2 Notes Opus

[John D Harris]

I think I should have bought a good quality active PA cab instead of the Fender Rumble 100 Combo.

The problem is the speaker in the Rumble.

If I create a Preset that sounds good with my Sennheiser headphones, when I run the Opus into the FX Return on the Rumble, the speaker sounds not as powerful in the low end and really harsh in the upper midrange.
If I modify a Preset to sound good on the Rumble, it sounds way dark through my headphones.
I like to practice both ways, so I could create two sets of Presets - one for the Rumble and one for the headphones.
Problem is if I ever needed to run the Opus into a PA, and I use the Rumble Presets, the PA will sound too dark.
I can't EQ the Rumble in that scenario, because I'm bypassing the Rumble Preamp (if I run it into the Instrument Input, it will be even more colored).

Shakaka!

Just to be clear, I can EQ the Presets to sound Really good through the Rumble.
Also, I think I may buy a Celestion BN12-300S (4) to replace the stock 12" driver, as it is supposed to sound smoother through the mids.
I really don't think I will be in a situation where I'll be needing to run it into a PA, but my brain is so OCD...
I hate the thought of trying to sell it 2nd hand and then save up to buy a decent active PA cab.

Word to the wise: make sure your stage sound rig can accurately sound pretty much the same as a good PA so you will have a blank canvas on which to paint with the Opus!

 

[John D Harris]

I think I should have bought a good quality active PA cab instead of the Fender Rumble 100 Combo.

The problem is the speaker in the Rumble.

If I create a Preset that sounds good with my Sennheiser headphones, when I run the Opus into the FX Return on the Rumble, the speaker sounds not as powerful in the low end and really harsh in the upper midrange.
If I modify a Preset to sound good on the Rumble, it sounds way dark through my headphones.
I like to practice both ways, so I could create two sets of Presets - one for the Rumble and one for the headphones.
Problem is if I ever needed to run the Opus into a PA, and I use the Rumble Presets, the PA will sound too dark.
I can't EQ the Rumble in that scenario, because I'm bypassing the Rumble Preamp (if I run it into the Instrument Input, it will be even more colored).

Shakaka!

Just to be clear, I can EQ the Presets to sound Really good through the Rumble.
Also, I think I may buy a Celestion BN12-300S (4) to replace the stock 12" driver, as it is supposed to sound smoother through the mids.
I really don't think I will be in a situation where I'll be needing to run it into a PA, but my brain is so OCD...
I hate the thought of trying to sell it 2nd hand and then save up to buy a decent active PA cab.

Word to the wise: make sure your stage sound rig can accurately sound pretty much the same as a good PA so you will have a blank canvas on which to paint with the Opus!

P.S.
Your rig doesn't have to sound like a PA speaker, it just needs to sound fairly similar to your bass guitar EQ'ed the way you want it to sound.
The soundperson can adjust for the rest of it (or you can send an unprocessed signal to FOH).
If you never use a PA, it will not matter anyway - like I said, I can make the Rumble sound awesome with the Opus.

 

[Ross Davies]

P.S.
Your rig doesn't have to sound like a PA speaker, it just needs to sound fairly similar to your bass guitar EQ'ed the way you want it to sound.
The soundperson can adjust for the rest of it (or you can send an unprocessed signal to FOH).
If you never use a PA, it will not matter anyway - like I said, I can make the Rumble sound awesome with the Opus.

Interesting test nonetheless — Are you using a DynIR in your OPUS preset out of interest?

 

[John D Harris]

Interesting test nonetheless — Are you using a DynIR in your OPUS preset out of interest?

With either type of Presets (I use both w/DynIR's and w/o) there is a really drastic difference between the sound through my Sennheiser HD599SE's and the R100c.

 

[Ross Davies]

With either type of Presets (I use both w/DynIR's and w/o) there is a really drastic difference between the sound through my Sennheiser HD599SE's and the R100c.

Thanks for getting back to me. In truth, that is to be expected. If using the Rumble 100 V3, this has an Eminence Special Design driver which will impart quite a bit of tonal character on the amplified sound whereas the HD599SE offer a comparatively flat, less coloured, frequency response. I have experienced the same issues previously although I try not to pipe a DynIR through a traditional guitar or Bass driver simply to avoid stacking a cabinet response — my suggestion would be to use a non-DynIR patch with the Rumble and a DynIR patch with the Sennheiser — alternatively, if in a live setting you can use the Line Out Routing mode to send a TSM Pre and Poweramp signal to your Rumble leaving the XLR with full DynIR processing for a FOH feed. Let me know if this helps!

