LR Baggs Voiceprint DI | Does it Live Up to the HYPE?

Today we're trying to tackle the decades-old challenge of accurately representing acoustic guitar tone through amplification. The Voiceprint DI is meant to capture the tone of your acoustic and be able to reproduce it at the highest fidelity-- take a listen as Chris runs through several guitars in a comparison, and learn alongside him as we dive into this deep ocean of pedal madness.
SHOP LR BAGGS: www.alamomusic.com/brands/lr-...
BECOME AN INSIDER: / alamomusic
CHECK OUT OUT PODCAST, the Fretboard Confessional!
Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4UIwHpS...
Listen on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Listen on Audible: www.audible.com/pd/The-Fretbo...
Shop Guitars - www.alamomusic.com/guitars/
Guitar Buyers Guide → bit.ly/2kssXsR
Interested in a different guitar? Talk to an expert here → bit.ly/findmyguitar
__________________________________________________________________
KZbin: Pianos and Keyboards - bit.ly/YTpianos
♪ Contact us: www.alamomusic.com/contact
♩ Call toll-free: [phone]
♬ Connect:
Twitter → / alamomusic
Instagram → / alamoguitarco
Facebook → / alamoguitar

[@zacharywatson885]

WARNING! Your sound guy may hate these things. I started using IRs for my acoustic and they sound amazing but our sound guys who don’t play acoustic guitar are so use to the terrible sound of the piezo quack they think my guitar now sounds fake. "All the treble is gone. There isn’t enough attack.” They actually miss the sound of the terrible piezo. Once you get them to remove all the eq and effects they have put on the channel to fix the piezo and then just hear the DI with the IR, their brains blow up and they come around. But, remember to be gentle with them, change is hard 😉

[@VoxLesPaul]

Thank you for using the word "quack". I have been at a loss to think of a word that describes the piezo pickup effect.

[@DornAndGrant]

Yep. Spent years getting my stage acoustic to,sound acoustic. Then got told off quote ‘it sounds too real’. 😢😢😢

[@fueyou]

You need to work with better sound engineers…

[@guitarandpiano22]

This product made an enormous positive difference in my amplified sound. Highly recommended.

[@randyfhorvath]

I have one and love it. I play 4 different guitars with 4 different pickup systems and each one sounds amazing through this. It’s nice to have the presets ready. I do have to tweak each depending on the room but that’s understandable. This is definitely worth the money.

[@ryandavis170]

Great video. Not sure I’m this invested in making my acoustic stage sound “perfect” (being a 90’s kid and all ;) But I really appreciate how honest and entertaining this video was

[@BrianHoffpauer]

I have the VPDI and absolutely love it! One of the cool things that I have done is when playing in less than ideal conditions where I would not want to bring my J-200, J-45 or D-18, is I use the voice print for one of them on a Teton acoustic and it sounds pretty cool. Plus no worries about my more expensive guitars getting damaged or stolen.

[@Kenbur]

I have not used this pedal. However, I used the aura for years and could dial in, blend, and mix any of their 30 or so top guitar sounds with my Taylor or Roadking or Ovation, etc. I did it to give my smaller guitars a more full larger body sound and my larger guitars almost a 12-string two guitar effect. The combos were awesome and limited by your imagination when messing around. I did find that the electronics in the guitar you were using could definitely muddle or mess up the preset sound that you had noted or intended to use IF you were not careful or had overdriven the treble/bass aspect. Anyway very enjoyable watching you use/set this up and it looks much much easier to tweak the sound of the guitar that you own than any other pedal I am aware of acoustically. Thanks, Chris.

[@falksittner1586]

I got my voiceprint DI today. I found that you can get even better results when you connect a good external microphone to your iphone. And try to use fingerpicks for the voiceprint record! It makes a huge difference! Now the authentic sound of my instrument is preserved, it just sounds louder! The feedback analysis is very useful, too. Mixed the voiceprint with about 25% pickup-sound, now the guitar really sounds amazing, just plugged in, without messing with a microphone.

