Splitting the out from my Sans Amp?
 

I'm running a Sans Amp Bass Driver DI into a Crown power amp. One side of the Crown is driving a Mesa 2x10 and the other a Mesa 1X15. The tone is killer, I'm loving it, but I have to run one side of the amp from the 1/4" output on the Sans Amp, and the other from the XLR output. The XLR doesn't seem to give the same power as the 1/4" and I was wondering if anyone knows a better way? I was thinking of splitting the 1/4" cable into two, but I can't seem to find such an item.

Thoughts?

As always thanks to the TB community for all of the awesome support!

Do you happen to have the output and XLR switches both set to "instrument"? If you have one set to "Line", that one will be hotter, iirc.

But that's not the best direction, anyway. There are plenty of ABY boxes on the market to split your signal to two amps/two channels on a poweramp. Do a google search for ABY switcher or A/B/Y switcher.

eg: http://www.zzounds.com/item--RADBSABY

Most amps will link their inputs in mono mode, one way or the other. What is your amp?

Seems to me pretty much any Crown should be capable of parallel inputs. I don't know about Crown, but most QSC amps use dip switches to do it. If not, a simple Y splitter cable can be used to split the output of your SansAmp.

Yeah you shouldn't be running 2 lines to the poweramp, you should run 1 line from the sansamp and run the amp in parallel so it uses the single input for both sides

That would be best, but it doesn't really matter in this case. If the amp doesn't have parallel inputs, the splitter cable will work fine.

+1 Y cable will work fine 99 times out of 100.

...yet is usually unnecessary, since as stated above, most power amps already include the ability to send one input to both channels.

Yep, this would be the easiest route. Which model Crown are you using? We'll check the manual. In some cases (when equipped as such), you can run a single 1/4" line into channel A, then use the XLR as a parallel output and feed the input of channel B. There's a really good chance that we can split / share the signal at the amp level in a way that does not require a special splitter cable.

Riis

Yeah. Worst case is probably only needing a simple short xlr lead. More likely you only need to flip a switch.

Thank you one and all...!!!

Turns out I just wasn't familiar with the amp, a Crown XS700. I wound up running the 1/4" out from the SansAmp into the 1/4" input for channel #1 on the amp. From there I ran an XLR from the #1 output (which I thought was an input) into the 1/4" input for channel #2 and now they run in parallel.

It pays to download the manual I guess. The rig sounds great, thanks for all the support!!

Indeed. Note which option is listed first.

1. Buy a “Y” cable. Plug the female end into your signal cable, and plug the split male ends into both amplifier inputs.

Ooohh...there's the problem. Like a lot of TBer's, the mere thought of pulling out my wallet sends me scrambling for my parts bin looking for something that will do the job. In this case, it was a shorty XLR > 1/4" TRS.

Riis
Musician, Healer, Humanitarian, and all-around Cheapskate

Or anything else you want in the chain like dual EQ - one for each side of the power amp.

Yup, that's the easy solution, just run one signal to your power amp.

...but have you thought about runing a biamp setup since you're using a 210 and 115? I also use a Sansamp (pedal version) as my preamp, then go into a Rolls Tiny Two-Way Crossover. http://www.rolls.com/product.php?pid=SX21 It's simple, fits on my pedalboard, does a great job and is pretty cheap. I run the 1/4 out from the Sansamp to the crossover, then run the high and low to each side of my stereo power amp. This leaves the XLR free to send to the front of house mixer. Email me if I didn't make any sense and you want to try this. If you have a rack setup, the Rolls crossover is small enough to stick in the back of your rack case with foamy tape or sticky velcro. I used to use it like this when I was using a rack preamp before I switched to the Sansamp pedal.