Finally got a chance to test my MILA a bit today. Some good, some bad.
My initial impressions:
[Let me preface this by saying that I've never owned a true "high end" piece of equipment, so I don't really have a great reference point for comparisons.]
A) I fired up the unit and hooked up my craptastical Dean Bass to the Hi-Z input. Let me first say that this bass has a replacement DiMarzio pickup. Before replacing the stock pickup it used to sound godawful terrible. After I replaced the pick-up it sounds run-of-the-mill bad...
That is until I heard it through the MILA. I was immediately shocked at the difference in gain from other DI's I've used, and also at the huge difference in clarity and articulation. The bass sounds lifeless and dull through everything I've ever used to record it, but through the MILA it finally had some life! There is that great springy/snappy warmth that you only get from tubes.
I pulled up a song that I've been struggling to get an articulated bass sound on, hit record, and suddenly the song came to life. Previously I had all kinds of effects Comp/EQ/bass amp models on it to get close to the sound I wanted, this time around it was plug-and-play and it sounded 10 times more energetic and vibrant.
HOWEVER, when I started fiddling with the controls, I noted two things wrong:
Problem 1: the gain pot is responding in reverse - what I turn it all the way clockwise, the sound goes away, and when I turn it all the way counterclockwise it reaches max gain.
I am assuming I just have to reverse the connections on solder lugs 1 and 3 and that should be sorted out, right?
Problem 2: The pad isn't working. There is so much gain in this baby - the range switch works as expected, but at this point it is overkill for me to use anything but the highest setting. So then I tested out the pad and.... no action. I was getting the same input level regardless of where the pad was set.
Edit: then I realized that I'm a dumba$$ and of course it shouldn't work since it comes before the Hi-Z input in the circuit. DUH!!!!!!!!!!
B) After fiddling with my bass for a bit, I went DI with my Gibson SG. Once again, there was great articulation - the clarity of notes is super and the snap and attack on the strings comes through wonderfully. I found that the preamp had a little bit too much top end for the SG, but this guitar is very heavy on the treble side, so I'm not surprised. I haven't played my Les Paul through it yet, but I expect it to give a more even sound. Regardless, there are a lot of very useable tones in there for DI guitar as well.
C) SHOCKED, absolutely SHOCKED at how quiet this thing is.
I am but a mere hobbyist when it comes to recording, so as I said I've never used high end gear, but the DI is soooo much quieter than any of the DI's I've used before, which include a Digidesign MBox (focusrite pres), a Presonus TubePre, a JoeMeek SixQ channel strip, and my Mackie Onyx 400F. The Mackie has the nicest DI that I've used before, but the MILA blows it away.
D) So I was super, super excited to throw a mic in the XLR in and hear what the pre sounded like with an acoustic guitar. Got out my JoeMeek JM37 condenser and my Sennheiser e609 dynamic, hooked up the JM37, and:
NOTHING!
No sound through the XLR in. Not a single peep out of either mic. There is a bit of noise when I plug the cable in or take it out, but other than that - nothing. I tried changing cables and that didn't make a difference. I tested the phantom power before firing up the pre and it was reading 48.7 V when I threw the switch. After I turned everything off I tested both mics with my Onyx pres and they worked fine.
So, in essence, I have a wonderful DI, a fully active range switch, a gain pot that works in reverse, and an XLR in that gives me nothing.
Debugging time! (if anyone has any suggestions on the first place I should check, I would be most appreciative). I'm not sure if I'll have the time tonight to get at this thing... obviously I made a mistake somewhere in the wiring of the XLR in to pad to input transformer section of the circuit since the DI passes signal through the preamp with no problem.
Mason
As it is now it is completely usable. I can't turn it into the problem range without going over 0 VU on my convertors anyway. So he will be fine with his 002.
