Connecting active bass to passive input !

137h4lone · #1 09-19-2011, 11:31 PM

Will connecting an active bass to a passive input cause any damage to the amp ?

wave rider · #2 09-19-2011, 11:37 PM

Depends on how "hot" of a signal your active bass sends. If it distorts in the passive input, switch to the active one. Judicious use of volume control is a good idea...

=wr=

JimmyM · #3 09-19-2011, 11:38 PM

No, and as a matter of fact you shouldn't use the active input unless your bass is overloading the preamp. The active input just turns down the level of your bass by 15db, and is only for super hot basses that cause overloading problems. I never use them ever.

137h4lone · #4 09-19-2011, 11:41 PM

its not distorting at all. I'm using an ampeg portaflex 350 and it has a built in limiter. Does this protect the amp at all ?

madbassplaya · #5 09-19-2011, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

No, and as a matter of fact you shouldn't use the active input unless your bass is overloading the preamp. The active input just turns down the level of your bass by 15db, and is only for super hot basses that cause overloading problems. I never use them ever.

Agreed.

chaosMK · #6 09-19-2011, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wave rider

Depends on how "hot" of a signal your active bass sends. If it distorts in the passive input, switch to the active one. Judicious use of volume control is a good idea...

+1. I just use my ear and see what the gain functionality of a particular piece of equipment is like.

If it's a tube pre, I'll generally plug into the hotter input and see where it lands me. My preference is for a bolder sound through the pre and little bit of gritty shimmer.

With purely solid state stuff, I'd go into the milder input.

bongomania · #7 09-19-2011, 11:48 PM

The amp absolutely, totally, 100% will NOT get damaged by any bass you use, regardless of any distortion. The limiter is there to protect the speakers from too much of a spike of power hitting them.

JimmyM · #8 09-19-2011, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 137h4lone

its not distorting at all. I'm using an ampeg portaflex 350 and it has a built in limiter. Does this protect the amp at all ?

No, it's mainly for taming peaks in your signal. Some folks like it but I never use it in my PF350, and it won't hurt your amp if you leave it off.

137h4lone · #9 09-19-2011, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

No, it's mainly for taming peaks in your signal. Some folks like it but I never use it in my PF350, and it won't hurt your amp if you leave it off.

Thanks JimmyM !Just a quick question has your pf350 ever faulted on you ?

JimmyM · #10 09-19-2011, 11:53 PM

Only had it a month, but it's never faulted on me, and I tried once or twice

137h4lone · #11 09-19-2011, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

The amp absolutely, totally, 100% will NOT get damaged by any bass you use, regardless of any distortion. The limiter is there to protect the speakers from too much of a spike of power hitting them.

Thanks ! I was kinda worried lol

wave rider · #12 09-19-2011, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 137h4lone

its not distorting at all. I'm using an ampeg portaflex 350 and it has a built in limiter. Does this protect the amp at all ?

I don't think the limiter protects you from too high an input.

JimmyM can verify, but my impression is all these Ampegs like the input clip light flickering pretty good. I'd only use the padded input if absolutely necessary.

=wr=

137h4lone · #13 09-19-2011, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Only had it a month, but it's never faulted on me, and I tried once or twice

I've had it for about a month too. Its faulted two times but for like a second. This happened when i had the limiter off. Do you think its something wrong with the amp ?

137h4lone · #14 09-20-2011, 12:08 AM

bump ?

walterw · #15 09-20-2011, 12:27 AM

what do you mean "faulted"? made a clipping sound? cut out?

137h4lone · #16 09-20-2011, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

what do you mean "faulted"? made a clipping sound? cut out?

the pf350 has a fault light. When it turns on it stops producing sound.

JimmyM · #17 09-20-2011, 01:04 AM

I suppose it's possible to be pushing it so hard that you could cause it to fault out, but I've yet to do it. That's actually a good thing that it does that, because the alternative is overheating. When you reach that point, you're not going to get any more performance out of it, so best to back off a bit.

enricogaletta · #18 09-20-2011, 01:24 AM

it's not really a big deal because the separate active and passive inputs are just made with a gain levels already setted for an easy use, but you can use the passive input as well, the difference is that when you use just the passive input you need to care by yourself about increasing or decreasing the gain level.
Personally I alwasy use the passive input and than set the gain properly for the bass!
Cheers. Enrico
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137h4lone · #19 09-20-2011, 08:44 AM

Thanks everyone ! now I can play more comfortably lol