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Electronic Violin Piezo Into L2t, Impedence Question.


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The L2T has an input impedence of 100 kΩ balanced.  I'm looking at an Electric Violin with a Realist pickup which according to the website the impedence is 10 mega ohms.  (not sure if that means that's what it is... or that's what it wants to be plugged into.)

 

It looks like I'm going to need a DI box to get the impedence higher to present to the piezo pickup as its a high impedence device and is looking for a higher impedence to go in to.

 

I can get a box with just the impedence feature or get one that does the impedence and also acts as a preamp as well.

 

I guess the real question is can I just get away with a box to do the impedence and then plug that into the L2t and the L2t would handle the pre amp and amp function.... or do I need a separate pre amp before the L2t?

 

Thanks,

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Bob

 

The loading of piezo elements is a tricky question and there are lots of trade offs. The 1/4" inputs on the L2t speaker are 1.3 meg ohms. The 100k you mentioned is the impedance for the RCA inputs on the amp panel.

 

What is important with piezos is loading ( which affects tone) rather than impedance ( which affects level). Piezos are basically a capacitor and so they form a filter when plugged in that begins to roll off the lows. This is greatly exaggerated by the cable that you use to connect the pickup to the amp.

 

So some people prefer to use a very high impedance preamp when using a piezo pickup. But unless you place that preamp very close to the pickup you lose a lot of its effectiveness.

 

Here's what I would recommend. Just try it first. You may just love the sound without it since it only affects the very low end and there just isn't much to worry about with a violin. A good part will depend of the cable you use to plug it in ... Especially the length. The L2t mixer also has the advantage of the Variax model to assist the tone so you may already have all you need without adding a preamp.

 

I don't know if you've considered going wireless but here's a good case to do so. That's because if you plug into a Line 6 beltpack you'll still have that 1.3 meg ohm input but you'll be eliminating the effect that the cable will have on your piezo pickup.

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 Thank you!    I forgot to mention that I have a HD500.  I posted a question on the HD500 thread inquiring as to whether I can bring the electric violin in to the 500 on the aux port and set the patch for 3.5Mg ohms...  Subsequently I found some posts on the "fiddle forum" where somebody was using the 500 with the violin in live settings and he said it was working great.   Maybe I don't even need a DI box, maybe I had the solution right here all along...   I have to go back to that forum and investigate the particulars...

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you don't have to set anything on a pod HD, those input setting just affect the effects chain...

in other words it can accept your input...

the input z setting only effects the modeled input of the first effect in the chain...

you can change the settings based on preference... or simply leave it on auto and the 1st effect in the chain will determine the input z 

 

 Thank you!    I forgot to mention that I have a HD500.  I posted a question on the HD500 thread inquiring as to whether I can bring the electric violin in to the 500 on the aux port and set the patch for 3.5Mg ohms...  Subsequently I found some posts on the "fiddle forum" where somebody was using the 500 with the violin in live settings and he said it was working great.   Maybe I don't even need a DI box, maybe I had the solution right here all along...   I have to go back to that forum and investigate the particulars...

 

based on how the original model would have.

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you don't have to set anything on a pod HD, those input setting just affect the effects chain...

in other words it can accept your input...

the input z setting only effects the modeled input of the first effect in the chain...

you can change the settings based on preference... or simply leave it on auto and the 1st effect in the chain will determine the input z 

 

 

based on how the original model would have.

 

So all this I'm reading about having to provide the proper load to the piezo pickup and needing a DI box with 10Mg ohm impedance...  all of that goes out the window if because the "auto" setting can determine the load required and provide it?

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no, auto doesn't determine anything... the pod accepts a wide range of inputs....

all auto does is determine whether or not you want the impedance to change to match the modeled effect first in the chain.

you can change this to match your tonal preference...

 

i was just adding some Pod knowledge to the discussion, i'm not familiar with your particular application, or what your research is telling you otherwise.

sounds like you're putting in the effort so go by what you find.

 

So all this I'm reading about having to provide the proper load to the piezo pickup and needing a DI box with 10Mg ohm impedance...  all of that goes out the window if because the "auto" setting can determine the load required and provide it?

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