Tech 21 Acoustic DI

Well you can get a decent sound right off the bat, but I wouldn't say the controls are obvious. Also it's not a programmable unit, so you basically have to gig with whatever setting you dial in.

Pretty good. Especially for a unit under $200. Lots of tone shaping, good tube emulation, and some nice "cranked" sounds.

Excellent.

Never had to contact them.

FYI - I've been playing about 10 years. My primary music interest is blues and classic rock, and I play mostly an Ovation acoustic/electric.

Well I bought this unit so that I wouldn't have to haul an amp around, and because it claimed to eliminate the harsh pick noise associated with piezo pickups. For the most part, it does get rid of this piezo stacatto. For that reason alone, it's worth the money. Also, the tube emulation is not bad.

My only complaint is that it's not a rack mount, or programmable. Maybe I should buy the PSA-1.

Found it fairly straight forward, even before reading the instructions. Has a 3-band EQ section with adjustable mid frequency, a level knob, that special 'blend' knob (this is supposed to mix the dry piezo tone with a simulated tube-mic tone), and two switches - one to bypass the tone-shaping capabilities of the unit, and another for a -20dB pad. When using the XLR out, it is possible to use the 1/4" 'out' and 'thru-input' connections as an effects loop. Overall, it has a very useful list of features.

The guitars with which I use this unit are 1) Tacoma chief with a fishman prefix piezo/preamp, 2) Godin LGXT (preamped piezo output), and 3) Godin Multiac nylon-string (preamped piezo output). Output from the Tech21 unit goes to either a Peavey 60W keyboard amp, OR a Trace Acoustic Cube, OR direct to a PA system.
I HATE PIEZO QUACK, AND THE 'BLEND' CONTROL on this DI unit helps almost fully eliminate this ! The EQ is also great and helps me selectively cut my mids when playing with my steel-stringers, or boost mids with my multiac nylon. However, my guitars' onboard preamps can also help me attain this - the main reason I got the Acoustic DI is for the 'BLEND' function. I play amplified with my Tacoma or Godin LGXT when accompanying prayer groups - mostly strumming or fingerpicking, with a little acoustic lead. The EQ and blend functions on the Acoustic DI help me get a 'miked dreadnought' type of sound. However, if I strum too hard, I feel a little bit of the piezo-brittleness still manages to color the sound even though the blend knob is at its max. Given that I always set the blend knob to max, and I wish I could sometimes turn it up a little further. With my godin multiac (when playing jazz and classical styles) also, the Acoustic DI is able to remove most of the piezo's harshness. More recently, I tried Boss' AD-3 with a multiac nylon at a store and really liked it (the two knobs for tone shaping on the Boss AD-3 helped me go from a flamenco-type sharpness to a classical-type mellowness - this is something I cannot do with the Tech21 Acoustic DI. However, there are other feature & price differences between the boss AD3 and the Tech21 Acoustic DI.) I am giving it only an 8 because I would like more control on that 'blend' function. Otherwise, I love the tone from this unit.

Have had it for ~3 years. No problems so far. The unit has been knocked around to the point of the paint peeling-off at several places. However, the unit appears to be very sturdy and I don't expect any problems. The knobs still retain that stiff feel. Also, based on other Tech21 products that I have - Trademark 60 Combo amp and a GT2 pedal, I think their products are built to high reliability standards.

I've heard they are pretty responsive, but I haven't yet had a need to interact with them.

As mentioned above, my music styles (when playing amplified acoustic) is to accompany prayer groups with strumming, finger-picking and some acoustic lead. I love the way this unit minimizes the harsh quack of piezo pickups. It also offers EQ and DI functions as an extra. It makes a big difference to my tone, and is a very important part of my acoustic setup. At the time that I bought this unit, the Boss AD-3 and AD-5 were not yet released. If lost or stolen, I would compare the Acoustic DI with these Boss units before buying. IMO, piezo pickups are convenient but their tone sucks (regardless of brand), and microphones are hard to deal with. The availability of the Acoustic DI and other similar units with 'mic simulation' helps me get a great tone out of my modest acoustic setup. I have been playing guitar for about 14 years now, and I'm grateful that technology has made such tone-shaping units available and affordable.

First of all, I use it only with a an acoustic-electric guitar. The manual claimed that the DI could eliminate the piezo harmonics, so I bought this box. The Eq knobs are very sensible, the phantom power is useful onstage, balanced output is only mono. Not suitable for a stereo guitar.

My Guild F4 has Fishman preamp and eq, and I have been trying to eliminate the bad piezo harmonics while playing connected to the mixer. If you play with the "bending" knob, the sound becomes "darker", and you tend to balance the effect by highering the high frequencies. The resul is that you need to fix also the middle knobs eq. Believe me, I have spent many hours, several times, trying to find a setting for my Guild. I came to the conclusion that if you play fingerstyle with a Fishman equipped acoustic guitar, the SansAmp can only make your sound worst. Sad to say. Instead, with my Ovation 1612, with an old preamp and without onboard eq, the SansAmp works fine. The "blending" patended hyper cool sophisticated circuitry is a joke. I also used the DI with a Mic for guitar and also for voice, it is useful. Overall, an Eq box would do the same, at a lower price.