[@lensofstags]

The Voiceprint DI is one of the best pieces of gear that I have invested in. I was in the market for a DI box and in my searches I came across this beauty. It was more pricey than other DI boxes but all the videos I watched had remarkable differences in sound and that held true for me as well. Don’t regret this purchase at all.

[@louiscyfer6944]

but having to buy a crappy iphone that is no good for anything else is a deal breaker. iphones were made for technologically illiterate people. if you want to root your phone and use it to its full capability, your are sol with an iphone.

[@ricksmith201]

I bought one last week, and gigged with it over the weekend. I have prints for my Martin GPC16E and Taylor 562CE. I also have a Taylor 717E, but haven't printed it yet. So far I'm very happy with it; I didn't' like the straight pickup amplified sound from either system. This sounds much more natural. After the gig, I've added an A/B switch so I can plug both guitars in and switch between them as needed.

[@PhillRS]

having the LR Baggs Anthem feed the signal through the mic settings could add up to be the perfect setup, I'm thinking there might not be the quaky sound of the piezo system... food for thought.

[@JoshuaC923]

Super cool, need to try making an electric sound like an acoustic!

[@ariakiss]

You can EQ the IR print and even have few different EQ presets like for finger picking and strumming. You have full parametric EQ to work with to have more presence, etc. plus low and high pass filters

[@11KT11]

I've been gigging with this for a couple of years now and it's the best pedal I've ever had. My Martin and Anthem sound absolutely amazing. The multiple parametric EQ's are the icing on the cake. Even my cheaper backup Martin (D10e with a Fishman MXt) sounds so much better. I've never had any noise problems either.

[@Mycloudacoustic]

Back down the VP to say 80% and you get the best of both. I love my VP. Did a video of it with my GS Mini. It’s a keeper

[@yvesvanderhaeghen196]

Hi, interesting video as always, and interesting product. I have not tried one, I usually create my own IR's for my Taylor 816ce BE and 514ce ltd. However, the idea of 'one guitar sound like another' will only partly work due to the principle of IR creation: it's based on a transform of the sound of a pickup system to a mic'ed sound. If you tried a Martin DI on a Taylor guitar it could sound very strange because the Taylor ES2 system is quite different from the Martin pickup system. Bascially you are feeding a Taylor ES2 sound to a transform system that is meant to receive a Martin pickup sound ... That's is why generic IR's can be a bit of a hit and miss: you really need the IR that's made for your pickup-system AND guitar. Also, the microphone that is used is quite important. A phone microphone is usually quite poor, and there is no easy way for the IR-computation to deduce how much 'coloring' it is adding to the mic'ed signal. Just guessing, but I suppose that there is actually some fixed IR (or EQ) in there that tries to 'improve' the sound of your typical phone microphone ... Maybe that's what went wrong with your Taylor IR computations ... I know youtube sound can be misleading, but although the sound of the guitars was markedly improved I was not overwhelmed. It maybe much better 'in the room' of course ... Here is an example of an IR for my Taylor 816CE BE that I computed using some home written algorithm. I use it with a Fractal AX8 that I use as a simple IR loader (a Nux or LR baggs would probably be more convenient because I haven't figured out how to do mixing of dry/wet in the AX8 yet). drive.google.com/file/d/1tAwUnnswOmLP7v5NsOalcgXwNSHDQ32D/view?usp=share_link Give it a go (I'm sure you have an 816ce BE lying around). No hijack intented here, just genuinly interested in valued opinions and feedback! Keep those video's coming Yves

[@real_mrmime9617]

The tonedexter does this and blows this one out of the water in my humble opinion

[@mrluuzer]

I love my Voiceprint. I tried the Fishman Aura Spectrum and also the NUX Optima Air. The Fishman gave better tone out of the box, but wasn’t my guitar’s “voice”. The NUX was nice to be able to use whatever microphone I wanted to create an IR but the NUX didn’t have as much EQ adjustments as I needed. The Voiceprint has great EQ options. I plugged in a Apogee condenser mic into my iPhone to make my voiceprints which produced better IR’s than the built in iPhone microphone.

