Little Labs Redeye 3D Phantom User manual
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Manual printing & pdf formatting 01/2011
THE REDEYE 3D
PHANTOM
PRELIMINARY
Operators Manual
manual printing & pdf formatting 01/2011.
using this manual or any part of it without
permission is a violation of copyright laws.
REDEYE 3D PHANTOM is a registered
trademark of little labs.
redeye 3D phantom
seven easy steps to accurate re-amping
1) Plug your passive pick up guitar into the active buffered instrument input on
the front of the Redeye 3D or your active instrument into the un-buffered instru-
ment input on the rear.
2) Plug the male xlr mic level out into a microphone preamplier. If you are
using the active buffered instrument input turn phantom power on the pre on.
3) With all buttons on the Redeye 3D out, plug your guitar amp into the instrument
re-amp out. Strum your instrument and listen, if you have a hum, not a typical
pick up related hum, but a constant hum like a half stuck in the guitar amp jack
hum, try the earth lift switch, that should cure it. If you don't, don't push anything.
4)Feed the output of the microphone preamplier into whatever your recording
medium is, could be protools, a tape machine, a DAW with a funny name or...
and put this machine in input so you monitor thru the machine.
5) With the gain settings set low on the microphone preamplier push the re-
amp button in on the Redeye 3D. Slowly bring your gain up on the Microphone
pre-amplier so the sound level coming from your amp sounds the same as when
the Redeye 3D was in DI mode (button out) you can go between the two setting
until it's right. That shouild be your right setting. If you nd you are hitting the
recording medium too hard to get the level you need, you can push in the re-amp
overdrive in and back off the microphone preamp level.
6) Go ahead and record something, when playing back, the Redeye 3D must be
in re-amp mode.
7) The sound coming back should sound exactly like what you heard when the
recording mediium was in input and provided your microphone preamplier is
relatively clean and your recording medium is also clean it should sound very
close to plugging and playing directly into the amp.
You might not have the luxury of having the whole re-amp chain but trying this
method will give you condence that your re-amped signal will sound "correct".
Dear valued Little Labs customer,
Congratulations on your purchase of the Redeye 3D Phantom.
This box is s the new improved major revision of the popular
Little Labs Redeye direct box / re-amp box. More people are
re-amping now than ever before, and we at Little Labs know
re-amping!Wemadethisnewmajor Redeyerevisionbecausewe
wanted to make sure we continued to make the best sounding,
most flexible, easiest to use, and reasonably priced re-amping
and direct box product available.
Foreasyaccuratere-ampingtheRedeye3Dletsyoulistenthru
your whole recording chain, from Redeye 3D direct box, to mic
pre to DAW (or tape machine), to Redeye 3D Re-amp, to your
guitar amp.InDI (directbox) modetheinstrument/re-ampout
onthefrontoftheRedeye3Dworksas athrusignalso you can
simultaneously feed your guitar amp while supplying a signal
from the rear xlr to your mic pre and DAW or tape machine. In
re-amp mode the instrument / re-amp out on the front of the
Redeye 3D signal comes from the line level output of the DAW
or tape machine (converted to HI z guitar level signal) to feed
your guitar amp. This simple way of listening thru the chain (re-
amp mode) and being able to bypass the mic pre and DAW or
tape machine in the chain (DI mode) makes level adjustments a
snap. This also assures you a re-amped guitar sound that will
be exactly what was heard when laying down the track.
The Redeye 3D phantom - the now even smarter flexible
audio tool to aid you in all stages of your production.
This manual is preliminary, meaning it will be full of typos and
grammatical errors, but it should get you started.
Yours truly,
Jonathan Little
guitar amp
acti ve bu ffer ed
instrument inpu t
instrument /
re-amp ou t
instrument/
re-amp
leve l
powe r
redeye
3D
phanto m
simultaneous di/r e-amp/ exp splitter
eart h
lift di /
re-amp
re-amp
over driv e
instr/
re-am p
polarity
mic pre
from redeye 3d mic level out
to mic pre mic in (with phantom power on)
guitar with active pick ups
use the rear instrument
input jack
from mic pre line out to DAW
or tape machine input
from DAW or tape machine line
output to redeye3d line in
instrument/re-amp out
to guitar amp input
guitar with passive pick ups
use the front instrument input jack
Redeye 3d front
Redeye 3d rear
DAW or Tape Machine
redeye 3D phantom
complete re-amping chain
The original Redeye was a direct box or re-amping device using a a Little
Labs custom wound transformer. This transformer was chosen for its
sonic characteristics and is made with the same core material and wind-
ing technique as the legendary UTC transformers found in many classic
pro audio devices. The New Redeye 3D Phantom features two of these
excellent transformers for simultaneous direct box and re-amping use.
