Xsonics Bass Cab Company

[5StringPocket]

Originally Posted by Gearhead17

Xsonics 212 and the 210 – I met up with Nick recently and tried out these two cabs. He let me BLAST BOTH and play whatever the heck I wanted in his basement. Nick was a great host and enjoyed hearing what a 5 string sounded like through them.

Here are my FIRST impressions of both cabs – I have not used them in a gigging situation yet and I tested both cabs with my Carvin BX1200 heads and the same settings on them. Bass was a Spector Euro 5LX. Nothing was boosted; I tried to keep the Carvin heads as neutral as possible so I could hear what the cabs could do. Please keep in mind that what I report here should not constitute as the “gospel” and that my ears hear differently than everyone else’s.

kringle77 had said the CF212 hit like a hammer – it definitely does. The first thing that came to mind was Schroeder cabs. This is very similar to a Schroeder cabinet, HOWEVER, the CF212 and 210 both were more articulate and minor EQ changes caused an actual tone change. The midrange was not nasally or hollow sounding either. I owned a Schroeder 212R for a few days and it was awful for my uses. Midrange bump on it was nuts, little to no articulation and for some reason, I could cut through in band situation. I could not EQ that cabinet to save my life.

Using distortion (VT Bass/Xotic X-Blender) heavy with overdrive and the character knob nearly all the way right) on the CF212 and 210 resulted in a VERY wicked distortion tone. The pick attack definitely came through and both cabs were INSANELY loud when I did that. It was like a completely different character came out at that point. I would describe it as if the cabinet had a power tube section and distortion tone I use became edgier and wilder. It was pretty darn cool. I could see either box cutting through Marshall full stacks with ease. Not just one 412, but TWO! I am serious on that one.

Standing the cabs vertical and horizontal – there was a definite tone difference. Coupling with the floor when horizontal resulted in more low end and sounded more articulate when vertical. More low end than most Schroeder cabs ever put out.

Dispersion – these cabs were crazy again! Sound was flying out at least 20 feet with lots of volume. I was amazed. All this talk about beaming with bass rigs on talkbass nowadays…..I barely heard any of that on these cabs. Maybe some of the highs were gone 20 feet out, the growly midrange content was still flying around though….

For a little fun, we ran my DNA 210 against the CF210. Volume wise (despite the 97db sensitivity), the CF210 can get LOUD and play fine at crazy volumes. My DNA 210 did really well though, but the CF210 won here. The DNA 210 had more low end and was more polite sounding, more articulate. The CF210 is just a mean, growly, punch machine. For stage use, I still want to use my DNA cabs, but if you really want to cut through with ONE cabinet, Xsonic cabs are worth checking out.

Playing a 5 through the cab: I am not sure how much low end was actually coming out of the CF cabs with my B string. I think my DNA 210 had more low end. Currently though, I don’t use a lot low end from my cabs on stage. I typically roll off the lows below 150hz since I am always so close to the subwoofers at shows. I can already hear and feel the subs, so why blast my rig with low end if I can already hear/feel it from the PA? Have I tried the fEarful cabs? Nope. I have no idea what bass cabs can really do in the low end. In the horizontal position though, the cab had some good low end response. Lowest frequency? Don’t know.

Lastly, the 210 and 212 sounded pretty much the same. The high end off the 210 (no tweeter) had a higher crossover point and sounded better to me. The 212 had a lower crossover point which resulting in less articulation from the speaker. But, when I turned the tweeter up a little more on the 212, the high end was better and worked for me. There was definitely an output change between the cabs and I could definitely hear more low end on the 212.

That’s all I know for right now. Nick had offered to have me try out his cabs at a show in the future and I WILL take him up on that. That is truly the only way to know for sure what the cabs can do.

