Acoustic Pickup Comparison - K&K vs Anthem SL vs HiFi
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2023
- A little something different today… an acoustic guitar pickup challenge! We have 3 best-selling popular acoustic guitar pickups in the same Yamaha FG-800 guitars, all plugged into a Bose S1 Pro. Which one do you think you would want in your guitar??
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My vote is for the HiFi. And I have bought and installed the Anthem SL in 3 or more guitars.
such a useful and thoughtful review, thanks guys!!
The Hi Fi added to the Anthem would be quite a setup. I have K&K's in my Martins, so I'm used to that sound, and no batteries to deal with. Nice comparison guys, thanks.
Great demo! I liked the Hi Fi the best on this video. I was also impressed with the FG 800. I had no idea that it’s such an inexpensive guitar. Thanks, Bill 🎶
I’ve just fitted the Hifi in my Larrivee P-09. Love the non invasive install!
I really like the sound at lower/medium volumes but at louder volume I still favour the Fishman thin line gold piezo.
I think I’m just familiar with eq’ing piezos so feel comfortable with that sound.
Great comparison, guys. Would be cool to see a video on acoustic preamps too.
Always enjoy y’alls videos! I’m an acoustic guitarist in a live group, always looking for knowledge..
Thanks for the vid! I have the K&K in a Martin 00L. The HiFi sounds good in this video and similar to the K&K with a bit of a different EQ emphasis. I don't think I'd change out, though, principally because the K&K sounds really good too and it is so simple, with hardly any extra weight or clutter added to the guitar - no preamp, battery or the extra wiring. The K&K has worked great thus far on many gigs. It has plenty of output and I run it through an outboard multi-fx floor unit with EQ and into my PA (where I also EQ it a touch).
This has got to be the best way to showcase pickups for live use. Letting us hear amp sound through a mic rather than DI. I wish more CZcamsrs would do this. Thanks 👍
The problem with that is every amp differs, and you’re hearing the amp more than the pickups. This is a great amp and is designed to make any pickup sound as good as possible, even USTs
Yeah, the issue here is that you are also hearing the acoustic guitar so it’s tainting the comparison.
They did not mute the vocal mic so we are not hearing the pickup/amp only. Makes this demo much less useful.
@@CharlesParente true
I disagree. Bleed through from vocal amps pretty makes this video’s content of limited value.
That being said it isn’t a bad video.
Terrific comparison, thanks. JP Cormier plays K&K almost exclusively thru Loudbox Artist amp on stage. Check his reviews on CZcams. In a 40+ year career says the K&K let's audience hear what the guitar sounds like; not the amp sound. I liked the HiFI best in your video. Sound is in the ear of the beholder?
I had an LR Baggs Stagepro Anthem factory installed in the RainSong jumbo I bought from Paul. After lots of testing / playing through PAs and amps, I set it and leave it at 50-50 mic / piezo blend… sounds great, and I get lots of compliments from audiences and other musicians. The SL is permanently set at 25% piezo and 75% mic blend, which is just a touch “thin” sounding to me. With the full Anthem or Stagepro, the mic can be blended from 75% all way down to completely out, for loud stages. With the SL, you always have 75% mic… ok for solo, but not so much in a band situation.
And “NO”, I wouldn’t cut a whole in the sides of those Gibsons, to install the Stagepro preamp,(had no such qualms with the carbon fiber RainSong, however😊)….Keep the music coming! 9:16
Put that Hi-Fi in that Dove in the back, and keep flying! Thanks, Paul and Quinton.
Slightly off-topic but I recently picked up a Yamaha FSX5. What a great guitar - and it comes with a very good built-in pickup/internal mic, which can be blended. Interested in the different LR Baggs options for my Martin 000-15S and Gibson J35. Very helpful video!
all three are great pups! several years ago I installed a Fishman Ellipse in one of my Martin guitars and haven't looked back! I love being able to blend between the under saddle piezo and the condenser mic fixed on a goose neck just inside the sound hole, the mic can be pointed in different direction also for different sounds. On the road I found it to be the best for my needs, it truly produces the true sound of my guitar. Thanks for showing these! very much appreciated! You should check out the Fishman Ellipse if you've never tried them. expensive but worth the cost IMO.