We have also added to the now called Redeye 3D a very high quality, hi
, phantom powered, high impedance instrument buffer. When you are
using the Redeye 3D with sensitive passive pick ups, this high quality
buffer assures no tone change from loading will occur.
For those who use active pick ups or prefer the sound of a passive direct
box, you still have the option of plugging into the Redeye 3D direct box
passively as in the original Redeye, with no phantom power necessary.
Besides the active buffer circuitry and the two transformers, the Redeye
3D is just a volume control and a bunch of high quality switches and
connectors in a nice chassis.
You can make a couple custom changes internal to the Redeye 3D that
might be just what a few of you need, but we'll talk about that later.
redeye 3D phantom
what is it made of?
redeye 3D phantom
interfacing guitar pedals
The Redeye 3D is a simple and easy way to interface guitar pedals
into a pro environment. Simply plug the Redeye 3Ds instrument re-amp out
into the pedals input then plug the pedals output into Redeye3Ds instrument
in (you can use the buffered or unbuffered in, it will most likely make little
difference). Feed the mic level out into a microphone preamplier and you
have a +4dB balanced line level in and out effect. BUT NOTE !! Keep the di/
re-amp button engaged or you get a loop and a nasty squeal will result!
Many times you can come right out of the pedal and into the console
without using the Redye 3Ds DI. You might have to turn the line trims up a
little, and this way you don't have to be paranoid of disengaging the re-amp
button.
redeye 3D phantom
diy mods
The Redeye 3D has a couple things you can do internally which a
small majority of you might want.
Input Impedance increase on the buffered input. I will only suggest you do
this if you are a piezo pick up user that doesn't use a pre-amp in front of the
piezo, or for some bass guitars. On standard guitars, Telecaster, Strat or Les
Paul it will just sound clangy. The resistor to change is #209 to probably a
10 Meg ohm. Solder carefully, keep it clean kids or you'll void the warranty.
Instrument/re-amp level trim fully clockwise will change from uni-
ty to +3dB. This gives you a little gain on the instrument re-amp out that you
can always turn down, and only works when using the buffered instrument
in. Change the zero ohm jumper from #16 to #17. Solder carefully, keep it
clean kids or you'll void the warranty.
Convert the un-buffered in to a buffered out long guitar cable driver.
Change the zero ohm jumper #16 to a 100 ohm resistor and jumper a wire
over the normal on the tip of the jack. Solder carefully, keep it clean kids or
you'll void the warranty.
redeye 3D phantom
active buffered instrument input
This is the high impedance instrument input on the front
of the Redeye 3D. You must have the Redeye 3Ds output male
XLR on the rear of the unit plugged into a microphone preampli-
er, and have the phantom power on the microphone preampli-
er turned on in order to use this input. If the Redeye is properly
hooked up to the pre and the phantom is on, the red led will be lit.
The maximum level that you can feed into this input is ap-
proximately +16dB before clipping (that's a lot for an instrument in).
The input Impedance is approximately 1 Meg ohm. We experimented
with a much higher input impedance which might of helped piezo pick
up users (piezo users see DIY section if you want to know how to mod)
but for standard guitars using passive pick ups like a Telecaster or a
Les Paul the 1 meg ohm sounded like plugging directly into the amp,
which when re-amping, is essential. We did not use a continuously
variable impedance dull control. In our experience these get acciden-
tally abused more than used and typically ended in the same position
all the time.
redeye 3D phantom
un-buffered instrument input
This is the passive un-buffered instrument input on the rear of
the Redeye 3D. This input requires no phantom power and the red led
need not be on for the Redye 3D to function in this passive mode.
If you are looking for the same sound as the original Redeye this would
be the input to use. It sends ypur instrument signal directly to the pri-
mary of the transformer.
This input is best for active instruments, keyboards, synths,
guitars with pre-amps built in, anything with lots of gain and not sensi-
tive to loading. The load presented by the Redeye or Redeye 3D for
these type instruments is very high at approximately 30k ohm, but not
high enough for passive devices which are much more sensitive to load-
ing.
redeye 3D phantom
line level female xlr in
This is the input of the re-amp section of the Redeye 3D Phantom,
what needs to be fed in here is a line level (+4dB) lo impedance balanced
signal from the output of a DAW, a tape machine or send off a console. The
input impedance on this input is approximately 9k ohm, or 4k ohm if the re-
amp overdrive is selected. I should note some other re-amping devices have a
600 ohm input impedance which can be tough to drive, and certainly cannot
be daisy chained like you can by using the expansion in and out jacks of the
Redeye 3D (see the next topic).