[@ricksmith201]

Great idea, I think I'll redo my voiceprints using a better mic.

[@mr.yellowstrat3352]

How'd you plug a mic into your phone?

[@mrluuzer]

@@mr.yellowstrat3352 some USB condenser mics can interface with iPhones with a usb/lighting connector adapter. The Apogee microphone I used was designed to interface with iOS devices.

[@virtuososo]

I liked the A/B between VoicePrint and Warm mic. But why only on the first guitar?

[@RobertMorrisKnowsStuff]

dudes this video was great!.. Thank you.. Mine is coming in tomorrow and I regret I didn't buy mine from you guys.. Next time!.. and Fyi.. they have an Android app now. 👍

[@geamax1]

The capabilities are immense, using an i-Rg with a mixer and a really good microphone, pointing directly to the 12 fret so you dont get the hollow sound of soundhole.

[@texhaines9957]

I like the line best.

[@DavesCoverSongs]

Question: I’m curious to know what the result would be if you did the voiceprint process with a nylon-string or 12-string guitar. Can you make a steel string sound like a classical guitar, or a 6-string sound like a 12-string?

[@robertson26]

Loved the experiment at the end. Try using a GS Mini but played with the voiceprint of J45 or D18.

[@steverolfeca]

I have a D28 IR that I use with the piezo bridge on my Thinline Telecaster to get a much more convincing acoustic sound. I use a Line 6 HX Stomp as my IR host…

[@jimbrown9817]

Would like to try D18 voiceprint with Yamaha SLG200S silent guitar. About as far apart as I can think of.

[@stevewehner9540]

This sounds great but I'm wondering is this heading to the proverbial stick with strings? I think it would also be interesting to hear single cur electrics through this to see what kind of tone you would get.

[@briandesjardins728]

Wow! Huge difference!! I want one for my furch. Always what I hate when I play live you miss that gorgeous furch tone for most part. And man, that Martin sounds huge compared to the other guitars! Hard to beat an Martin Om or 000. Also I’d love to hear a new high end Taylor with an Lr baggs anthem pickup instead of the es2 . I don’t care for Taylor’s pickup, sounds super flat and hollow, doesn’t have the body. Curious how they would sound..

[@alexanderselimov2082]

After listening to this review I bought the pedal. It is nice at low volume, but not usable when connected to a mixer / PA for live perfirmance: all kind of weird noises create interference-

[@adamproctor483]

That can’t be a feature of the pedal. Many top performers playing large arenas use this pedal. In short-sounds like a bug, not a feature

[@alexanderselimov2082]

@@adamproctor483 Could be a defective batch. Sweetwater replaced the unit and the second had similar issues. They did take it back.

[@patricklundquist9869]

I like that last idea because once you get all your favorite guitars voice printed then you can 'play out' with a single cheap Yamaha and not have to stress about any of your high-end guitars getting damaged or stolen. In fact you could sell off all your high-end guitars and buy that new truck. I probably shouldn't mention this here but...go into a music store and voice-print their high-end guitars and Presto!, you have a high-end guitar collection. (Just hope your phone isn't also picking up that kid playing 'Smoke on the Water.') But seriously, a possible weak link might be the phone's microphone and how the phone processes the signal. Results may vary depending on phone.

[@jeff1872t]

ITS GAME TIME!!!

[@seancca]

Also I thought you were supposed to point the mic at like the 12th fret for the voiceprint?

[@stoneygreek]

I have a k&k pickup installed in my Larivee. I use the k%k pre amp with it . Delay , reverb and chorus pedals into a JBL line array system work fantastic for me.

[@Purple_Pixel]

Can I use professional 3rd party IRs I've purchased with this pedal? Also, does the quality improve if I plug a good microphone into my smartphone?

[@eduardopadrino2117]

Could you do a comparison between this and guitars with internal mics like higher end yamahas and other similar pickup systems? Great review!!

[@TRONOFTHEDEAD]

Now all I need is a GrainPrint™ pedal to make my acoustic look as pretty as the top on that Taylor. 😉

[@DmitryRotkinAcousticRush]

I'm wondering if this DI will improve the sound of my acoustic VIOLIN? (I use a piezo pickup from LR Baggs)

[@rumlieghund1]

..and his ears are sick,he play nice detuned.Very good for a presentation....

