DNA Amps New Helix 1200 Head

[Vuyani]

David Nordschow Amplification will be unveiling the new DNA Helix 1200 bass amp at Winter Namm 2012. I played through this head last night....it's a BEAST! I'd say more, but then I'd ruin the surprise... More to come after the unveil. If you are going to Namm, go by and check it out....

[T. Alan Smith]

Cool.

[bassguppy]

I really didn't need to see this thread.

[calypsocoral302]

Wow... I'm very surprised by that.

Lane, Dave's spokesman for a time, told us that they were first going to do a medium-powered amp with about 500W or so.

The "1200" after the word "Helix" means there was a pretty significant departure from the original game plan...

[T. Alan Smith]

I'm very curious as to how much of the lineage that the WT series shared with SWR, Thunderfunk, Amp & Acoustic is shared with this new head.

[Vuyani]

Originally Posted by T. Alan Smith

I'm very curious as to how much of the lineage that the WT series shared with SWR, Thunderfunk, Amp & Acoustic is shared with this new head.

I believe this is a complete departure from any previous designs. This was designed from scratch - I saw it & tested the amp stage myself months ago while it was in the design phase.

[Vuyani]

Originally Posted by calypsocoral302

Wow... I'm very surprised by that.

Lane, Dave's spokesman for a time, told us that they were first going to do a medium-powered amp with about 500W or so.

The "1200" after the word "Helix" means there was a pretty significant departure from the original game plan...

Well, all I can say is that Lane was correct. However, there will be a big & positive twist to his statement. I'll add more during/after Namm when I won't be risking letting the cat out of the bag.

[Merton]

Originally Posted by bassguppy

I really didn't need to see this thread.

This. Pleased to say I won't be able to afford it when it's launched though

[calypsocoral302]

Originally Posted by Vuyani

Well, all I can say is that Lane was correct. However, there will be a big & positive twist to his statement. I'll add more during/after Namm when I won't be risking letting the cat out of the bag.

Who puts cats in bags, anyway? They hate that...

[lasher69]

Where are ANY demos of this highly anticipated wonder amp?
Youtube, where are you? Namm is over but not all of us were there to check it out. (which is kinda hard to believe if you've ever been!)
hey Ken - got anything? Your clips of all high end small & lite digital bass amps through an assortment of cabs is staggering. You provide such a priceless collection of audio demos & model comparisons.
Any info anyone?

[c2thej2theizzo]

Originally Posted by calypsocoral302

Wow... I'm very surprised by that.

Lane, Dave's spokesman for a time, told us that they were first going to do a medium-powered amp with about 500W or so.

The "1200" after the word "Helix" means there was a pretty significant departure from the original game plan...

-I'll bet you this WILL end up being the middle of the line. Most of his new cabs can handle major wattage. (1,400 RMS for his 4x10) Touring Pros will want proportionate power for their cabinets and those who want to power two DNA 4x10's are gonna want two of these...or whatever Dave is planning on building for those cats.

--------------
I however, prefer multiple 2x10's since I do all my own grunt work. Does any one know if it goes to 2 ohms? ( doesn't say on his site)

If so, its time to update the G.A.S!

[KJung]

Originally Posted by lasher69

Where are ANY demos of this highly anticipated wonder amp?
Youtube, where are you? Namm is over but not all of us were there to check it out. (which is kinda hard to believe if you've ever been!)
hey Ken - got anything? Your clips of all high end small & lite digital bass amps through an assortment of cabs is staggering. You provide such a priceless collection of audio demos & model comparisons.
Any info anyone?

I saw the amp at NAMM, but didn't get to play it. Looks like a solid piece of gear, but it seemed to generate very little buzz. The size, the look (kind of has that 'stereo receiver from the 70's sort of chrome thing going), the feature set (lots of front panel real estate taken up by lots of compressor controls), the EQ points, etc. just didn't generate a lot of interest from me personally.

The power rating is obviously impressive (although this company tends to be a bit 'creative' with their published specs), but again, most of the micro's now have more power than 90% of the players would ever need.

When I saw some of the amazing stuff that GK was doing (a three tube, 800 watt head with lots of features that was smaller than my little Markbass F500, the new Genz Shuttle 9.2 update, the AMAZING TecAmp Puma900 (which was the smallest amp at NAMM and sounded STUNNING), the DNA head seemed a bit behind the curve.

I'm sure it will sound good, and probably be a nice option for the Nordchow fans. Didn't do much for me personally. IMO of course.

[JAUQO III-X]

Ken there was definitely a nice amount of buzz going around about the DNA amp.

You should have taken the time to give it a spin. The amp sounded awesome and paired with the DNA 410 sounded massive and I mean massive in a very good way.


It sounds like no micro head I have heard. sounds like it's related to the Thunderfunk family of amps.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

Ken there was definitely a nice amount of buzz going around about the DNA amp.

You should have taken the time to give it a spin. The amp sounded awesome and paired with the DNA 410 sounded massive and I mean massive in a very good way.


It sounds like no micro head I have heard. sounds like it's related to the Thunderfunk family of amps.

I saw very few people around that booth the 7 or 8 times I went past it over a three day period.

Just not my thing. I gigged a Thunderfunk for a couple of years. Nice amp, but found a number of micro's that outperformed even the TF750 in direct A/B tests, and could get a similar tonality.

Again, there are few amps these days that don't sound good. It comes down to size per output, reliability, and coming from a company that you want to do business with or not for various reasons.

I'm sure, like most amps, the DNA would result in a satisfying experience for most players.

[JAUQO III-X]

Originally Posted by KJung

I saw very few people around that booth the 7 or 8 times I went past it over a three day period

Well the few times I went by the booth it was pretty packed.

Originally Posted by KJung

Just not my thing. I gigged a Thunderfunk for a couple of years. Nice amp, but found a number of micro's that outperformed even the TF750 in direct A/B tests, and could get a similar tonality.

Maybe so but at the end of the day sound and sound comparison can be very subjective. And I'm sure we can agree that today most players are to lazy and spoiled to take the amp that they really want to take on a gig.

Originally Posted by KJung

Again, there are few amps these days that don't sound good. It comes down to size per output, reliability, and coming from a company that you want to do business with or not for various reasons.

I totally agree.

Originally Posted by KJung

I'm sure, like most amps, the DNA would result in a satisfying experience for most players

And that's what matters.

[bottomzone]

Here's a nice overview of the amp:

DNA Helix Overview - YouTube

A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste!

[NoFretsNoWorry]

I wonder if a "golden-ear chip" was used in lieu of a preamp tube?

Anyone know?

[chemojay]

Has anyone bought or played through these yet other than the original poster. I am interested but I have yet to hear one on you-tube or a sound byte. Is it worth the 1500 or not. Should I just get a genz-benz and save myself some cash. I would like to know. unfortunately the DNA website forums are really not very informative. You rarely get a reply from staffers.

[EscapeNote]

Originally Posted by JAUQO III-X

And I'm sure we can agree that today most players are to lazy and spoiled to take the amp that they really want to take on a gig.

Zing!

[pedulla1]

Originally Posted by bottomzone

Here's a nice overview of the amp:

DNA Helix Overview - YouTube

A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste!

Talking about new gear is great but hearing a demo would have been nice.