuances in the music I hadn't heard before- or hadn't been aware of. So, to close, don't let a high power amp deter you from getting these speakers. If anything it will make the sound richer for you to enjoy.Regards, Hank Jim,Yes. I use mine with a 250 watt per channel amp and it sounds great, and the speakers can handle it. However,if you crank an amp too high, too much power can damage just about any speaker. However, a quality high power amp doesn't necessarily just make things louder but reaches into the signal and pulls more out of it (nuances) for you to hear and enjoy. In that case, these Pioneer speakers paired with my amp/preamp pulls out and makes prominent sounds and nuances in the music I hadn't heard before- or hadn't been aware of. So, to close, don't let a high power amp deter you... » Read More Jim,Yes. I use mine with a 250 watt per channel amp and it sounds great, and the speakers can handle it. However,if you crank an amp too high, too much power can damage just about any speaker. However, a quality high power amp doesn't necessarily just make things louder but reaches into the signal and pulls more out of it (nuances) for you to hear and enjoy. In that case, these Pioneer speakers paired with my amp/preamp pulls out and makes prominent sounds and nuances in the music I hadn't heard before- or hadn't been aware of. So, to close, don't let a high power amp deter you from getting these speakers. If anything it will make the sound richer for you to enjoy.Regards, Hank « Show Less
2238363
No problem. I use in a one-channel antique jukebox for the phono input. Very few of the modern ones have a phono input anymore and they need a pre-amp. This is a road-warrior amp, and I have used several of them for different projects over the years. One takes the output from my surround sound unit and powers speaker pairs all over the house. Another goo feature is that the off-on switch stays in the position you leave it and can be used in a switched power outlet of a master amp or anything else you want it to respond to. I keep coming back to this amp and have been very happy with them...especially the price and availability. No problem. I use in a one-channel antique jukebox for the phono input. Very few of the modern ones have a phono input anymore and they need a pre-amp. This is a road-warrior amp, and I have used several of them for different projects over the years. One takes the output from my surround sound unit and powers speaker pairs all over the house. Another goo feature is that the off-on switch stays in the position you leave it and can be used in a switched power outlet of a master amp or anything else you want it to respond to. I keep coming back to this amp and have been very happy with... » Read More No problem. I use in a one-channel antique jukebox for the phono input. Very few of the modern ones have a phono input anymore and they need a pre-amp. This is a road-warrior amp, and I have used several of them for different projects over the years. One takes the output from my surround sound unit and powers speaker pairs all over the house. Another goo feature is that the off-on switch stays in the position you leave it and can be used in a switched power outlet of a master amp or anything else you want it to respond to. I keep coming back to this amp and have been very happy with them...especially the price and availability. « Show Less
241159
I agree with ccapehart on this amp. I have it pushing 1 12" in a ported enclosure and I have the gain turned up about 2/3's w/4 volt preamp input. Class D amps are a better choice. I mainly got this amp because price was a factor.
2217227
It sounds good. It is best for acoustic if you run thru a preamp first,I have a dean markley pickup on an older Martin and it needed the signal boost.But it plays an electric very nicely. Not a lot of special effects though. So you'd have to add that pedals for that.
1678512
No this will not give you more bass!!!Save your money money!I have tried two pre amps with this unit.I purchased this amp to be a back up amp,and i have let it break in with my bryston and my usp-1pre amp.Just buy a polk audio or a martin logan sub woofer.I bought the martin logan for 129.00 great sub for the price...
1782345
if it is an audio technica atpl120, then it already has a phono preamp, so if you hook it up to a stereo or headphones, you should be hearing it in full volume control. so I would think just hooking it up to your headphones will give you full volume. 1980s or older turntables don't have a preamp so they relied on specially revamped phono audio hookups, but yours already is preamped so you don not need any addition preamp devices.
1229626
Alex - You need to explain and understand your setup and budget. If you are using this for primary source of music and need to drive prof speakers or just casual listening with avg pair of speakers. Power amp cannot be used directly with PC; try M1Sdac or M1 Clic as pre amp and use that to drive the volume on M1Pwr - as the latter has fixed volume. Better solution would be to have powered speakers - Genelac or Krk would you be good bets presuming you have the $s.
1640994
Hooking this unit to your phono input will result in RIAA EQ being applied twice to the signal. You will get the boost but the sound will be terrible. You'd be also running the risk of saturating that input and damage it. The same company sells a MM/MC preamp for slightly more. I'd buy and use that instead.
830754
All phono preamps will drop the volume a little bit because of the gain, don't let that make your decision for you on which preamp to buy let the ultimate sound from the amp make the decision for you a little volume drop is no big deal
2222815
This will work as a phono stage/ preamp/ headphone amplifier. Will it sound better? That's subjective. If you don't like it just return it.
2145002
Oh yes it will improve your Bass, you can adjust it to different levels, Mid bass, Hi's Lo's, fade (for speakers) and Volume on the EQ. So you don't have to turn the Volume on the Amp. It's a great unit at an affordable price. I love mine, I bet you will to.
543009
This is a preamp and don't really add much power/volume. You may need to adjust the mic closer or bump up the amp.
1567501
if your turntable doesn´t have a phono output the volume will always be weak, that´s why you need this preamp to boost your signal to a line level like "aux input". Yes, it´ll work, but I recomend the Berhinger one, which cost the same, I returned my Pyle-pro, it doesnt have the best perform and sometimes comes defective.
1896370
I have used this unit as a preamp to go directly into my recording interface and I remember being able to get a usable tone without getting too hot of a signal. I have not tested it with a voltage meter or gone direct into a headphone amp. With the amp setup I currently use, I can dial in a crunch tone with little volume boost (maybe even some volume reduction), or a good deal of volume boost. In my opinion and of the opinion of many a guitar players that have tested my rig, the pedal is surprisingly usable as compared to other Boss of EHX pedals I have purchased. In addition, the price isn't hard to swallow. I have used this unit as a preamp to go directly into my recording interface and I remember being able to get a usable tone without getting too hot of a signal. I have not tested it with a voltage meter or gone direct into a headphone amp. With the amp setup I currently use, I can dial in a crunch tone with little volume boost (maybe even some volume reduction), or a good deal of volume boost. In my opinion and of the opinion of many a guitar players that have tested my rig, the pedal is surprisingly usable as compared to other Boss of EHX pedals I have purchased. In addition, the price... » Read More I have used this unit as a preamp to go directly into my recording interface and I remember being able to get a usable tone without getting too hot of a signal. I have not tested it with a voltage meter or gone direct into a headphone amp. With the amp setup I currently use, I can dial in a crunch tone with little volume boost (maybe even some volume reduction), or a good deal of volume boost. In my opinion and of the opinion of many a guitar players that have tested my rig, the pedal is surprisingly usable as compared to other Boss of EHX pedals I have purchased. In addition, the price isn't hard to swallow. « Show Less
1319058
I made a mistake...I have two Behringer amps...this is the smaller one....it is only 20 watts and won't do a great job of supporting all that you want to accomplish. I can't see this doing a good job at benig a PA. You may want to look at the Behringer Ultratone K900. This one has the 3 inputs and can support what you are looking for; 85 Watts
1389477
I have never tried it with a mic. I would be hesitent because one of the things that makes this DI/preamp sound good with piezo pickups is its high impedence input. Mics tend to have low impedence output.