Triton fethead quick test

[~BURNY~]

Just a quick setup, using Metalistic's DI tracks (hope you don't mind) with a SM57 with and without the Triton Audio In-line preamp.
I tried to match the levels as much as possible hence the peak limiting.

http://www.speedyshare.com/534218220.html


Triton audio website:
http://www.tritonaudio.com/tritonau...m_simpleshop&Itemid=30&cmd=product&product=10

Thoughts?

 

[Soundlurker]

Hm, pretty noticeable difference, the fethead is tighter, more focused and a bit brighter.

BTW, it's not Metalistic

 

[~BURNY~]

BTW, it's not Metalistic

Haha! Who is it then? Anyway, credits to the author.

 

[Soundlurker]

Well, it's him... if you mean Metaltastic

Thanks for the clips, btw. Another thing in the looong list of things to buy ...

 

[~BURNY~]

¯\(°_o)/¯

 

[Soundlurker]

So have you tried it on a ribbon mic? I think that's where it will really shine since you need the extra gain and it's also cool that you don't have to worry about phantom power damaging the mic.

 

[JeffTD]

This thing would probably be genius with an SM7b if you don't have a preamp with a ton of clean gain!

 

[Metaltastic]

Hahaha, thanks for the correction Shadow And yeah, I feel the Fethead track is more open sounding (less muffled), though I'm not necessarily sure if that's a good thing, cuz I could see it also bringing a certain harshness; what pre-amp were you running for the "withoutTriton" clip? And I assume when you made the fethead clip you used the same preamp and just engaged phantom power and brought the gain way down? Cuz it's surprising to me that something that as far as I can tell is just supposed to be a clean signal booster makes such a noticeable difference on the tone...

 

[JeffTD]

Cuz it's surprising to me that something that as far as I can tell is just supposed to be a clean signal booster makes such a noticeable difference on the tone...

Same theory as a tubescreamer . Increased input strength + decreased amp gain = cleaner tone.

 

[~BURNY~]

So have you tried it on a ribbon mic? I think that's where it will really shine since you need the extra gain and it's also cool that you don't have to worry about phantom power damaging the mic.

Yes, I tried on my modified apex 205 and the difference is very noticeable.

This thing would probably be genius with an SM7b if you don't have a preamp with a ton of clean gain!

Indeed and it's very silent.

Hahaha, thanks for the correction Shadow And yeah, I feel the Fethead track is more open sounding (less muffled), though I'm not necessarily sure if that's a good thing, cuz I could see it also bringing a certain harshness; what pre-amp were you running for the "withoutTriton" clip? And I assume when you made the fethead clip you used the same preamp and just engaged phantom power and brought the gain way down? Cuz it's surprising to me that something that as far as I can tell is just supposed to be a clean signal booster makes such a noticeable difference on the tone...

Yeah, thanks Shadow Wanker... j/k

The signal chain was kind of an experiment:

BTE TSS+Wagner Sharp----->RMP--->Blackheart Little giant instrument input---->Harley Benton 4x12---->SM57----->Fethead---->Firepod mic in w/48v

The difference lies in the input impedance load I think.

 

[Metaltastic]

Same theory as a tubescreamer . Increased input strength + decreased amp gain = cleaner tone.

But that's not the theory behind a TS, though - I used to think it was, but James was the first to correct me in this thread, and then Lord Broll (in the TS FAQ) explained that the "tightness" and "cleanness" a TS imparts is in fact a result of the filtering effect the particular type of distortion circuit in those pedals has, rather than any gain boosting (which is why since then I always adjust the level control on mine for unity gain between on and off)

 

[Metaltastic]

The difference lies in the input impedance load I think.

AH, that makes sense - I assume then that the FEThead has a significantly higher input impedance?

 

[~BURNY~]

AH, that makes sense - I assume then that the FEThead has a significantly higher input impedance?

I suck at electronic stuff but I believe it raise the input impedance of the firepod preamp or something like that.

 

[~BURNY~]

And yeah, I feel the Fethead track is more open sounding (less muffled), though I'm not necessarily sure if that's a good thing, cuz I could see it also bringing a certain harshness

It certainly requires to dial the amp differently.

 

[JeffTD]

But that's not the theory behind a TS, though - I used to think it was, but James was the first to correct me in this thread, and then Lord Broll (in the TS FAQ) explained that the "tightness" and "cleanness" a TS imparts is in fact a result of the filtering effect the particular type of distortion circuit in those pedals has, rather than any gain boosting (which is why since then I always adjust the level control on mine for unity gain between on and off)

You're right in part - a huge reason why we all love the TS is the bass cut/midboost and treble-smoothing effect it gives. That said, there's still a huge market of pedals that are touted as 'clean boosts,' that do similar things as the TS, without the frequency shifts (Xotic, Klon, AMT, FullTone, etc.). I should've said 'theory behind a clean boost,' but same diff.

 

[Metaltastic]

Well I think those clean boosts (like the Seymour Duncan one I mentioned to in the above necrothread) are more for the old (outdated) practice of overdriving an amp that didn't have enough saturation even with the gain maxed (old Fenders and the like); I'm pretty sure if you played your amp with a certain amount of gain, then kicked in one of those pedals and dropped the amp gain so it would match, there would be little to no difference, certainly not any low-end tightening.

 

[Metaltastic]

And because of that, btw, I've always felt calling a TS a "clean boost" is a misnomer, both because a) that's not how we generally use it around here and b) it's not even clean anyway!

 

[JeffTD]

I'm not speaking of a low end tightening in this case - I'm speaking of a cleaner sound gained from having higher input strength, having to use less amp gain (and thus coloration), and effectively reducing the noise introduced by the preamp. As such, it is a clean boost in the traditional sense of the word.
.
For this reason I think the Fethead would work better with cheaper, more prosumer pres as opposed to nicer pres (API, Neve, SSL, etc.), that are desirable for how they color the sound.

 

[Soundlurker]

Yes, I tried on my modified apex 205 and the difference is very noticeable.

Care to post this one too?

Yeah, thanks Shadow Wanker... j/k

No problem, Barny

The signal chain was kind of an experiment:

BTE TSS+Wagner Sharp----->RMP--->Blackheart Little giant instrument input---->Harley Benton 4x12---->SM57----->Fethead---->Firepod mic in w/48v

Interesting chain, indeed. What do you think about the Little Giant? How loud and how quiet does it go?

 

[Metaltastic]

I'm not speaking of a low end tightening in this case - I'm speaking of a cleaner sound gained from having higher input strength, having to use less amp gain (and thus coloration), and effectively reducing the noise introduced by the preamp. As such, it is a clean boost in the traditional sense of the word.
.
For this reason I think the Fethead would work better with cheaper, more prosumer pres as opposed to nicer pres (API, Neve, SSL, etc.), that are desirable for how they color the sound.

Gotcha