LMII vs LMIII DI question?

wengr · #1 09-28-2010, 04:00 PM

I have a question about pre\post DI in general, and as it applies directly to the markbass LM amps. Pre DI, I assume means the DI signal is not affected at all by any changes made on the amp? But with the DI set to post, I assume adjusting the gain would affect the DI level, but what about leaving the gain and eq alone and just adjusting the master volume? Would this change the DI signal as well? Thanks in advance

JimmyM · #2 09-28-2010, 04:10 PM

been a while, but i seem to recall that the di in the lmii, whether pre or post, was affected by the gain. the master volume never affects di level, though.

Honk'n_down-low · #3 09-28-2010, 04:28 PM

urls to each amp and their manuals

http://www.markbass.it/products.php?lingua=en&cat=1&vedi=99

http://www.markbass.it/products.php?...&cat=1&vedi=69

wengr · #4 09-28-2010, 04:47 PM

Thanks for the replies, Unless I'm missing it, answer is not in the manual however.

electracoyote · #5 09-28-2010, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wengr

Thanks for the replies, Unless I'm missing it, answer is not in the manual however.

I owned the first generation Jeff Berlin with the LMII, and I upgraded to the second generation which is essentially a LMIII with the DI volume control.

I think Jimmy answered your question correctly. Master volume will not affect the DI output. It is controlled by the gain on the LMII and the gain/DI volume on the LMIII.

Virgil · #6 10-05-2010, 09:07 AM

I had heard that Markbass had introduced another DI that could be installed into its amps. The new DI are called Super DI's and are sold by MusiciansFriend. They can be installed in all of their amps, including the LM II. They cost $199.99 and the Sku number is H6 5555. It is called the Markbass Super DI transformer.

wengr · #7 10-05-2010, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil

I had heard that Markbass had introduced another DI that could be installed into its amps. The new DI are called Super DI's and are sold by MusiciansFriend. They can be installed in all of their amps, including the LM II. They cost $199.99 and the Sku number is H6 5555. It is called the Markbass Super DI transformer.

Thanks Virgil, that's good to know. I have a LMII enroute, should be here tomorrow. If the DI is not workable I'll check that out.

electracoyote · #8 10-05-2010, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Virgil

I had heard that Markbass had introduced another DI that could be installed into its amps. The new DI are called Super DI's and are sold by MusiciansFriend. They can be installed in all of their amps, including the LM II. They cost $199.99 and the Sku number is H6 5555. It is called the Markbass Super DI transformer.

Wow. While I like a company that offers retrofits, that's kinda steep. Seems to me you could sell your LMII, re-invest that money into a LMIII, bypass the retrofit DI, and maybe even save some cash in the process.

Are there special features to the Super DI that transcend the DI out on the LMIII?

KJung · #9 10-05-2010, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electracoyote

Wow. While I like a company that offers retrofits, that's kinda steep. Seems to me you could sell your LMII, re-invest that money into a LMIII, bypass the retrofit DI, and maybe even save some cash in the process.

The standard DI sounds fantastic on these (in pre EQ)... I would see no reason to do that 'upgrade'. As with most DI's, if you run them post EQ, ugly stuff can happen, but again, the pre EQ MB stock DI sounds awesome (from years of feedback from some pretty serious front of house and especially monitor mixer guys.). Of course, if you are using the DI in a high level recording situation, there are better options. But for live performance, the stock DI is great.

The fact that the LMII required you to go inside the box and change a jumper to go from post to pre and back was IMO a bad desing decision. All MB heads (including the LMIII) not have a pre/post switch and a DI level control, which varies the signal strength nicely between line and mic level (useful if you are running into a low end system without decent input padding.

IMO and lots of IME.

electracoyote · #10 10-05-2010, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

The standard DI sounds fantastic on these (in pre EQ)... I would see no reason to do that 'upgrade'.

I agree. My LMII DI usually did the trick, but I did have a couple of soundguys tell me the signal could be a little hotter.

After the upgrade to the LMIII, no complaints. In fact, I've had a couple soundguys ask me to back off the DI output a bit.

KJung · #11 10-05-2010, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electracoyote

I agree. My LMII DI usually did the trick, but I did have a couple of soundguys tell me the signal could be a little hotter.

After the upgrade to the LMIII, no complaints. In fact, I've had a couple soundguys ask me to back off the DI output a bit.

I am always confused about sound guys and signal level comments. Even a moderate quality board with input pads should be easily able to handle literally any signal level that could possibly be imagined!

+1 though that the LMIII DI upgrade was a good one. The level control set at noon pretty much mimic's the original LMII fixed level.

electracoyote · #12 10-05-2010, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJung

I am always confused about sound guys and signal level comments. Even a moderate quality board with input pads should be easily able to handle literally any signal level that could possibly be imagined!

+1 though that the LMIII DI upgrade was a good one. The level control set at noon pretty much mimic's the original LMII fixed level.

Yeah, I think some soundguys want as much overhead as they can possibly squeeze from the source. And to be honest, the soundboards in some of the places I've played, not the best stuff on the planet.