After the signal enters the Redeye 3D, the signal will be reduced
by approximately 15dB and converted to a hi impedance unbalanced (guitar
signal) and be available at the front panel instrument/re-amp level out jack to
feed an amp or pedal.
redeye 3D phantom
expansion in and expansion out
These are simply parallel (1/4" TRS) jacks with the line level fe-
male XLR in. They allow you to plug in unbalanced lo impedance signals
from the output of a DAW, a tape machine or send off a console, using a TS
(tip sleeve) plug, or from a balanced TRS plug if you don't have an XLR.
The expansion in and outs allow you to easily daisy chain multiple Re-
deye 3Ds so you can feed multiple guitar amps or pedals. I should note here you
can plug in the expansion in jack on the Redeye 3D from our other products, the
PCP or the Multi Z PIP expansion out jacks, but here please use a TRS balanced
cable. This creates another output of these devices which can be located far from
the source. So lets say you are feeding three amp heads in the control room with
the PCP use this method to feed a combo amp in the live room.
You can use your imagination and for example utilizing one micro-
phone preamplier fed from the Redeye 3D mic level out XLR and back in the
line level female XLR in, create a guitar splitter which has as many outputs as
Redeye 3Ds. If you have four Redeye 3Ds rack mounted, in a pinch you can eas-
ily create a truly excellent transformer isolated guitar splitter! You can do a lot
more than that, but I will let you wrap your brain around it and gure out all the
possibilities..
The maximum level that you can feed into this input is not dened be-
cause a transformer doesn't clip, but NOTE: It is not designed for high
level, high current, speaker signals.
redeye 3D phantom
instrument / re-amp out and level trim
This is the high impedance instrument output on the front of
the Redeye 3D. This is in DI mode the "thru" to the amp. In re-amp
mode this is your re-amp output to the amp. The adjacent instrument/
re-amp level trim works as an attenuator just like the volume control on
your guitar and works in the thru and the re-amp out mode.
When using the active buffered instrument input this output
in DI mode will be very close in level to what is plugged in, in other
words it passes thru the Redeye 3D with approximately unity gain. I
say approximately because depending on the amp it is plugged into
it might have a little more or a little less, but it should be close. You
can internally set this by moving a jumper to +3dB of gain instead of
unity, but most guitar players like unity gain so it's just like plugging
directly into the amp. See the DIY section if you want that extra 3dB.
When using the unbuffered instrument input this output in DI
mode will be -3dB from what is plugged in, so in other words you lose
a small amount of level. If you attempt to use this on a passive pick up,
it will seem like more because of the combination of loading the pick
up and this small level loss. The 3dB loss is due to travelling thru the
internal electronics passively.
redeye 3D phantom
re-amp overdrive
This button when engaged gives you an extra 10dB on the
instrument/re-amp out, but only in re-amp mode. This can be useful
when you recorded the track low, or you nd even when hitting the
recording aparatus at a healthy level, your particular instrument has a
very high output and you need it to hit the amp harder. Metal heads will
like this.
redeye 3D phantom
earth lift & re-amp polarity
The earth lift button should be engaged when you have ev-
erything hooked up, and you hear a hum in your amp or what you are
recording. The hum is caused by a ground loop where more than one
path to ground allows a current to ow between the grounds. If this
hum doesn't know the song, it must be eliminated.
Re-amp polarity or on some devices called a phase switch
makes the signal push instead of pull or vice versa. It only works on
the instrument level re-amp out. You might not notice much of a dif-
ference when you push it. Where it really comes in handy is when you
use the expansion in and out jacks with multiple redeye 3Ds feeding
multiple amps. When different amps sound is combined in air or when
miced and recorded, some amps push some pull and a much fuller
sound is heard when they work together, all pushing or all pulling.
This button allows you to easily make the amps work together. If you
really want to get deeper into this polarity and phase thing, check out a
Little Labs IBP!
redeye 3D phantom
mic level male xlr out
This is the output of the DI section of the Redeye 3D Phantom, what
comes out here is a lo impedance (500 ohm) balanced signal approximately
18dB below what is plugged into the instrument inputs. It should be plugged
into a microphone preamplier and if you are using the active buffered
input the microphone preamplier should have phantom power engaged.
Understanding gain structure in recording is important. Keep
in mind a passive pick up guitar puts out anything from -10dB to -25dB.
Going thru a mic level direct box like the Redeye 3D drops this level
by another 18dB so you need a microphone preampliers gain set any-
where from +32dB to +47dB to get a +4dB (0VU) line level signal. Pop
quiz later....
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