LR Baggs Para Acoustic D.I.

Wow is all I can say! I plugged this into the snake where the old DI box was, hooked up my Taylor 714CE and finally got the sound I've been working towards for a year now. Previously, I had to turn my on board pre amp volume all the way up, then turn my effects pedal (ZOOM G3) all the way up, plus some boost and still could barely hear myself in my monitor. Even then the sound was always "tinny", with that ugly under-saddle piezo "slap-twang" that I hate. Now I can tailor my Taylor on the fly (I keep the Para Acoustic on my music stand) from a balanced sound across all 6 strings when strumming, to a higher-treble emphasis when doing lead-runs. I can actually hear my Taylor amplified as if it were unplugged. I'm pretty sure a new, non-equalized DI box would probably have helped with the volume issues, but being able to customize the sound is worth the extra expense. Now I'm not a slave to the way the sound guys EQ my guitars. Plus, the effects channel is great for plugging in my electric through my pedal board and thus I can easily switch from the Taylor to my Strat while keeping the acoustic sound unaffected by the Zoom G3. I still have the option of running the effects through the Para Acoustic and using my A/B box to connect either the electric or the acoustic in case I want some delay in the acoustic. Perhaps the "magic" is due the fact that I use the LR Baggs "Anthem" mic plus piezo under saddle combo with the Para Acoustic, but it should work with any pickup system and best of all it's wonderful to have full control of my sound again. Just to compare, I also purchased a Headway EDM-1 mini pre-amp, but it lacks a gain control and the resulting feedback made the sound booth give me ugly looks. It was soon returned to Guitar Center for a refund. Lesson learned: you gotta have a gain control, not just volume. Anyway, if you want the sound you want from your guitar, get a Para Acoustic and finally achieve satisfaction - a rare commodity in this world.

I've used these little brown boxes for 30 years between an acoustic guitar with a Baggs M1 pickup and a PA system. They are fantastic and nothing needs to changed from the original design that Baggs created 50 years ago.

I bought one after trying a friend’s unit. Great sound and control with unusual but effective EQ and a phase switch that really helps defeat feedback. Well built and sturdy. Sound guys always seem to dig it. Live or recording, I find it easy to dial in a pleasing acoustic guitar tone with either piezo or under-bridge pickups. And I can fit mine in it’s original box inside the compartment of my guitar case along with a capo, a slide and a handful of picks. Only complaint is that the input level control seems to be quite sensitive to slight adjustments, a minor quibble. It pairs especially well with active pickup systems I have in two guitars that are also LR Baggs products. Runs on phantom power, which saves the battery.

Really excellent DI. I play violin professionally, mostly classical, and I recently got an LR Baggs violin bridge pick up installed on one of my fine violins. Paired with this amazing DI box, I can shape the sound to bring out a great acoustic violin sound at high volumes (cocktail hours, dinner parties, busking on the street, etc.) I get absolutely NO feedback, unlike other pick ups I've tried. Even though the bridge pick up is passive, I have the gain at near zero and it's still a really hot signal going to the board, or right into my PA via xlr output. It took several hours to find just the right settings, but once I did the results are worth it. This thing is heavy and solid, I keep it in its original box with foam when transporting it. Both to save wear and tear, and to keep my settings exact. Great job, Baggs...

This is an essential piece of equipment for the acoustic electric guitarist. It enables you to fine tune your sound, eliminate feedback, taylor your sound to the venue in which you are playing in multiple dimensions. It will make your sound come alive even if the PA system isn't that great. It enables you to attain the richest sound possible out of what ever pickup and guitar you are using. I don't use this as a vocal pre-amp as I think something like the Presonus pre tube is far superior for vocal applications. You will be excited about how good your sound is with this pre-amp. One note; this requires some uninterrupted time and listening to dial it in but well worth the end result for your efforts and once it's dialed in you should only need to make minor adjustments thereafter. Buy it!

So, I bought this before a big tour for which we were only playing acoustic shows. I play guitar mainly, and before this I had only played electric guitar in larger venues, so I did some experimenting with a few DIs. Let me start by saying that at this point in my life/career as a musician, I firmly believe the DI doesn't matter nearly as much as the sound engineer (or hell, the musician playing!). As in, regardless of your DI, the engineer can either make you sound horrid or great. That being said, I've had some sound guys who are very happy that you have come equipped with a DI that makes his job a little easier. This DI is one of those. Sadly, I did not take this on that tour. I opted for a Fishman Aura DI which had some acoustic modeling in it. I actually think that DI is great as well. The LR Baggs is way less fancy, but what it does it does well. I did wind up returning in and kept the Fishman, but I often think I should have kept this as well... it was different, but not necessarily worse (and way cheaper!). I will note that the notch can be a little tough to nail down, and sometimes there might be feedback or odd frequencies buzzes/sounds that you simply can't nail out without gutting the tone. But overall, I've heard this thing make my guitar sing, and have seen some other musicians I love and respect use it to great effect as well. Truthfully, I haven't used it with a wide variety of pickups. It seemed to do more magic for my piezo pickup than my soundhole pickup, but I think soundhole pickups in general sound better from the get go so no big surprise there. However, I've seen it work pretty well with just about any size/body style guitar, so I think it's a pretty versatile little DI. I'd probably recommend this for smaller venues/shows where there is no sound engineer or the sound engineer probably doesn't know what he's doing. It does give you a lot of control over general tone and decent feedback control as well. In summary: Pros: -Good build quality -Lots of tone control -Definitely does what a DI should do, and acts as a nice pre-amp -XLR and quarter inch ins and outs -Notch for feedback control Cons: -Can take a little while to "learn the ropes" and make the most out of it -Notch control can feel tough to use and sometimes will wind up gutting too much of a frequency/suck too much tone Truthfully though, I don't think you can do much better for the price.

I mounted a LR baggs passive pickup on a Martin DM guitar, but the output was so low it was really hard to pre-amplify it properly. Before switching to an active pick-up, I decided to try this DI. Not only it worked perfectly for me, adding a surprising amount of gain without noise and balancing the low frequencies and "airy" highs, but I tried it on a friend's fishman pre-amped Yamaha. The guitar acquired a much more present sound, and a fair "punch". The device is sturdy, works perfectly with the phantom power (great feature, no need to use batteries if aren't scared of power shortage), and permits some extra filtering of the sound via the unbalanced output (I found myself enjoying the effects of my electric guitar, e.g. the line6 pod, when connected after this box). Simple to use, no complaints so far.

This DI is magic. While it doesn't produce the miracle of sounding like your guitar is mic'ed (really, how could it?) it gets really close and my guitar has never sounded better. It adds body to the thinned out piezo sound of my Fender (with entry level fishman electronics) and put it on par with the higher end acoustics played by musicians at our church. Obviously the benefits are not having to worry about feedback any more than normal but adding a much fuller, truer sound. The EQ is excellent and I love being able to improve the sound of anything plugged into it, as opposed to spending a bunch of money on each instrument. For anyone playing in a band and wants more out of their guitar but doesn't want to sacrifice the convenience of plugging in, I highly recommend this product!