Palmer, THD + H&K or Line6?

The Palmer has been highly recommended, but I'm not familiar with it myself. The red box failed, badly, to impress me. The line 6 stuff sounds revolting. Look for an H&K Cream Machine, or the Blues master aka Crunch master.

 

Groove tubes also has a product that is both an attenuator and speaker sim; the Speaker Emulator II. I like mine quite a bit, apart from the instruction manual, and play my Lone Star Special through it all the time.

 

I'm not sure how loud you actually have the volume in front of your 414, but there certainly is a limit to the SPL that they can handle. You might be fine, but caution is smart.

About the recording method - I've been through many of them (except for the iso cab) and the Palmer has been the best so far. I have two PDI-09s, I had a PGA-04 for a week, then returned it in favor of a PDI-03, which is the creme-de-la-creme of amp sims. It also has a speaker load built in, so it's an all in one for recording amps. I'd recommend going the Palmer route if you're still not happy with the low-volume and 414 thing.

 

I was hoping to send you a PM, but couldn't.

The capsule of the 414 itself could be harmed, especially if you're already padding the mic and it's still so loud. Once again, I'm not saying that you ARE doing this, but that it's a possibility.

The PDI-03 is the model that EVH used to use. Maybe he still does - I don't know. It's become well known for it's sound, which most people who have used it say is as good as it gets.

 

http://palmergear.com/interview_schmitz.html

The above link is to an interview with the designer. He also talks about the PGA-04 a bit. There's more in this interview than you ever wanted to know about Palmer.

 

to my ears, the red Behringer cab sim at 1/2 the price sounds much more like a cab than the H&K. Also, if you don't mind discontinued stuff, check out old ADA Cab sims.

 

Optimus Prime - if I sound like I'm holding back info about the Palmer, it's because I am. I'd rather not let the secret out, but since it already seems to be out, here's a bit more info:

First of all DO NOT buy one used. $1500 for a PDI-03 is robbery, plain and simple. That guy is hoping to get rid of his before the public realizes that they're going to be making these boxes once again. The new ones will be the same as the old - that came straight from the horses mouth, out of Schmitz's interview.

It's still going to be expensive, but more like 1/3 the price that that thief is trying to get for his.

Also, it's going to be at least another month before these are ready, and probably longer. If you need something now, look elsewhere (but NOT the Behringer. I wouldn't use Behringer gear as a paperweight, and their ethics and business practices are the worst of any company I've ever heard of.)

You could, if you already have a load box, buy a Palmer PDI-09, which has a fantastic amp simulator, then add a load box to that 09. The 09 has a direct out for recording, and a "thru" which is where your load box would go. It sounds great. I have two Egnater modular racks (M4) and both use the 09. Wonderful sound and only about $120. The 03 is better (it won't distort whereas the 09 will at times. Not bad, but it's there), but the two sound pretty similar.

 

I've never used a Palmerthat I liked yet, but the old ADA MicroCab II does a good job for me as a speaker sim *only*.
You will setill need a load box like a THD Hotplate.
Still less than a Palmer.

As far as the AKG, I've run a 414 in front of a loud amp many times without any problems, as long as it's not in front of a wide open 100watter, you should be ok.

 

the pdi09 sounds like a great unit. Any suggestions on where to get one (in the US?)?

 

What I've been doing late at night, in lieu of the availability of a PDI-03 (which I'm jonesing for), is using gear I've already owned for years. I plug my guitar or pedals direct into an Avalon VT-737 tube channel strip as a preamp (w/compression and EQ if I want it), then from there to the line level input of a Pod Pro, from there at line level to a Focusrite Red Mic pre and then into the A/D converter. I run the Avalon at the "High Gain" setting to get any distortion at that stage rather than later in the chain.

I wouldn't call it the easiest rig in the world to set up quickly as the level matching can be tricky. Past the Avalon's tube, I don't like anything else to be clipping or even near it. But I keep my notes, and I've gotten some excellent sounds - as good as I could hope for outside a real miked amp. It certainly sounds a whole lot better than the Pod alone, much richer, ballsy and more full.

 

If you're using the Avalon for gain, what's the POD doing in there? And the Focusrite... Do you need all that for tone? Why not just the Avalon into the A/D... That would be easy to set up.

 

>> If you're using the Avalon for gain, what's the POD doing in there?

The Avalon, even when I'm pushing the tube, doesn't sound like a guitar amp or speaker cab. The Pod adds that coloration.

I've tried it the other way around, Pod then tube pre, and I prefer it this way. Richer tone.

>> And the Focusrite... Do you need all that for tone?

No, not specifically for tone. I keep the Pod's output level fairly low because it's finicky and sounds like crap when it's too high. The Focusrite brings it back up to a good recording level nice and easy.

 

Right, and that's why I asked you about this. In your previous post you said, "I run the Avalon at the 'High Gain' setting to get any distortion at that stage rather than later in the chain."

The above statement is why I figured that you were using the Avalon for distortion.

I'm still confused by the purpose of each box in that chain, especially when it's such a hard thing to set up. Put the Avalon after the POD and get rid of the Focurite entirely. That would make it easier to set up.