 

[John D Harris]

Thanks for getting back to me. In truth, that is to be expected. If using the Rumble 100 V3, this has an Eminence Special Design driver which will impart quite a bit of tonal character on the amplified sound whereas the HD599SE offer a comparatively flat, less coloured, frequency response. I have experienced the same issues previously although I try not to pipe a DynIR through a traditional guitar or Bass driver simply to avoid stacking a cabinet response — my suggestion would be to use a non-DynIR patch with the Rumble and a DynIR patch with the Sennheiser — alternatively, if in a live setting you can use the Line Out Routing mode to send a TSM Pre and Poweramp signal to your Rumble leaving the XLR with full DynIR processing for a FOH feed. Let me know if this helps!

Sounds like a great idea!

I forgot about that option for the DI output.

Thank you, Ross!

I'm going to upgrade the 12" driver to a Celestion BN12-300 (4) - (some of the newer R100c's use a 4 Ohm 12" driver) - and hopefully that will move it closer to a suitable neutral tone.

 

[Ross Davies]

Sounds like a great idea!

I forgot about that option for the DI output.

Thank you, Ross!

I'm going to upgrade the 12" driver to a Celestion BN12-300 (4) - (some of the newer R100c's use a 4 Ohm 12" driver) - and hopefully that will move it closer to a suitable neutral tone.

No problem at all - let me know how you get on!

In terms of the BN12-300, I haven't used it before, however I have just checked the Frequency Response and it looks a little more neutral for sure! Let me know what you think when you've got this all setup!

 

[John D Harris]

No problem at all - let me know how you get on!

In terms of the BN12-300, I haven't used it before, however I have just checked the Frequency Response and it looks a little more neutral for sure! Let me know what you think when you've got this all setup!

Will indeed.

 

[John D Harris]

I think I should have bought a good quality active PA cab instead of the Fender Rumble 100 Combo.

The problem is the speaker in the Rumble.

If I create a Preset that sounds good with my Sennheiser headphones, when I run the Opus into the FX Return on the Rumble, the speaker sounds not as powerful in the low end and really harsh in the upper midrange.
If I modify a Preset to sound good on the Rumble, it sounds way dark through my headphones.
I like to practice both ways, so I could create two sets of Presets - one for the Rumble and one for the headphones.
Problem is if I ever needed to run the Opus into a PA, and I use the Rumble Presets, the PA will sound too dark.
I can't EQ the Rumble in that scenario, because I'm bypassing the Rumble Preamp (if I run it into the Instrument Input, it will be even more colored).

Shakaka!

Just to be clear, I can EQ the Presets to sound Really good through the Rumble.
Also, I think I may buy a Celestion BN12-300S (4) to replace the stock 12" driver, as it is supposed to sound smoother through the mids.
I really don't think I will be in a situation where I'll be needing to run it into a PA, but my brain is so OCD...
I hate the thought of trying to sell it 2nd hand and then save up to buy a decent active PA cab.

Word to the wise: make sure your stage sound rig can accurately sound pretty much the same as a good PA so you will have a blank canvas on which to paint with the Opus!

A couple of days ago, I decided to plug my Opus into the Instrument Input on my Fender Rumble 100 combo - HOLY MOLY!!!
Just running a Showman modeled Preamp and a 6L6 modeled Power Amp and no cab sim - J-Juice!
Man, it sounded great!

The settings on the R100c were just me spitballing what I thought would sound good with a balanced setting on the Opus - I was right!
[I have the 4 Ohm drivered version of the R100c and it is a bit over accentuated in the mid-upper mids. I have a new driver headed my way that I hope will be more balanced.]

Moral of the story - don't make assumptions regarding what you think will work best and what won't work - EXPERIMENT!

View attachment 7299108

 

[Ross Davies]

A couple of days ago, I decided to plug my Opus into the Instrument Input on my Fender Rumble 100 combo - HOLY MOLY!!!
Just running a Showman modeled Preamp and a 6L6 modeled Power Amp and no cab sim - J-Juice!
Man, it sounded great!

The settings on the R100c were just me spitballing what I thought would sound good with a balanced setting on the Opus - I was right!
[I have the 4 Ohm drivered version of the R100c and it is a bit over accentuated in the mid-upper mids. I have a new driver headed my way that I hope will be more balanced.]

Moral of the story - don't make assumptions regarding what you think will work best and what won't work - EXPERIMENT!

View attachment 7299108

Great news John — I am sincerely so pleased OPUS has become such a core component of your rig!

 

[lidl e]

I just bought the Complete Bass Collection. What a bargain!

Now I have to figure out which ones not to load.

@Ross Davies any new bass preamps in the pipeline?

Also, not to be a greedy guys, but there seems to be 2 cabs in the shop that weren't included. The grindhouse blackbird 2x15 and the Hop Pole britgrind 4x10

Any particular reason they aren't included in the collection?

Cheers!

 

[John D Harris]

Sounds like a great idea!

I forgot about that option for the DI output.

Thank you, Ross!

I'm going to upgrade the 12" driver to a Celestion BN12-300 (4) - (some of the newer R100c's use a 4 Ohm 12" driver) - and hopefully that will move it closer to a suitable neutral tone.

