Little Labs RedEye 3D phantom User manual
LITTLE LABS
Los Angeles California
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Manual printing & pdf formatting 01/2011
updated 06/2023
THE REDEYE 3D
PHANTOM
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 pickup 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 pre-amplier. If you use
the active buffered instrument input, turn on phantom power on the mic-pre.
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
pickup-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 pre-amplier into whatever your recording
medium is, which 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 pre-amplier, push in the
re-amp button on the Redeye 3D. Slowly bring your gain up on the Microphone
pre-amplier so the sound level from your amp sounds the same as when the
Redeye 3D was in DI mode (button out); you can go between the two settings
until it's right. That should be your right setting. If you are hitting the recording
medium too hard to get the level you need, you can push in the re-amp overdrive
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 medium was in input and provided your microphone pre-amplier 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, and we at Little Labs know re-
amping! We made this new major Redeye revision to ensure we
continued to make the best sounding, most exible, easiest to
use, and reasonably priced re-amping and direct box product
available.
For easy, accurate re-amping, the Redeye 3D lets you listen
thru 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.
In DI (direct box) mode, the instrument / re-amp out on the
front of the Redeye 3D works as a thru signal, so 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. Listening
thru the chain also assures you a re-amped guitar sound that
will be identical to what was heard when laying down the track.
Yours truly,
Jonathan Little
guitar amp
acti ve buff er ed
instrument inpu t
instrument /
re-amp ou t
instrument/
re-amp
leve l
powe r
rede ye
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
Little Labs custom wound transformer. This transformer was chosen
for its sonic characteristics. It is made with the same core material and
winding 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 Redeye 3D a very high quality, hi-, phan-
tom-powered, high impedance instrument buffer. When you are using
the Redeye 3D with sensitive passive pickups, this high-quality buffer
assures no tone change from loading will occur.
For those who use active pickups or prefer the sound of a passive
direct box, you still have the option of plugging into the Redeye 3D
direct box passive input, as in the original Redeye, with no phantom
power necessar y.
Besides the active buffer circuitry and the two transformers, the Re-
deye 3D is a volume control, switches, connectors, and resistors in a
nice chassis.
You can make some 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. Plug the Redeye 3Ds instrument re-amp out
into the pedal's input, then plug the pedal's output into the Redeye 3Ds
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 ef-
fect. BUT PLEASE NOTE: Keep the di/re-amp button engaged, or
you get a loop, and a nasty squeal will result!
You can often come right out of the pedal and into the console without
using the Redye 3D's DI. You might have to turn the line trims up a
little, but you don't have to be paranoid about disengaging the re-amp
button.
redeye 3D phantom
diy mods
The Redeye 3D has a couple of mods for a DIYer that you can imple-
ment internally.
1. Increasing input impedance on the buffered input.
Only do this if you are a piezo pickup user that doesn't use a pre-amp
in front of the piezo or for some bass guitars. It will sound clangy on
standard guitars, Telecaster, Strat, or Les Paul. The resistor to change
is #209 to a 10 Meg ohm.
2. Convert the passive input into a buffered-out long guitar cable
driver. Change the zero ohm jumper #16 to a 100-ohm resistor and
jump a wire over the normal on the jack's tip.
3. If you have a Redeye 3D with a serial # less than 13978, you can
update to increase re-amp overdrive from +10dB to +20dB, thus ac-
commodating the re-amping of the hottest modern pickups! Change
resistors #1 and #2 from 1.65kΩ to 300Ω 1/4 watt metal lm 1%.
This mod does change the re-amp input impedance to a more vintage
impedance of 600Ω, but that should not be a problem.
redeye 3D phantom
active buffered instrument input
Using this buffered front panel instrument input, you must have the
Redeye 3Ds output male XLR on the rear of the unit plugged into a
microphone preamplier and have the phantom power on the micro-
phone preamplier activated. If the Redeye is properly hooked up to
the pre and the phantom is on, the red led will be lit.