Yes, the Fishman Ellipse Matrix Blend is a great pickup. I have tried many, and it is the best I have found so far.
Love my K&K pure mini in my 00018 deluxe, Run it thru a fishman Aura, sounds fantastic!! My OM28 deluxe has a Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend (with a battery) and that sounds great as well but like the no battery of the K&K.
Would have loved to have seen this video several months ago !! I just swapped out my Gibson j45's "Element (piezo)" and installed the LR Baggs full Anthem, I waited to listen to the new hi-fi when it was officially released last spring after Namm, and decided for my needs both solo and with a band, balancing the sound & feedback that the Anthem works best; I am pleased with LR Baggs!
Great Demo you guys do some great content.
I installed K&K in all my acoustics it works and no battery! Just works.
I really like the HIFI. I might have to add it to my Martin D28 Custom Authentic.
I have a D-18 authentic 1939. I heard the saddle is actually glued to the bridge. The HI FI seems like it would be a good fit for it.
Love K&K but just had an interesting experience installing them in two new Martin guitars - a 000-28 Modern Deluxe and a 000-15SM. The 28’s outpost is about half of the 15’s. My tech confirmed both are correctly installed so all we can figure is the carbon fiber bridge plate used in the Modern Deluxe doesn’t “become one” with the sensors as well as with wood. I even corresponded with K&K about this finding and they agree it’s probably due to the properties of the bond with carbon fiber.
Good to know. Thanks
The 000-15SM is a great guitar. I love the one I have. It’s plays and sounds about double what it cost. Martin did a great job.
Great comparison 😊
LR Baggs HiFi = 2 sensors. K&K = 3 sensors. Great demo. Sold me on the HiFi pickup. Thanks for this.
They are all pretty medium. I find that onboard acoustic pu.s tend to be somehow ‘fizz’ … Although it’s a faff, a good mic. is far better at capturing the richness of acoustic guitar.
I use a K&K Pure Mini in my Lowden O-10C thru a first-edition Bose L1 Compact, with a Holy Grail reverb pedal for guitar. This has been my reliable and great sounding gear rig since 2009 and I get my share of compliments on the tone.
Thanks guys! Think I’ll have to go with the Hifi!
It’s not really a fair comparison because you initially set the EQ on the Bose S1 pro to suit the K&K pickup and then expected the LR Baggs pickups to fall in line. It would’ve been a much more accurate comparison if you would’ve set the EQ flat for all the pickups.
You guys are the best.!
I want to add a pickup to my Yamaha FS5. I wish i went with the acoustic electric version from the get go, but too late. The new red label line is sooo underrated. I was pretty set on a martin 000 but soon as I played the fs5 I loved it.
The anthem sounds fantastic, but I’d rather not mess with the saddle, so I’m really leaning toward the hifi or lyric mic.
Do you guys have any advice on choosing between those two?
K&k baby, they have to make a video showing your personal guitar collection
They're all great. I think the best is the trans audio amulet. But they are horrendously expensive and you need to know how to get the best out of them. Or have a great sound guy or gal.
I put a K&K in an Epiphone Masterbilt per the template. The top 2 strings were nearly inaudible. A guitar tech moved a sensor and fixed the problem. It rocked after that
Which Epiphone Masterbilt? I am about to do an install in a Masterbilt Frontier. Do you know if the tech move the sensor closer to the high e string vs. directly between the B and e strings since the K&K documentation varies? Thanks!
Yes. It was moved closer to the high E. It was an EF500R. Really nice guitar. @@johntremblay6552
Thanks!
It would be interesting to compare these three ones with Journey pickups.
the second one sounded like you stuffed a towel in the soundhole. 1st and third were comparable. I go k&K through the LR Baggs voiceprint into a Fishman loudbox. you can really dial it in with that setup.
