Fire-Eye

You have to love the story of Fire-Eye Development: Daren Appelt is an electronics engineer with the good fortune to live in the music hotbed of Austin. As you can imagine, he is friends with some of the best musicians in the world. When they came knocking, looking for a better stage preamp, he was happy to oblige.

The results of Daren's efforts are some of the cleanest, simplest stage DIs and preamps anywhere. Most players I talk to are looking to streamline their stage rigs and minimize the number of knobs they have to fiddle with in between songs. They want gear that simply sounds great plugged in, without a whole lot of fuss. For the longest time, it seemed like Radial Engineering was the only gear lineup with a demonstrable commitment to flat response and high headroom. But with Fire-Eye on the scene, we have yet another solid contender, one you should seriously consider if you're looking for a preamp for your K&K Pure Mini, LR Baggs Violin pickup, or any other passive pickup.