I play fingerstyle country, irish etc. I have been playing for 20 years now. I wanted to get a Miked guitar sound, and obviously it is not possible without a mic. Disappointed by the useless blending circuitry.

it's easy, but powerful so you can make your tone worse or heaps better

it's fantastic, but the sound quality depends on what you dial in. as i have said you make some terrible sounds, but thats the point. it's a tone shaper. the tube emulation is good, but i never dial it all the way. only half way. otherwise it just squashes things too much (it has some compression effect). one of the quietest boxes i've ever used.

absolutely rock solid. reliable for gigs

seems ok. i've emailed tech 21 with questions. and they're very helpful.

this is an expensive d.i box, but it's much more than that. it has that tube emulation, 3 parametric eq controls (cut or boost). with a sweepable mid range which yields heaps of sounds. don't think just acoustic guitar application. think everything! it has fabulous results for putting body into my electric guitar. in fact i always use it with my electric going both direct to the mixer and to an amp. i've found it for acoustics a little bit lacking in crispness, but I put a BBE sonic maximiser before it in the chain, and they complement each other perfectly. the bbe sharpens the sound, then the sansamp rounds it off and makes it all a bit smoother. i haven't found anything that matches this truly versatile little box. i gladly traded in a boss GE7 (graphic EQ) which was great but outdone by the SANSAMP. definitely an essential part of my guitar rig for both electric and acoustic. all my guitars sound better with this box. i'm pretty fussy tonewise, and i'm always after the natural tone of the guitar. if you tweak it right (don't give it too much EQ and tube emulation) you retain all the natural tone of your guitar yet it improve it quite dramatically. definitely a desert island item.

I would have to give the ease of use a 7. There are only six knobs on it, but it really makes a difference what knobs you twist to get a certain sound. There are familiar knobs such as level, treble, and bass to use, but adjusting to the options "blend" and "midshift" take some trial to find out their strong points and capabilities. The manual is really as helpful as I have seen one lately, and I found its sample settings fun and pleasant sounding.

I currently run this between a Parker Nitefly and a Peavey classic combo amp. I run it into the effects return to bypass the Peavey preamp for a pure signal path. The DI is very quiet and it is very easy to kill any feedback at the box. The box's controls are very sensitive, with headroom to spare. (plenty of bass and highs)One really can get a good "miked acoustic" sound with this DI.

I have used Tech 21 products before and they have always been solid metal and well built. However, the stickers say "Made in USA", but the inside of the boxes say "Made in Canada". hmmm. I would and currently do gig without a backup.

I spoke with a Tech 21 salesperson online a few times prior to my purchase, Lloyd Schartz. He was quite helpful and refreshingly honest about his gear opinions and product design. The Tech 21 people really seem to know their products.

I depend on this box and my Parker for my main clean and acoustic sound. I use it in my church services quite often and it really sounds like a miked acoustic, without the feedback. I have been playing for 13 years, and I rotate regularly between the Parker, a strat, a Les Paul, and a tele. I have come to rely on this box on a regular basis, and I would probably buy it again if the need arose. I love the unit's versatility of use among the PA and amps, and it really sounds surprisingly good with a tube amp. I was shopping for an outboard effect that would allow me to go without an acoustic amp, and I feel like it is a reasonable facsimile. It's tough to compare this other products, as I feel there is nothing else quite like it yet. I really wish it had a typical footswitch instead of its tiny switch, and it is rather expensive for such a product.(I think) It is a very useful tool in my playing life and all I need to do know is just switch it on and go "unplugged". It does what it is designed to do very well.

This is a preamp / direct box for acoustic guitars with a Piezo pickup. As such it is a competitor with the Fishman dual poarametric DI and the Baggs Paracoustic DI. The Sansamp has a 1/4" in and a 1/4" out plus a XLR out. It has a bass and treble nd volume control. Also, it has a sweepable midrange. This is at once a notch filter and a mid range control. you trun it to anywhere from 170 hz to 3000 hz with the mid cpontrol turned down it will notch out about any feedback effectively. But you can also turn the mid up and boost the mids. Very versitle in the sound shaping dept. But the best ppart is what is unique to this unir:IT HAS TUBE MICROPHONE EMULATION CIRCUITRY. What this means is that you can run it noirmal or you can blend in a sound that takes the piezo negatives completely out. It sounds like a tube miced guitar without the feedback. The best thing to come long since the pickup IMHO. I liked it so much that I immediately sold my rane AP-13 dul source pre-amp and joe mills mini-mic. I now run just apiezo through this unit and it sounds incredibly natural, and you can even dial out the "natural" harshness of jangley strings if you want. It's ll there in box that fills up 60% of the floor splace of my case compartment.

I'd say this is as natural as it gets and actully it improves on natural by given the guitar the warmth of a tube mic (think $3,000 Neuman sound)

Seems very reliable--I've only had it 2 weeks. But it is solid metal, nothing flimsy to break.

I did call Tech 21 prior to ordering it (i'd never played one prior to buying--just read a mag. review in Acoustic Guitar). The fellow I spoke to was very heloful and struck me that he backed up his stuff.

I know this a very glowing rating so let me see if I can find a negative. There may be a very residual and barely noticable bit of noise. I've been listening for it and m noit sure if I hear anything or it's the PA-- probbly the latter. I consider this the holy grail of amplification fopr acoustics.