All things considered, I vote for the made in Oregon, USA K&K Pure Mini. Sound is plenty good and no chance of failure on stage due to battery issues. It's less than half the cost of the others. Easy to DIY install. I have Fishman, LR Baggs Lyric, Anthem and various soundhole pickups. The K&K is my favorite for reasons of simplicity and dependability. Plugged into my Fishman Loudbox for small solo gigs or lined out to the PA. I'm sold.
i tried to test many kinds of pickup, trans audio amulet, k&k, anthem, anthem sl, fishman matrix and another fishmans pickup, sunrise, and so on. there is no best one because depend on brands, tone wood, body size, you need to choose a pickup which can makes natural sounds and perform on stage. generally k&k, anthem or anthem sl sounds natural and warm. fishman gold plus(martin gold plus) sounds good as well. sunrise sounds more powerful and a little electric sound but is good for solo and fingers. this hifi pickup is the newest one but not good reviews to users. i also tried but it was not my favorite.
Thanks for the review but (sorry) I have 2 complaints. #1, K&K Ultra Pure Mini would be a fair comparison. So many have compared the passive Pure Mini to the active HiFi. #2, this video isn't showing us what the pickup sounds like isolated from the guitar. Not aiming to flame anyone & thanks for your reviews, in general.
That amp is doing a lot of heavy lifting to filter out the quack. If you really want to hear a pickup, prepare yourself for a shock and then record it direct. USTs in particular sound horrendous without a PA.
So ... we're heading the lav mics not a DI for the guitar?
So how much are we hearing from the room etc. I found the demo useless because it should have included a brief sample of the DI signal. I use my system to record and if I don’t mike it I need to know what I’d be getting.
Seems like the room mics for your voices are on during the demonstration process.... Which means we're getting the natural guitar mixed in with the pickup systems....
I think I have to go with the Anthem SL, although I’d really like to hear it versus the regular Anthem with more mic blended in. The K&K sounded piezo and the HiFi was all strings, almost like an electric guitar. A lot of people I bet would learn toward the HiFi because it’s the brightest.
The Anthem SL sounded the closest to an acoustic guitar to me, although still a compromise.
No drastic difference between them as far as I heard - only slight. Probably more difference if you're in the room, but I wonder how much of the sound recorded for the video is simply the natural sound of the guitar.
This video demonstrates that the little Bose amplifier is adequate for playing a low key gig or sitting in your living room. I wish you had gone line level into the same preamp to which you usually send your KM184. I can hear the mud and distortion with all of the pickups that I attribute to the Bose that is mic'd up. I am not saying that the Bose isn't a great amplifier. I am just sayin that the amp is a link in the audio signal pathway that could be eliminated in order to get the best digital files for comparing the various pickups. It is not uncommon to track an acoustic guitar by going direct into a line level preamp before the ADC. You wouldn't ever to a record by mic-up an acoustic guitar amp. I have really enjoyed all of your comparison videos where you use the same room, same guitarist, and same microphone to capture the incredible tone woods.
I installed the HiFi... Not having the middle pickup really detracts from the sound to me... The middle strings are lacking! Switching to K&K.
I have the Anthem SL but my only complaint about it is that it will distort if there is a HINT of any wire banging around inside. Wires move - especially if you lose a pick and you're shaking it. It's a really nice sounding pickup otherwise - since it uses a TruMic under the bridge plate, you do have to be cognizant of feedback too. I think you guys would have gotten a better sound out of the Anthem SL because you really need to contour the mix between the TruMic and the piezo - that is different for every guitar. I sat with my Martin D-18 for a good 20 minutes or more getting the perfect mix of tone for those woods and body style. They give you a plastic screwdriver to do it and it's imperative to getting the right balance in your tone. This was probably set to the middle from the factory.
