• Registered: 2007-11-04
  • Posts: 404

Topic: Palmer pdi-09

Anyone tried one of these? Are they at the same quality as the PDI-03?  After hearing Joe uses Palmers to send his tone to the FOH and the monitors I am thinking about no longer micing my amps.  And I cant afford the 600 dollar PDI-03.  So I am thinking about dropping 175 for the PDI-09.

  • KDY
  • Member
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  • Registered: 2009-07-30
  • Posts: 14

Re: Palmer pdi-09

I didn’t know that palmer had a lower level version of the PDI-03. I was in the market to get a new condenser mic but after reading thru the PDI-09 manual I am sold. I am fixing to pull the trigger on this. I will report back and give an update on how it sounds.

  • Registered: 2007-11-04
  • Posts: 404

Re: Palmer pdi-09

I am going to get one in a few weeks when some money comes in. I am hoping it will replace micing the speaker. I will have to run my attenuator after the pdi-9 so that I can run my amp direct without the volume. We'll see how it sounds.

  • From: Vienna
  • Registered: 2010-01-16
  • Posts: 408

Re: Palmer pdi-09

Why would you need the attenuator once you have Palmer?

You can use the volume control on your PDI as well as on your computer, while turning the dials on the amp to 10. smile

That's the whole idea behind PDIs.

P.S. I just love my 03.

  • Registered: 2007-11-04
  • Posts: 404

Re: Palmer pdi-09

My gig is at a theater every sunday. I have my amps off stage and we mic them and run the sound thru the monitors and the FOH.  So if I could have the Palmer then the attenuator... I could basically have my amps on stage and completely silent.  The Pdi-09 to my knowledge has to be connected to speakers or you will destroy you amp. Hopefully I am wrong.  I think the pdi-03 has a load dump in it so you dont need to connect to a speaker to it. 

It is not necessary but it makes my life easier. Being able to use my amps without the speaker volume would be a dream come true so long as it sounds good. Until now nothing beat my Alnico blue. This might get close.

  • sted
  • sted
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  • Registered: 2011-03-20
  • Posts: 333

Re: Palmer pdi-09

You will still need a speaker load conencted for a PDI-09, it is only a filtered DI box thats sits between your amp and speakers, the 03 has a power soak built in but i believe the emulation on the 09 is based off the 03.
The 09 is a passive DI, there are other products that use active systems to replicate the sound of a speaker into a front of house system, the one thats been around for a while is the H&K Redbox but the one I'm considering is the radial JDX, its dearer than the 09 by some margin but it reacts with the speaker a lot better and is supposed to sound and feel closer to a cab.
If you want silent recording from your existing amps and dont want to use an attenuator then have a look at the Tube Town "Tonehound" load box, its basically a loadbox with speaker drivers that dont have cones or something so you would go amp-->DI Box (Filtered)--> load box. You then get he reaction from your amp like playing into a cab without any sound and get you true amp signal from the filtered DI into your desk.  smile  True tube amp tone without a power soak, sorted!

  • Registered: 2007-11-04
  • Posts: 404

Re: Palmer pdi-09

So I bought the PDI-09.  I ran my Vox AC15hw into the Palmer and then into a Weber Attenuator which was there to kill the speaker.

I have to say that in playing with a big band at considerable volume... 2 acoustics, 2 electrics, keys, drums, bass, 5 singers...

The Palmer was amazing.  I didnt have to experiment with Mic placement... I just hooked up the Mic line to the PA to the Palmer, set it to bright and had the board add some bass and mids to make my guitar sound full. I am a complete tone snob and would argue that an alnico blue speaker is the only speaker that can be used in a Vox.  This Palmer changed my mind.  I will NEVER Mic my amp again.  I thought the Palmer sounded as good if not better than any time I've ever mic'd my amp.  I mic my amps with sm57's. And I noticed that my tone cut thru the mix much better than before. It was a great performance. I cant say enough about this product. Best 180 bucks I've ever spent and I will most likely buy another so that I can run both of my amps this way.

Thank you Joe for yet again introducing me to a fantastic product that has made my life easier and my tone better.