[@koolkat808hawaii]

Have you tried the Tonedextor? The original voice print unit

[@30smsuperstrat]

So, any options for Mac or pc? I stepped away from iPhone at 7s and haven't looked back.

[@bigpun4780]

Will this work with ipad? I don't have an iPhone

[@56davidwright]

What l did is l went to the guitar store and recorded the most expensive guitar there. Then l just use that on my Corona nylon. Sounds like a custom Shop PRS!

[@jimmyhansen5842]

I use my Fishman Aura Spectrum DI. It does the job. Never got any complaints from the draught beer drinking audience in beer tents all over the country. Still I would like to try the Voice Print to see if it's as simple to use.👍❤️ Thanks for the nice review👍

[@Dr.Jekyll]

Not even someone who hates your guitar tone is going to find you, once you’re off stage, to tell you they were dissatisfied with your guitar tone. Basing the quality of your gear on such a statement is a ridiculous way to judge.

[@josuastangl7140]

Beer tents? Are you Bavarian by any chance? If so, I also play Volksfeste here, what’s your band?

[@lv2bplayn]

Can you voice print on your phone app by itself without the pedal being with you? Here’s an idea if you can. Go to an upscale guitar store and take your iPhone with you. Grab as many high dollar guitars off the shelf as you have time for and voice print them all to your app. Take your phone home and have a ball with your cheaper budget acoustic. You can have many presets for one guitar. If this will work, I’m definitely in for one.

[@AlamoMusic]

I had that thought but it does look for and pair with the pedal when using the app. - Chris

[@lv2bplayn]

@@AlamoMusic So does it save the VP to the pedal or the iPhone app? Can the pedal be used in a standalone scenario after the VP is saved or do they have to be paired 100% of the time while the pedal is being used?

[@Tigerex966]

Do it with electric guitars , banjo, ukelele, and classical.

[@gillyOO7]

Is this to compete with that tonewood guitar pickup?

[@michaelhe755]

Can I load other IRs into this box? What if I'm using a $500 guitar and I want to apply an IR made by a $5000 guitar with this box?

[@augustinehui8545]

My biggest issue is I feel that my guitar sounds more like it is in a box when I got my voice print on. But maybe I’m just so used to the bad pickups it so off sounding to me

[@texhaines9957]

Yes voice print sounds more like the guitar.

[@seancca]

The reason it is iPhone only. It has to do with consistency of the mic. They can account for the response of the iPhone mic because every iPhone will have that part, I don't think they have really changed the mic for a while because it is what works and the OS does not vary enough that it would impact tone. Sure they could potentially sell more if they did an Android version but they would have so many different pieces of hardware to account for. So like sure might work great on the latest Google Pixel or the Samsung Galaxy models but the inexpensive one someone gets from Verizon would have an entirely different hardware setup and the process would not work the way as intended. Also don't take this as a burn at Android it is just the nature of that market.

[@johnreed9111]

Ouch - nowhere near the natural sounds. Gibson pickup quite good, but with Voice Print it sounded like it was inside a cardboard box. Taylor unprocessed nearest to acoustic sound, but VP sounded as though the body had a blanket stuffed inside. Martin pickup had the worst piezo quack, which the VP reduced somewhat - but it also lost much of its gorgeous tone and suffered from the dead blanket sound. Work in progress?

[@micktmusic]

I’m here trying to look for alternatives to the TC Helicon Play Acoustic. The sound of my Gibson Hummingbird which has a LR Baggs pick up, is awful. I don’t use the harmonies or the looper, it’s useless. I’m trying to replicate my natural acoustic guitar sound live and always find myself here. I’ll be playing through a Maui LD 28 line array too. I’ll also need a voice reverb or small mixer, but more than anything, I need this acoustic guitar tone, right 😢

[@cutebabyseal621]

Btw it seems this works on Android now. (And also btw, there is nothing in the OS that would prevent it from working, it was just a question of LR Baggs having engineering bandwidth to build and maintain two separate apps.)

