Need some help in regards to the Palmer PDI-09!

Hello there, I have been frequenting this forum for years but finally decided to participate in conversation. I have recently decided to get into some home recording and looked into a few options. I have heard a lot of great things about Shure sm57 and thought it was fairly priced but I also had to consider that fact that I live in a apartment. So in order for me to produce the sounds I wanted, I would have to crank my amp. I was recommended to look into the Palmer PDI-09 as an alternative for my particular situation. My current amp setup is a Mark IV and Roadster 2x12. My questions are...

1. What is the purpose of the attenuator on the PDI-09 because I noticed a lot of people buy the Weber Mini Mass to combo with the PDI.

2. I am not really familiar with how it works due to it being such a untraditional product and my lack of recording experience.... From what I understand you plug amp to unit then the thru goes to the cabinet. Then you plug the balance to your recording device. Does that cut the signal to the cabinet? or does the cabinet still produce the sound?

3. I know the Mark IV has a few recording options and direct in built in. I take it most people think it is crap to use? lol

This is all I can really think of as far as questions but I know you guys are quite experienced in most of this. Any suggestions or comments are appreciated. Thanks guys and take care..... Drew :twisted:

hi jaellio

i squawk about the junction quite a bit here, so i feel compelled to try to answer.
LOL


first thing, make sure you see the obvious stuff here:
http://www.palmergear.com/pdi09.shtml

and here:
http://www.palmergear.com/images/manuals/pdi09.pdf

and here is a FAQ about the Palmer gear in general:
http://www.palmergear.com/faq.shtml



the 2nd link, is the manual.
it's only 4 pages, it's a very simple device.


a quick shot of my rig, with the junction on top:





so, to your questions:


1. What is the purpose of the attenuator on the PDI-09 because I noticed a lot of people buy the Weber Mini Mass to combo with the PDI.

depending on where you input to the palmer, you can go before, or after the attenuator.
i go directly out of the speaker out of the boogie, into the palmer. that way, the palmer sees the full output of the amp.
the reason for the attenuator, for me, is simply to run the boogie hard, but bring the volume WAY down for monitoring purposes, when i'm NOT micing the cabinet. so the palmer thinks the amp is full bore....... but the attenuator comes AFTER the palmer, and tames the volume.

when i want to mic the cab AND get a line level signal from the palmer, i just bypass the attenuator.

realize, that some of the "BIG" (reads 'expensive') rack mounted palmer units, have the attenuator ("load box") built in.
some do not.
i created a poor man's version of the palmer PGA-04, with its built-in 8 ohm load box. you can literally run the head with no cabinet attached.
there are quite a few versions of this type of setup.
there are also other versions of what the palmer PDI-09 does, i think the best of the bunch is the RADIAL JDX.
http://www.radialeng.com/re-jdx.htm
it is only slightly more expensive than the palmer, i have not used one, it would have been my second choice to the palmer, which i had used previously before i bought one.


2. I am not really familiar with how it works due to it being such a untraditional product and my lack of recording experience.... From what I understand you plug amp to unit then the thru goes to the cabinet. Then you plug the balance to your recording device. Does that cut the signal to the cabinet? or does the cabinet still produce the sound?

you have the connections correct.
the sound goes thru the palmer, the palmer grabs it and brings it down to line level, which can go out of the palmer via a XLR output.... then the signal continues to the cabinet, with zero interference from the palmer. it's invisible, basically.
you can use the master volume on the boogie to keep your volume down if you have to, or do what i do, and throw an attenuator in the mix.


3. I know the Mark IV has a few recording options and direct in built in. I take it most people think it is crap to use? lol

if you like the sound of the built in direct out, then use it!
don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

me personally, i don't like it one bit!!
LOL

the way those signals are done, and the way the palmer does it, are really two different animals.

hope this helps.

here's a couple of different examples of the palmer-only recorded tracks.
i have others, that demonstrate clean and clean-crunch if you prefer that style.
these are rock tunes.
these are unmastered raw mixes, you'll have to really crank them up to hear them properly.

the first one, is called heading for the weeds.
the boogie was setup for a lot of crunch.
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/36784-WEEDS-headinforweeds-2_EntireMix.mp3


2nd song: "Waiting to shine"
this has strat rhythm tones, humbucker solo stuff, i even ran the bass thru a sansamp bass di, splitting one signal to the boogie and thru the palmer, and blended the two together.
http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/56125-waitingtoshine.mp3