The maximum level you can feed into this input is approximately
+16dB before clipping (that's a lot for an instrument). The input Im-
pedance is approximately 1 meg Ω. We experimented with a much
higher input impedance which might have helped piezo pickup users
(piezo users, see DIY section if you want to know how to mod), but
for standard guitars using passive pickups like a Telecaster or a Les
Paul, the 1 meg Ω sounded like plugging directly into the amp, which
when re-amping, is essential.
redeye 3D phantom
un-buffered instrument input
A passive un-buffered instrument input is available 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 want the same sound as the original Redeye, this input will be the
input. It sends your instrument signal directly to the primary of the
transformer.
This input is best for active instruments, keyboards, synths, guitars
with pre-amps built in, and anything with lots of gain and not sensitive
to loading. The load presented by the Redeye or Redeye 3D for these
types of instruments is very high at approximately 30k Ω but not high
enough for passive devices, which are much more sensitive to loading.
The maximum level you can feed into this input is not dened because
a transformer doesn't clip, but NOTE: It is not designed for high-level,
high-current speaker signals.
redeye 3D phantom
line level female xlr in
The female XLR 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 imped-
ance balanced signal from the output of a DAW, a tape machine or
send off a console. The input impedance on this input is 9kΩ; if the
re-amp overdrive is selected, the input impedance is 600Ω (4kΩ pre
serial #13978).
After the signal enters the Redeye 3D, the signal will be reduced by
approximately 15dB, converted to a hi-impedance unbalanced (guitar
signal), and 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 female XLR in.
They allow you to plug in balanced (TRS) plugs or unbalanced (TS ) plugs
low impedance signals from the output of a DAW, a tape machine, or send off
a console.
You can plug in the expansion in jack on the Redeye 3D from our other
products, the PCP or the Pepper expansion out jacks, using a TRS balanced
cable. This setup creates another output of these devices that can be located
far from the source (with ground isolation and the same transformers). So
let's say you feed three amp heads in the control room with the PCP; use this
method with the Redeye 3D to feed a combo amp in the live room.
The expansion in and outs allow you to easily daisy chain multiple Redeye
3Ds to feed multiple guitar amps or pedals.
Use your imagination; for example, utilize one microphone preamplier fed
from the Redeye 3D mic, level out XLR and back in the line level female
XLR, and create a guitar splitter with as many outputs as Redeye 3Ds.
With four Redeye 3Ds rack mounted, you can easily create a truly excellent
transformer-isolated guitar splitter in a pinch! You can do more than that, but
I will let you wrap your brain around it and gure out all the possibilities.
redeye 3D phantom
instrument / re-amp out and level trim
The high-impedance instrument output on the front of the Re-
deye 3D 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 both the thru and re-amp
out mode.
When using the actively 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.
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 use this on a passive
pickup, it will seem like more level loss because of the combi-
nation of loading the pickup and this level loss. The 3dB loss is
due to traveling thru the internal electronics passively.
redeye 3D phantom
re-amp overdrive
This button, when engaged, gives you an extra 20dB* on the instru-
ment/re-amp out, but only in re-amp mode. Useful when you record
the track low or nd, even when hitting the recording apparatus at a
healthy level, your particular instrument has a very high output and
needs it to hit the amp harder (metal heads will like this).
*This was changed from +10dB to +20dB on serial#s 13978 and up;
it's an easy mod if you have an older unit.
redeye 3D phantom
earth lift & re-amp polarity
The earth lift button should be engaged when you have everything
hooked up and 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 a phase switch on some devices, pushes the signal
instead of pulling or vice versa. It only works on the instrument level
re-amp out, and you might notice little difference when you push it.
It really comes in handy when you use the expansion in and out jacks
with multiple redeye 3Ds feeding multiple amps. When different
amps sound is combined in the air or when miced and recorded, some
push, some pull, and a much fuller sound is heard when they work to-
gether, all pushing or all pulling. This button allows you to make the
amps work together easily. 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 low impedance (500 ohms) balanced
signal approximately 18dB below what is plugged into the instru-
ment inputs. It should be plugged into a microphone preamplier,
and if you are using the actively buffered input, the microphone
preamplier should have phantom power engaged.
Understanding gain structure in recording is important. Remem-
ber that a passive pickup 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 pre-
amplier gain set anywhere from +32dB to +47dB to get a +4dB
(0VU) line-level signal. Pop quiz later...
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