[@TWC6724]

Pretty soon, we won’t even have to play guitars 😳

[@anthonybizzell3857]

It definitely kills the "quack". But, all three VPs were lacking in high end compared to the mic sound. The VPs will probably get more refined the more you play with it. I want one. $399 isn't bad. I guess I'll have to get an iPhone as well. Hmm

[@AlamoMusic]

Agreed - I may do a follow up video to compare the basic with the advanced voice print options and see how different attempts at capturing the voice will affect the final result. I felt the Taylor had too much base, likely due to the quick and dirty capturing I was doing on my first attempt. - Chris

[@anthonybizzell3857]

@@AlamoMusic I also thought you might not want to mute the strings when you are tapping the bridge. Nor rest any part of your arm on the body. You know, to let all the overtones and such ring out. I WOULD like to see what you come up with after having more time with it. Till then, I'll hold off buying an iPhone.

[@ricksmith201]

Unless I missed it, Chris also didn't do much with EQ. I did mine, and got a beautiful chimy sound from my 12 string.

[@88omarz]

That voice Print weirdness is all I hear when I do mine

[@ScottRandall31]

Honestly, your LR Baggs Anthem directly into a board is better than 95% of anything else out there, other than the old Takamines with preamps built in.

[@Celticsaint777]

Just use a Schatten pickup. They sound like a mic.

[@scottmoreau5630]

But have issues with string balance and picking up the low E.

[@patricklundquist9869]

Now available on Android. I just uploaded to mine.

[@kevincrouch3956]

Of course nothing touches the Maton AP5 Pro, which is widely recognised as the world's best acoustic amp...

[@atrothe]

Crazy stupid prices for LR Baggs stuff in Australia. Just too expensive. I have an old variax 600 their saddle bridges and it is a great guitar.

[@jeff1872t]

Question, why wouldn't you just load a professionally recorded IR from a great guitar?

[@musicmann1967]

So weird that it's iOS only. They're missing a lot of sales by not having an Android version.

[@seancca]

It has to do with consistency of the mic. They can account for the response of the iPhone mic because every iPhone will have that part, I don't think they have really changed the mic for a while because it is what works and the OS does not vary enough that it would impact tone. Sure they could potentially sell more if they did an Android version but they would have so many different pieces of hardware to account for. So like sure might work great on the latest Google Pixel or the Samsung Galaxy models but the inexpensive one someone gets from Verizon would have an entirely different hardware setup and the process would not work the way as intended.

[@tcjensen1]

Eventually you’ll learn that androids are lame copies of iPhones, lol

[@musicmann1967]

@@tcjensen1 haha!

[@musicmann1967]

@@seancca THat makes sense.

[@RobertMorrisKnowsStuff]

my DI is arriving tomorrow and I have an Android. 🤞 They now have the app in Google Play that linked from the Lr Baggs site... I'm hoping this goes as expected.. lol..😄🤘

[@tcjensen1]

Chris was this many days old when he discovered Taylors don’t naturally sound as good as Martins and Gibsons, lol

[@andreapasillas5803]

So what if you don't own an iphone?

[@jul3249]

Anyone knows if it’s better than the good old fishman aura?

[@bjgamez]

I actually don’t like the sound with the VP on. It sounds muted/muffled.

[@davidchavez4464]

Tbh it made the gibson way better, the taylor worse, and the martin better

[@tcjensen1]

Just brought out the natural character lol

[@mogasm6091]

Shame it's Apple only

[@laurenheintz5369]

Might the voiceprint pedal one day be useless if future iPhones are no longer compatible with it?

[@davidstanley9726]

There's an app for us Android users now.

[@robertsteinberger]

I feel like the iphone part is super weird. Using the mic of an iphone to create an IR for use with your acoustic.. I'd rather use a real microphone for this type of thing. Maybe they use mic correction IRs for the iphones so that's why they only allow these, but still this sucks.

