Review Of EarCandy BassBomb 212 Cabinet

Well, I said I'd give a review of my BassBomb cab after got it and I had time to try it out. I got it about 2 weeks ago. It took a little longer than the 2 monthes than Tim at EarCandy thought it would to get to me...but they had a lot of terrible weather and his shop got flooded several times. First of all I'd like to apologize to Tim for all those emails that probably caused him to get even further behind-but he answered every single one,like a pro. Secondly,I'd like to congratulate him on building a bass cabinet that ranks as equal to the finest I've ever played thru...but its also the most beautiful and unique. The sound coming from this 212 cab is powered by my Crown 900 watt Power amp and my BBE MAX-T Tube Preamp. I played a passive Fender Jazz Fretless and an active Ibanez SR900 for this review. The cab first of all is as solid as they come-no buzzes at any time, anywhere, no matter what the volume or tone setting...also the cabinet/tolex work is immaculate. The Hardware is all black stainless steel, and black rubber feet.The tone is pretty much what you put into it, with a bit of warm bite to it to my ear. It has a natural sound thats not colored too much at all...its up to you to modify your tone and I like that. The 12's can go very deep without breaking up and there is no distortion that I've heard yet(though I have'nt turned it up "quite" full blast yet-still breaking in the speakers). Its in the category of loud, efficient,cabs as far as I'm able to compare( I have 2 Schroeder Cabs(410R and a 212L) and they are about the loudest, most efficient cabs I've ever heard ...and this cab is just as loud). This is not as mid heavy as the Schroeders however(The EarCandy cabs are'nt made with tweeters). I played one gig with it so far and a fellow bassist in town came up after the gig and complemented me on my bass tone and wanted to know all about my new cab...he said the tone was unbelievably warm and fat and filled the room with out being overwhelming. I really do like the tone as its a really natural sound for my style-I'm not into distortion-just pure,deep,warm bass...thats what I got...I really like it. Thanks Tim and the rest of the folks ad EarCandy...Peace...DAcat

No Problem-the EarCandy Cab is the one sitting on top of my Schroeder 410R cab in the pic...my version has a "Diablo Red" Tolex front and has black tolex the rest of the way around, with an Eminence Kappa Pro-12-A(500 Watt,1000Watt Program)speaker, as well as an Eminence Delta Pro-12A (400 Watt, 800 Watt Program)speaker...950 Watts total. Cabinet weight is listed at around 60 pounds and while I have'nt weighed it ,that seems accurate. It has a slightly bigger footprint than my Schroeder 410 R does and is considerably bigger than my Schroeder 212 L by about 10 lbs. It can be ordered with different speakers and you get to pickout the color of the cab, type of hardware ,placement of handles, the type of speaker grills, etc... and they will even make the cabs with Varnished Wood stains that are quite nice looking. It has a combination 1/4 inch/speakon input in back...and as I said before-no tweeter-but I don't seem to miss it at all. In fact, I played it about 3 hours today and I really liked its sound so much that I almost did'nt stop to get my chores done ...Oh...Cost was about 560.00 delivered...but I hear there has just been a slight price increase... Peace...DAcat...

bassbrock said:

Isnt this cab the one that kid said could fill an entire stadium with bass, without PA support? LOL

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Hey Bassrock...I would'nt know if any one said that about these cabs or not-that would certainly be an overstatement!!! LOLLOL. But it is one fine cab...I've been a staunch user of some of the loudest bass rigs (Acoustic 360s,Ampeg Svts with 810s in the old days, the Schroeder cabs matched with high wattage power amps, recently) and this 212 cab is uniquely voiced among cabs today with great tone, and its a loud ,efficient cab as well that is extremely well built & you can customize it to your liking (I think I forgot to mention it also has a lifetime guarantee for the original owner)...I think I'll buy another just like it so I can stack them horizontally...but I'll keep my 2 Schroeder cabs as well... in the other stack !...Peace...DAcat

