Herbert & Attenuators (Palmer PDI-03 / PDA-04 / Motherload)

kdmay

kdmay

New member
Has anyone used their Herbert with a Palmer PDI-03 or PDA-04 or Sequis Motherload?

I have a 1 year old son who resides in the room next to my study / studio, therefore unfortunately cannot crank my beloved Herbert to reasonable levels at home. I want to use an attenuator for "silent" practicising, without resorting to using my POD (great for what it is, but frustrating when you have such an awesome amp in the same room). I know there will be sound quality compromises using this setup vs speaker, but to me it's got to be better than the POD!

My issue is surrounding the load rating on the Palmer / Motherload, which are both 100w. I know this is peak load, so perhaps the Herbert may not run at more than 100w continuously (if I keep the master volume below say 5), but want to check as I don't want to risk it.

Any other suggestions for attenuators (preferably with speaker emulation)? E.g. Bad Cat Leash, THD Hotplate etc etc.

Thanks in advance
 
I use 4 Ohm THD Hot Plate with a VH4. No problems even with the silenced/line out settings. Of course it is a compromise in terms of sound quality, but it is silent when wanted.

Personally I think that Diezels' master volumes work to certain point very well, but there is minimum level limit under which the sound gets rather nasty buzz (as in every amp). I prefer the sound of more open master and attenuator than smothered master section and overwhelming preamp beehive. However, which ever you will over-do your tone will be ruined. So in a way it will be a conscious lose-lose situation and especially if I understood correctly you will want to taim your Herbert to a very low volumes.

End note: So I guess, no help from this post. Sorry.
 
Both Palmers do work fine with it. Just don't crank the shit out of it when you record/play over headphones.

I would add two things though: get a cheap reverb unit (like a Lexicon MPX or TC cheapo sharpo) and a mixer, go from Herberts speaker out into the Palmer, then into the mixer, hook the fx to the mixer - if you have a newer Herbert also run the recording out to the mixer. This way you'll get a very nice, stereo sound to practice and record - with the reverb unit set to "ambience" it even sounds close to real".

And hook your headphones to the mixer of course . . .
 
duesentrieb":3ajf8mhm said:
Both Palmers do work fine with it. Just don't crank the shit out of it when you record/play over headphones.

I would add two things though: get a cheap reverb unit (like a Lexicon MPX or TC cheapo sharpo) and a mixer, go from Herberts speaker out into the Palmer, then into the mixer, hook the fx to the mixer - if you have a newer Herbert also run the recording out to the mixer. This way you'll get a very nice, stereo sound to practice and record - with the reverb unit set to "ambience" it even sounds close to real".

And hook your headphones to the mixer of course . . .
Click to expand...

Haven't tried the above suggested method with Herbert, but with few other amps and really can't say anything bad about it. So, believe the words of that wise man Duesentrieb.

I just love the Lexicon delays and reverbs, but hate their programming in hurry and stressed situations.
 
Hi Olaf

Thanks for your suggestion. This is actually what I am doing for silent recording/practising at the moment, albeit with the POD for my "amp". Here is my signal chain:

Gibson LP - POD 2.0 - Stereo into MOTU Ultralite as mixer - SPDIF outs into G Major - SPDIF outs back into Motu - Grado Headphones from Motu for monitoring. (Also have Rega Apollo & Naim pre 112x / power 150x for CD and amp plugged into Motu).

My aim is to replace the POD is this chain with a Diezel / Palmer combo. The good thing about the Palmer is that, in addition to a balanced and non-balanced out with speaker emulation, it also gives you 4 direct outs from the Palmer (without emulation). So, theoretically I could get 7 outs into the mixer (2 from Palmer speaker emulation, 4 from Palmer non-emulated and one direct from Herbert)!! I think a nice combo of stereo wet/dry would suffice for my application though.

I always prefers effects, any effects, post amp so you get the power amp characteristics colouring the effects. Perhaps I've been reading too much about EVH (sorry to bring him up, I'm such a huge fan!) and his early setup.

So, to summarise, you don't forsee any problems running the Herbert with the Palmer, even with the 100w load rating? Have you done this yourself (thought you might given Palmer I believe is originally from your homeland!).

Thanks again
 
Yup. I did that for a long time with my own amps, Einstein, Herbert and a VH4. Additionally I had the PGA, PDI, a Marshall SE-100 (awesome unit) and so on . . .