You probably have a broken or loose wire. I had the same issue with mine, the wire going to the volume control box was very frayed, but intact enough to transmit. I would remove and inspect, see if you can get replacement parts from LR Baggs.
K&k pure mini👍👏🎸
K&K for me
There was this one that was just a very specialized mic, could use a sound hole cap, and it has a really good built in EQ circuit to compensate for being inside the guitar.... Very realistic acoustic sound....i was more impressed with that than everyone today I'm hearing ... (I hate Piezo pickups with a passion) Whoever it was who figured that one out right to combine it with the three sensor system... Because i think that would be the ultimate, acoustic guitar accurate, electronic system... Just pair that with a really good acoustic amp..... And you could come really, really close to basically faking a front mic'd acoustic guitar. The secret is internal mix with the sensors.... I'm sure it is.
You need to run them directly into a mixer and recording system you are using. That is the only way to get the true sound it creates. Those amps are designed to enhance acoustic pickups.
The Anthem SL sounds muffled like you did not dial in the mic trim bright enough? It can be super tricky to get the mic trim level right because it has a very small zone where it sounds balanced. I own the SL and full anthem and can sound much brighter.
You are exactly correct on that. I have the Anthem SL in my McPherson, and it requires that you adjust the mic in with the stick they provide. It can sound very quiet and flat without it. The mic brings it alive.
All my guitars are different wood combinations. I have the K&Ks on Martin D18, D15M, D35 and Guild D44M and an LR Baggs Anthem (not the SL or HiFi) on a custom Martin GP18e done in all KOA. I like them all. Great pickups.
The Baggs HiFi sounds the best.
Has anyone used "JourneyTek Passive 3-piezo Pickup EP001K" ?
Please advise how it compares to K&K pure mini ? Thank you.
Depends on how you plan to use them. My opinion is that the K&K is much hotter and provide more headroom in a loud environment with a band. However, that comes with it’s own problems too- feedback. You will need to have a preamp with a good low cut and possibly a notch filter. The Journey pickup is a very good sounding one for the price, but it isn’t as hot. The Journey needs more gain to cut through a loud mix and may overdrive/break up easily.
Honestly I like the JJB-330 better than the Journey Tek if you want something cheaper than the K&K, but all of them are improves with a quality preamp/DI. I highly recommend the L.R. Baggs Sessions DI because it has adjustable gain with a VU meter to maximize output without clipping your signal.
I don't have any of these. So, no horse in this race. They all sound good. The anthem sounds like its picking up much more of the acoustic detail, richness, and high lights; even accounting for the treble settings. The microphone is capturing information lost to the straight pickups. I suspect it would be easy to pull in as much base as wanted just by setting the EQ more neutral or adjusting the mic presence screw on the volume control. The HiFi sounds next best. I sure do like its internal simplicity. But if I were a paid performer, I'd opt for the Anthem.
There's only 2 sensors, attached under the saddle like the Ibeam.
The anthem SL clearly wins the articulation contest but youd expect that being boosted with a battery. Low end is definitely more focused. The hifi comes in 2nd slightly ahead of the k and k. Both of those are more muted, blended, softer/muddier bass. Your test is flawed though. Its a great test sitting in a room that quiet with the acoustic guitar blending with the amplified sound coming from that speaker. Thats completely unrealistic for most players who will be playing in a room where the audience only hears the amplified guitar through a PA
Yeah, all sound good . The Bose probably helped too .
Anybody know if once confortable with the LR Baggs HiFi you can remove the included tape and epoxy them down like man other pickups like K&K to get better marrage to the sound board (think it could be better vs. lossy through the included tape)?
Negative on the epoxy with the HiFi, it even voids the warranty
I have two Larrivees with an Anthem and an Anthem SL...and a third guitar with a K&K. The Anthem in this video sounds nothing like my two Anthems. This Anthem in the video seems to have all the midrange sucked out of it. ...and that's not the case with mine. Also, I like my K&K, but the string balance is not that great. Some strings are louder than others.