It's good to see a 5-string review with these. It sounds like the lows are controlled and tight and notes on the B-string hammer without folding? I thicken up the lows on my twin 3012HO cab by driving it with a Streamliner 900 amp and find that match to be ideal. The 50-200 Hz support from the down-firing woofer would probably make the CF-212 tone more even with the 3012HO and make that cab sound good with a wide range of amps. An FDeck HPF-3 pre set at 1:30 works nicely to support the B-string at high volumes. I wonder if the HPF-3 would have the same effect with the CF-212? Excursion limited power on my 3.3 cu-ft cab is 640 watts. I imagine it would be even higher on the XSonics CF-212 with its tighter internal volume. I can't help but agree this seems to be an ideal configuration for the 3012HO given the voicing of that woofer. I'd like to see a frequency response plot for the CF-212. I'm getting an upgrade for TrueRTA and will post one for my cab. Perhaps we can compare the two and see the difference this type of loading makes.

[Fretlessboy]

I will be flying my 212cf tonight in Jacksonville fl an will report on my 5 through it

[Gearhead17]

Originally Posted by 5StringPocket

It's good to see a 5-string review with these. It sounds like the lows are controlled and tight and notes on the B-string hammer without folding?

Exactly. Massive subwoofer style low end is not coming through these cabs, however, a good deal of low end is still coming out. Better than the Schroeders by a long shot.

[Fretlessboy]

I did a review on my Facebook fan page
www.facebook.com/DennisMichaelsBassist

[::::BASSIST::::]

The first thing that came to mind was Schroeder cabs. This is very similar to a Schroeder cabinet

More low end than most Schroeder cabs ever put out.

So you are saying these cabs sound very similar to Schroeders but with more low-end?

I owned alot of schroes in the past, but they never delivered the lows I wanted.

[Arjank]

Originally Posted by kringle77

I hate bass guitar run into subs. Unless you have some seriouse filters on the mixing board.

+1
Especially if you have a soundguy who likes the lower octave.....mud allover.

[Fretlessboy]

I hate that... I want clean and tight. Not rumble mud

[Gearhead17]

Originally Posted by ::::BASSIST::::

So you are saying these cabs sound very similar to Schroeders but with more low-end?

I owned alot of schroes in the past, but they never delivered the lows I wanted.

That is what I mean. Keep in mind that Xsonics' cabs do not have that crazy midrange hump like the Schroeders have. I was able to change the tone around quite a bit with my heads.

[Fretlessboy]

Originally Posted by Gearhead17

That is what I mean. Keep in mind that Xsonics' cabs do not have that crazy midrange hump like the Schroeders have. I was able to change the tone around quite a bit with my heads.

And the the tonality of the basses changes it tremendously as well

[Fretlessboy]

To be more clear... The character and tone of the instrument plugged in sound as unique as they are

[kringle77]

Im going to be compound loading mine tonight.

[3rdcurve]

Compound loading?

[kringle77]

One driver facing in. It would really be compound but, something similar. Nick swears that it sounds much better. I ran some simulations and he is probably right.

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by kringle77

One driver facing in. It would really be compound but, something similar. Nick swears that it sounds much better. I ran some simulations and he is probably right.

Does the cab come this way normally, or did you mod it yourself ?

[Fretlessboy]

The cf series comes that way

[kringle77]

Nick will load it either way. He started compound, went to forward facing and prefers compound so, Im going to try it tonight.

[kringle77]

Mine was sent in what nick considers "traditionally" loaded. Im going to face the side drive in and reverse it's polarity. Frettlessboy, is your angled driver facing in or out?

[Fretlessboy]

Mine is facing out

[Ncognito]

Originally Posted by kringle77

Im going to be compound loading mine tonight.

The 212CF and all Xsonics cabinets allow for conventional loading or non Isobaric compound push/pull loading of the crossfiring driver. It certainly makes the cabinets a little darker sounding and they will go lower and get louder due to the gain in internal volume by putting the speaker basket outside the chamber (not cabinet) instead of in it. I certainly prefer compound push/pull but both configurations sound excellent. It's just an additional variable a player can work with to get the ideal sound a person is looking for. It takes under 5 minutes to switch it around and anyone can do it with a stubby screwdriver.

[kringle77]

Nick really prefers facing in and my graphs show that I probably will as well. Flatter response with a narrow bump around 85-95hz I think. Should give it that eden sound.