Just set the amp to normal rehearsal (master) levels (I'd say 4 is enough), then you will see up to 30 Watts on the PGA's indicator - thats a pretty natural sounding thing. Add some reverb (ambience) and over headphones its almost as real.

Enjoy :)
 
Hi Olaf

Which one would you recommend - the THD hotplate or the Palmer PDI-03, particularly for my application of using it as a dummy load for silent recording/monitoring.

I am leaning towards the Palmer, but there is no local distributor here in Oz, so obtaining one is a little tricky (either via US, but they won't ship direct, or from more expensive UK distributor). Alternatively, there is a THD dealer down the road from me who has an 8ohm model in stock that I could pick up tomorrow at a decent price.

Thanks

Kurt
 
If it is too much hassle to get a Palmer, I'd go with the hotplate. T
hen use its line out into a mixer (or your computer).
 
I have an Einstein with PDI-03 for silent recording, and the result is very natural. Remember you can also fine tune the sound with the EQ on the mixer.

With Hotplate I guess the result would be the same, but you need a cab simulator.
Something like the H&K Redbox or the Palmer PDI-09 (by the way i have two PDI-09 and one Redbox Pro to sell).

One question: I tried also to use the compensated out of Einstein, but it seems this signal is not affected by the two masters control and by presence and depth control. Is that normal?
No problem with recording, but if you want to use this output live (instead of miking) you loose the functionalities (above all the double master level for rhythm/solo)

ciao
 
Do you definitely need a speaker emulator with the Hotplate? Doesn't it have Deep/Bright switches which compensate for the incoming signal (isn't this what a speaker emulator does)? Has anyone tried using the Hotplate without a speaker emulator with successful results?

Thanks
 
Depends on your software. If you want to use it without any, then you need a hardware emulator.

Also you could use the recording/compensated out instead of software - and just "burn" the signal with your hotplate.
 
Any comment to my previous question:
"
One question: I tried also to use the compensated out of Einstein, but it seems this signal is not affected by the two masters control and by presence and depth control. Is that normal?
No problem with recording, but if you want to use this output live (instead of miking) you loose the functionalities (above all the double master level for rhythm/solo)
"
 
It depends on the age of your amp. Some outs are affected by the masters, some arent. The rec out was never meant to nbe used for live, but recording AFAIK.
 
duesentrieb":sesexx5a said:
It depends on the age of your amp. Some outs are affected by the masters, some arent. The rec out was never meant to nbe used for live, but recording AFAIK.
Click to expand...

thank you for the answer.
My Einstein is two weeks old.
I will experiment mixing both compensated out and pdi-03 out in recordings, i expect stellar results!
 
Hi all,

anyone can share your configuration and connections (balanced, unbalanced, line outs, etc.) with herbert and palmer pdi-03 in high gain levels?

Balanced without cab, only 2 cables I connect.

Cant find good results and have some confusions.

Right know have the palmer setting like this:

Filter volume 4 - thru balanced out to daw.
all in normal position and line out in 4 too, but in rear panel don´t have cables connected... :confused:

In Herbert:

ch3 - gain 5 (middle) / vol 5 / tre 3.5 / mid 10 (max) / bass 3.5

mid cut - intensity 5.5 / level 6

V2 - 7 / pres 7 / deep 3.5

-------------

The unit is very hot, literally

The sound dont crunch good like when the 4x12 is connected.

Any suggestion?

Thank you.
 
I don't have one of these units, but based on this picture this is how I would connect it.
DS00436632_2.jpg


Herbert Speaker output (8 Ohm) --> PDI-03 Speaker Input (left-most connection above)
PDI-03 Filter Out Balanced (right-most connection above) --> DAW

If you are using the Thru (2nd-to-left above) connected to the DAW, it should sound awful. There would be no speaker simulation filtering applied.

After it's connected correctly, how does it sound? I'm considering one of these or something similar. Thanks!
 
duesentrieb":3dyabio4 said:
Both Palmers do work fine with it. Just don't crank the shit out of it when you record/play over headphones.

I would add two things though: get a cheap reverb unit (like a Lexicon MPX or TC cheapo sharpo) and a mixer, go from Herberts speaker out into the Palmer, then into the mixer, hook the fx to the mixer - if you have a newer Herbert also run the recording out to the mixer. This way you'll get a very nice, stereo sound to practice and record - with the reverb unit set to "ambience" it even sounds close to real".

And hook your headphones to the mixer of course . . .
Click to expand...
Any Mixers you suggest?
 
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