I discovered Earcandy Cabs on my own after hearing one in a club and talking to the recent owner after the gig because I thought his tone sounded so good... and I then emailed a few other owners after reading their reviews at Harmony Central (there were no reviews in Talkbass), and finally talked to the owner of EarCandy Cabs himself,Tim Paulson...and well, after all the positives I heard and what I personally heard in the club that night- I thought I'd order one and... only recieved it about 2 1/2 weeks ago and then I wrote up my review. I was just alerted in a PM today about the previous long thread re: EarCandy cabs started by the young dude("who shall remain nameless") who said that the Earcandy cab could fill up a football field "or whatever" without PA support (I could'nt even do that with 2 Acoustic 360s and 2 SVTs with 810s in 1970)...and so anyway, I just got done reading that absolutely HILARIOUS thread...LOLLOL...I noticed that he never did show pictures of "his" Earcandy gear and I doubt that he even had it...and he was obviously a young and inexperienced kid(sorry for the name calling but I think that you deserved it kiddo-if I'd read that thread, it would have been quite unlikely that I'd have ordered my cab to even try out). He was prone to hyperbole, he obviously did'nt know what he was talking about, and he tried to take on experienced players with jive...and the EarCandy name took a hit. After reading that thread tonight, I wondered-OMG -what kind of replys am I going to be getting down the road to my review from the cats on TB(not that I write anything expecting a positive response). But, I must say, that I'm quite proud of the way my TB brothers have treated my review ("objecitve, merciful").If this cab had been a dog, I would have been the first to say so. I'm not not trying to promote this cab just because its the "latest one in my stable", I'm not an endorser, nor am I trying to get people to buy one... I just happen to dig the tone of this cab...but its just another very good sounding cab that I will use- it has a different voicing compared to my Schroeders- which I still like very much too, and will also continue to use them. But due to the fact I like the EArCandy tone AND that I could get a cab custom-built to look and sound the way I wanted it to-within certain parameters, that is...THIS was an interesting concept to me which I thought others might want to hear about. BUT NO... IT Won'T FILL UP A FOOTBALL FIELD WIthOUT PA SUPPORT...not even close...not even better than my Schroeder 212L will !!! Unfortunately these cabs are only bought direct from Earcandy-you can't try them out first unless you are lucky enough to know someone who has one and they will let you try it out(or you might be able to go try one out where they are built just south of Chicago)...but if anyone is in my area and would like to try mine out, let me know and we can get together. Man...I gotta go to bed...Peace...DAcat

blowinblue said:

No explanations needed, Mr. DAcat. Besides, some of us have your back on this one. That thread you're referring to may have steered some readers away from EarCandy products, but from what I can tell Tim Paulsen has so many orders in the pipeline he can barely keep up. He's doin' fine. Whoa, what do we have here?

Somewhere in my myspace pics there's an action shot of the Candy at the Cafe Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach CA. The sound man asked me to turn down twice. That rarely happens to me.

M. M.

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Hi Blowinblue-Beautiful cab! And I saw your My Space site(Nicccceeee!!! ) ...you've got a great Blues band, your bass playing sounds great and your singing is "drop your jaw gutsy"...Man,I always love it when I hear a bassist who can really sing AND Play(unfortunately I'm a bit tone deaf-I'm almost always flat when I sing...but I sound "great" riding my bike with my Ipod turned up with earphones on, singing up a storm-not caring what anyone thinks!! ). By the way, I just read your review of Your EarCandy BassBomb on the Fretless Bassist site... and I thought it was very comprehensive. I was thinking that maybe you ought to put one here on TB to give the cats here another version of my hearing of the EarCandy cabs...Peace...DAcat

blowinblue said:

Since the OP of this topic suggested that I put up a review here of my EarCandy 212, I'm taking the easy way out and just pasting it (sans pics) from the FretlessBassist.com site. Original review date was 6/24/07. Edit was 2/24/08. Hopefully, this will be of assistance to any who are considering one of these cabinets. There are also many reviews on BGRA.net and Harmony Central. As you can probably discern, at the time of the review I was a bit annoyed with the attitude of a few folks around here. No worries, I'm over it now (well, almost). And thanks so much for the kind words, DAcat.
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"Some of you know that I own an Aguilar GS-212 as well as a couple of Epifani's (UL-210 & UL-410). Each are outstanding cabinets in their own unique way. I expected these cabs to sound great. It was a real surprise to hear how good my latest cab sounds. It's an EarCandy BassBomb 212. A few of the folks on the TB forum have already made up their minds that these cabs are not to be taken seriously. IMHO, they don't know what they're missing.

