N00b preamp question

[colibas]

Hi All,

This is a hopelessly basic question: What level do the VV and RetroFlyer produce? Do I run it into an amp, or do I treat it like a synth and run it into a mixer?

I'm confused by what I've been reading. They are powered, so I would assume it goes in a mixer (ultimately into a powered speaker), but I've seen things like running it into a mixer but into the microphone jack.

Thanks,
Sean

[Tines&Reeds]

I don't think they provide any specs because it drastically depends on the volume of the instrument itself which can be again drastically different from piano to piano because of different voicing.

[colibas]

That explains a lot. So whether I need an amp or not depends on the situation of the instrument, not the qualities of the preamp.

Thanks for your answer.

[sean]

Hey other Sean,

You should expect that the preamps are able to produce a "line level" output (I mean the stronger +4dBu level).  You can use the RetroFlyer or VV preamp to drive a power amp.  (They are made to replace the Rhodes preamps that provided plenty of gain, and fed the signal to the amp modules in the amp cabinet below.)  You can run either preamp into a keyboard amp (that expects synth outputs), you can feed it into a mixer, you can feed it into a "power amp in" insert on a combo amp, you can feed it into a "powered speaker."  You would NOT need the additional gain that a microphone input would provide.

However, you can directly contact either company and ask for more detail.  Morgen at Avion studios will probably return phone calls.  You can get Chris or Fred at VintageVibe too.  They all sometimes have time to read and contribute to our little forum here too.

Sean

[AvionKeys]

Heya hiya,

Morgen with Avion here. The Sean 2 Sean advice has proven true....
The RetroFlyer will indeed put out a line level signal on the high side of the volume rotation.
Likewise Christian also has a point - the Rhodes is an extremely dynamic instrument so setup and playing style will affect things.
In fact, during development we scaled back the gain a couple times in favor of more headroom, because at the extreme the harp signal can be like 2V.
Anyway, going direct to mixer/interface/converter should be no problem at all.
If you have any other questions we try to get back to all emails within 24 hours.
avioncontact@gmail.com

Cheers, Morgz