[@fluffkiller]

So I can take my $500 guitar and a voice prints, going to my local shop and sample a Martin D 45, and just voice print it. Done. Lol.

[@thatlisagirl71]

…I’m good…looks like a pita spending a week setting it up. Thanx for posting

[@pnomis]

OK. I got to the sentence that said android users don't qualify and switched off. I guess I'll never hear the rest.

[@DavidGraves-zo9cc]

Agree IR sounded better other than the Taylor. Taylor’s pickup is superior and sounded better. My take away. LR Baggs IR will sound better on a crappy pickup like the quacky Fishman you played. On a great sounding pickup like the Anthem and the Taylor you played it may not be as good as the pickup.

[@TheGoodDrEvil]

To me this just sounds like a bad phone recording of those guitars. Now if you would create the IR with that nice mic and a decent interface instead... you may be on to something. Using a phone mic..... a bit of a fool's errand I'm afraid. I'm a guitarist AND a sound guy and yes, I wouldn't like this. I'd probably prefer using our DPA in stead.

[@jerrymullin2058]

May be useful for recording. Go to 28:48 for the results. A good guitar with a good p/u is adequate for me. Most audiences could care less. Put the money into a good pick up. just my opinion.

[@1970sman]

I Agree, most audiences 'could not care less' what you are using as long as it works.

[@tomigunn777]

Lost me at iPhone..

[@jackbandel]

Sorry but I’m not a fan of the airy IR sound for live play. For studio recording or streaming online sure, but you lose the attack and dynamics of the guitar with IRs.

[@RoyBattyLives]

If this is meant to be selling it, it ain’t working for me. I see the comments below from people who love theirs, will look elsewhere for demo methinks

[@scottmoreau5630]

IR, great at home and in the studio, a nightmare on stage.

[@joavenutube]

Would you care to develop? I have my eye on this precisely to use on stage. At home and studio I use good condenser mics

[@scottmoreau5630]

@@joavenutube We often think we want “our guitar only louder” on stage, but the reality is, the immediacy of a pickup is what helps us cut through a mix. Creating an IR can be tricky as you can often get a bass heavy tone or a distant/hollow one, which gets lost on stage. If you get this, make sure you eq just the Ir and make good use of the blend control to bring back in some Of the pickup.

[@atrothe]

Sounds like crap when you finished the voiceprint and turned it on.??.

[@ALCOFRE]

here's my gripe with this DI, I bought it over a year ago when their marketing said "smart phone" instead of "iPhone" and assumed there was an android app. Then when I got it I couldn't use it but I thought "hey they will eventually release an android app for it so I'll just keep it". More than a year later not only there's no Android app but my Rep at sweetwater tells me LR Baggs has no plans to develop an android app. Unbelievable. 40% of the US market is android and they are basically saying to us "sit down peasant" . Not to mention the initial promotional material was incredibly deceptive, by the time they changed it a lot of android users had already been duped . They probably changed it to avoid a lawsuit. Sad because I enjoy their products but I won't support a company like this ever again, great products, garbage company.

[@bertilow]

Except the app is available for Android as well.

[@slidersson]

you seem really confused by this....

[@1970sman]

Think you should have just enjoyed the holiday, would have been time better spent.

[@chickenlickin3820]

Thanks Jimi Hendrix, did you get reincarnated?

[@johnwashburn3793]

@@chickenlickin3820 possibly resurrected

[@atrothe]

Must be the way you have routed the recording output. The whole thing sounds terrible when you turn it on. Also the output drops radically. It must be a mistake...? Piles of shitty feedback as well. you did not look at this before you posted did you?

[@safvue1]

ok i;m out

[@chickenlickin3820]

Ok so it turns a $$hitty piezo sound into an even worse muddy piezo sound, epic failure i would say : (

[@timothygarrison7909]

Yep - sounds awful.

[@adamcotton2121]

It sounds so terrible. Just ust a ribbon mic. Yes, the sound man will hate you, but...

[@DanielKrennonline]

sounds terrible to me... Muffled and stripped of natural tone....

[@sammypage4563]

So much talking at the beginning…boring! Stick to eating burgers!