Buttery, smooth tone from the high register down to the low B. To my ear the Epifani's seem a bit mid-forward while still having a deep sound. The Aggie seems warmer with maybe a bit of mid scoop, but still sounds big and deep like the Epi 410. The Candy seems to fall in the middle. More colored than the Epi's but still retains a clear and open midrange. A few of my bass buddies have referred to it as 'throaty'. Seems to throw its sound out farther from the stage than the others. Cuts through the mix out in the house, for sure. The lowest notes on the B string are there in all their glory. Solid construction and excellent attention to detail. You can pick your own colors, grill, input jacks, etc. Tim threw in a free cover as well. It's loaded with an Eminence Kappa 12A and a Delta 12LFA (both non-neo). 62 lbs. Wired for 4 ohms. No tweeter or crossover. Behind the removeable grill the speaker baffle is finished out just like the rear. Curiously, Tim installs his side handles upside down. No problem...I flipped them (after pics were taken).

I usually get compliments on my tone, but those comments have increased since I started using the Candy. Interestingly, my fellow bandmates in both bands I play in now prefer I bring the Candy cab. The guitar player in my main band actually seems irritated when I show up with another cab. Go figure. (Lately however, he seems to be torn between the Aggie and the Candy). I've had the opportunity to listen to this cab while someone else played through my rig. Amp used was my Eden WT-400. Anywhere I stood or sat in the audience, the sound of the Candy was even, full, clear. The EarCandy gave probably the best bass sound I've ever heard in this particular room. It sounds even better in the audience than it does on stage. While I'm not necessarily recommending this as a player's only cabinet, it would make a great backup to a high-dollar boutique cab. Can't afford a high-dollar cab or two cabs for that matter? This will work fine as a player's only cab. Great value for a mid-priced cab, IMHO. And the fun factor is off the chart! A downside of this cab is that since it's not available with a carpet or spray-on finish, more care needs to be taken during load-in and load-out. In spite of what the 'experts' on some of the bass forums say, I think Tim of EarCandy is on to something with this cab. YMMV.

What is an 'expert', you may ask? Someone who hides behind their computer keyboard and spews out definitive and impressive sounding observations about gear with which they have no personal, hands-on experience. Yawn!

Edit: My opinions about this cab are slowly evolving. I have become more impressed with it the more I use it. It's onstage volume is on par with my Aguilar GS-212. It sounds just as good onstage as out in the audience. It holds it's composure at loud volumes and loves being fed more watts than my humble Eden can deliver. Lately I've been experimenting with pairing it with either the Aggie or the Epi 410 for higher volume gigs. On these occasions I use my Ashly SC-40 and Crown XTi 2000 in dual channel configuration. Wow! What a huge sound. I have slowly come to the conclusion that the Candy 212 is in the same league as the Aguilar and Epifani cabs. A blasphemous statement to some, but that's what my ears tell me."
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M. M.

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Hey BB...Thanks for adding the comprehensive review...now there's a data base here on TB that has a bit more dependable "data" on this cab than the previously mentioned "hilariious thread " by the "kid"...Peace... DAcat

JonathanD said:

Thanks for the review. after playing a 112 combo recently, I started to wonder why we even use tweeters? Why not just make the cab full range with just 12s or 10s.
If guitarists get enough treble/high end from just the 12s...why can't we?
Jonathan

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Hey Jonathon...ya know, tweeters are a fairly recent addition to bass cabs in the history of bass guitar playing and I really can't say I miss them at all in this cab in a live setting...Peace...DAcat

brooklynbassguy said:

I got an Earcandy 2x12 a couple of years ago, and prefer it over an Epifani 2X12. I have a Beta "whizzer' and a B&C neo in it. An odd combination, but is full and very punchy pairing. I run it with a AI Focus. The cab ends being a bit under 60lbs(the epi was 75lbs) and I use it for wedding bands, and Latin Jazz gigs. Definitely not as loud as two 4x10, but very back friendly.

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I've compared my Schroeder 212L to the Epifani 212UL and had a similar exp,,,at a recent concert-another bassist and I excahged My Schroeder 212L rig for 212 Epifani for 2/4 sets... out in the crowd I definately preferred the Schroeder(esp. when played live with the band -it cut thru clearrer and cleaner with out sounding wooly ,mushy. The Epifani sounded great by itself-but tended to get lost in the mix...Peace...DAcat