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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

I bought the Para Di for live purpose. i own an admira juanita electro classical and the piezo pick up makes the high pitched sounds really sharp. The para di works well and it looks solid. Read the instructions, it explains good how to use it. But I must say that i was hoping that the para di would solve alone my problem and it is not the case. i think that a piezo pick up always makes the strings attack sounds louder, especially for classical guitar and especially if like me you play also with a pick. The solution might be to add a compressor (i am looking for buying the FMR RNC) and/or to invest in a different pick up (dual source or problend)... As for the Para Di, it is a good equalizer, and it is a relief to have a little control on my tone on stage and not to leave everything to the sound man.

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!

Brilliant addition for an acoustic instrument. Allows mandolin, guitar, banjo or violin output to be adjusted to sound great especially if it has a piezo pickup. Check out the YouTube video review of this product for more info about this product.

Ich nutze den L.R. Baggs Para in Verbindung mit dem Fishman Ellipse Matrix Blend , der neben dem üblichen Piezo über eine zusätzliche Abnahme per eingebautem Mikrofon unter dem Schallloch verfügt und somit in bestimmten Bereichen und Einstellungen anfällig für Rückkopplungen ist. Trotz des an sich schon sehr guten Klang des Tonabnehmers (direkt ins Pult oder in den Amp) geht mit der Para noch ein bisschen mehr: eingestöpselt hatte ich von Anfang an das Gefühl, dass der Klang durch die Para noch aufgewertet wird, bevor ich überhaupt an einem Knopf gedreht habe. Das Gefühl hat sich bestätigt, als ich verschiedene Gitarren an den Para angeschlossen habe. Alle Klangbilder wurden sofort merklich aufgewertet, waren wärmer und druckvoller in den Tiefen. Natürlich kann man den Sound auch kaputtdrehen. Hier empfiehlt es sich mal wieder, sich Zeit dafür zu nehmen und in Nuancenschritten zu arbeiten. Mittlerweile habe ich DIE Einstellung für meine Hauptgitarre gefunden (die sicherlich rein subjektiv ist), in der der Notchfilter hervorragend dafür sorgt, dass die Höhen nicht übersteuern, aber dennoch klar zu hören sind, während selbst die druckvollen Bässe akzentuiert und sauber klingen. Das Teil wird per 9V-Block betrieben. Parallel kann ein XLR Adapter mit Phantomspeisung angeschlossen werden. Es empfielt sich, trotzdem immer eine Batterie drin zu haben, sollte es mal zu Aussetzern der Stromzufuhr kommen. Die Para ist handlich, hat rutschfeste Noppen an der Unterseite, ist robust und solide verbaut. Ich werde soweit gehen und mir eine zweite zulegen, die ich für ein zweites Akustikset zuschneide, bzw. so einstelle, dass ich an keinem Set etwas ändern muss. Qualität hat ihren Preis und auch wenn es "teuer" anmutet, hat man von dem Teil wahrscheinlich sein ganzes Leben was. Verglichen mit vielen anderen, unbrauchbaren Gimmicks eine ganz eindeutige Kaufempfehlung!

Muy útil para mejorar el sonido de la guitarra acústica en directo. Muy satisfecha.

LR Baggs é um baita equipamento. Estou usando para viola de arco, antes dos pedais. É muito bom!

per prima cosa si resta colpiti dal peso e dall'ottima fattura. Si capisce di avere in mano un prodotto di qualità. Poi il suono in uscita bilanciata è perfetto, nonostante le tante regolazioni (che sono precise e permettono di rimuovere feedback), non si snatura mai il suono nativo dello strumento. Comodissima la possibilità di alimentare tramite batteria 9V o tramite il Cannon (attivando il phantom 48V dal mixer sul quale si collega). Davvero un prodotto professionale