The Lyric is the most realistic option hands down. Play your guitar unplugged @
and just record it via a simple ambient mic. Then use whatever pickup or mic, and go direct Into a PA. That will show you. An AMP colors it , and you are even EQing and adding reverb?? Thats theowing othwr variables that shouldnt be considered
I think the K&K is the one that sounds the most uncolored and natural. It's the one that makes the guitar sound like there's no pickup.
My vote goes to the HiFi, with the K&K in second place.
LR Baggs , both sounded cleaner than the K&K which was warm, but slightly muddy to me. The Anthem is the most versatile so you can shape YOUR sound. I use a LR Baggs Lyric in my Martin and it is the most natural sounding of any I have used before.
only bad sounding guitars need tone shaped
@@michaelk7194- Not necessarily, as the acoustics in the venue plays a great deal. As also the pa being used. I prefer as natural sound as I can, therefore an amplified voice from my guitar. Thus, that is why I use LR Baggs Lyric in my Martin and enjoy the pure joy of its sound The lyric is a mic inside the guitar, and I love it. The anthem,I like because it uses a lyric with an undersaddle system and can be blended voicing to what YOUR ears want to hear. Your statement is unwarranted and uninformed and reeks of snobbery.
I was really hoping that this would be a great topic. But the stage mics are picking too much of the guitar and really the difference between the pickups is not truly told. You should have cut the stage mics and taken the Line Out on the Bose S1 as the solo output during the test. This would give more indication of what the pickup differences are.
This is the third video I watched with the HiFi and Anthem and so far the other 2 made the Anthem sound better. Maybe a little more thought into comparing this stuff so we can get a better idea of the differences. Thanks! Gordon
Hey Gordon - So if you watch to the end when we roll through the three pickups in succession, it's my understanding that we did cut the pencil mic and used only the direct line out signal from the Bose (Dustin could confirm that, but we definitely moved it way off to the side of the room). That said, there may have been some slight capture from the lav mic I was wearing, but I believe what you hear at the end of the video is effectively just the signals from the pickups moving through the Bose. Thanks for watching!
Don't you need a preamp for the K&K?
No.
I've owned all 3. K&K? It may have a lot of fans, but my experience with it was NOT good. Anthem SL sounds great, but not that easy to find the best tone for me. HiFi, hands down, is the best. Much easier to find its best tone and with my sloped shoulder Gibsons, it can't be beat.
T H A N K. Y O U
T H A N K. Y O U
T H A N K. Y O U
❤
If both knobs were all the way forward on the Anthem you were only using the mic. One is the blend
Also the HiFi has two sensors, not three
K&K was my favorite!
HiFi sounded best then K& K the Anthem sounded midrange and compressed.
For a credible test you should mute the voice mics.
My Anthem SL feedbacks way too much.
I'm sorry but this is pretty much useless. It's a mix acoustic guitar & amplified signal. We need to hear the raw DI signal to get the sound from the pickup.
Plenty of examples online of these pick ups direct. I’d rather hear them through the amp to get a better feel for what they would sound like live rather than plugged into a computer.
@@tleekthat’s fine, but get the guitars further away from the mics. The audience can’t hear your raw guitar sound (unless you’re playing at the smallest of cafes)
As with most things guitar, most of the respondents tend to praise what they already have. I have a few K and K's, a few lyrics, and an older I beam in my classical....they're all good, but the K and K sounds the least natural and more generic of them all, the lyrics are sensitive but when dialed in right sound the most like the actual guitar they're installed in, and the I beam is excellent as well, placement is extremely critical... the HiFi is simply a split I beam and if placed correctly sounds real good. I lean towards my I beam in my own guitars, so I'd give the HiFi the prize here.
I have K&K in all 7 Martins..no mess, no holes, no batteries. just pure sound of the guitar with no alternation by the pick up masking the tone of a no so good sounding guitar
Do you need a preamp?
@@CarlitoM77 No, but some models include a preamp for volume boost. I have not found the need for a preamp, as I control volume through my amps