I bought and installed a Celestion BN12-300S (4) driver replacing the stock 4 Ohm driver.

Observations so far in a bit over a day's worth of playing with it:

Even though it still seems like a fairly bright driver, the upper mids are not nearly as harsh sounding to my ears as the stock driver.
It is more efficient than the stock driver.
It has at least as good a low end (down to low 'B') as the stock driver, possibly better at higher volumes.

I have run my Cort B5 Element into the Instrument Input, set the combo's EQ fairly flat and then used my B5's onboard preamp to EQ a very good tone.
I have run the B5 in passive mode into my Two Notes Opus and then into the combo's FX Return and EQ'ed a killer tone using the Opus' processing.
I have run the B5 in passive mode into my Two Notes Opus and then into the combo's Instrument Input and EQ'ed a killer tone using the Opus' processing.

I greatly prefer the Opus generated tones into the R100c without any Cab Sim - which makes sense - less muddling up the tone.
I created 6 different presets so far - two for each of the above routing options (one Fender Showman type Preamp setting and one Fender Bassman type Preamp setting), none using anything than the Preamp types and the Custom 5-band parametric EQ + HPF & LPF (no Power Amp model).

[I also created two Presets on the Opus similar to the above but intended for a post EQ / post processing DI out signal, tweaked using my Sennheiser Headphones alone.]

After all of this, in hindsight (20/20 right), I'd have saved up and bought a good quality active PA cab or something like the GRBass Active cabinets.
I still do really like the R100c, especially the fact that it is really easy for me to move around with my bad back and the Opus can make it sound like a thousand dollar rig (at least in that neighborhood)!

 

[Ross Davies]

I just bought the Complete Bass Collection. What a bargain!

Now I have to figure out which ones not to load.

@Ross Davies any new bass preamps in the pipeline?

Also, not to be a greedy guys, but there seems to be 2 cabs in the shop that weren't included. The grindhouse blackbird 2x15 and the Hop Pole britgrind 4x10

Any particular reason they aren't included in the collection?

Cheers!

Thanks for getting in touch - Awesome news, you are in for a treat as there is a whole heap of tones in there!

There are currently no plans for any new preamps at this stage and sadly I cant reveal too many details about our future plans for OPUS.

In terms of the missing DynIRs, can you raise a ticket at Support.Two-notes.com and we can look to get these onto your account.

Thanks!

 

[lidl e]

Thanks for getting in touch - Awesome news, you are in for a treat as there is a whole heap of tones in there!

There are currently no plans for any new preamps at this stage and sadly I cant reveal too many details about our future plans for OPUS.

In terms of the missing DynIRs, can you raise a ticket at Support.Two-notes.com and we can look to get these onto your account.

Thanks!

For sure! Nice one...

 

[jcburn]

I've just picked up an Opus as my first foray into the digital realm. Im really keen to use this unit as my main preamp/poweramp. I intend to run this into the effect return of my stage rig amp from the 1/4 inch output, then run the same signal/toneprint with added cab sim IR via the XLR to FOH.

Ic this proves successful i will add a midi controller to switch between some different patches (mostly only different to equalise volumes between P puckup alone and then PJ on sane bass).

Question - can the Opus do and Preamp or power amp drive? I do have a drive pedal I really love but interested to know what the modelled drive of the Opus is like if it dies such a thing.

 

[John D Harris]

I've just picked up an Opus as my first foray into the digital realm. Im really keen to use this unit as my main preamp/poweramp. I intend to run this into the effect return of my stage rig amp from the 1/4 inch output, then run the same signal/toneprint with added cab sim IR via the XLR to FOH.

Ic this proves successful i will add a midi controller to switch between some different patches (mostly only different to equalise volumes between P puckup alone and then PJ on sane bass).

Question - can the Opus do and Preamp or power amp drive? I do have a drive pedal I really love but interested to know what the modelled drive of the Opus is like if it dies such a thing.

There are a lot of variables that affect the nature of the overdrive of the various preamp & power amp models.

The Gemini Preamp model is the only one that doesn't really overdrive (at least not for me and my bass guitar).

Each Preamp and Power Amp model will have its own range of tones and amount of overdrive - some Preamp models overdrive at a lower gain setting and some have to be really cranked (Gain wise).

You'll need to experiment and see if you prefer them over your dedicated Overdrive Pedal.

The OD pedal may be more simple, except for the fact that it's adding another pedal to have hooked up.

 

[jcburn]

Thanks John - makes sense.
Another random question - are there pedalboard power brick options that will power the Opus? I currently only gave an old Dunlop DC Power Brick and i dont believe that will do it?

 

[John D Harris]

Thanks John - makes sense.
Another random question - are there pedalboard power brick options that will power the Opus? I currently only gave an old Dunlop DC Power Brick and i dont believe that will do it?

Here is what the Owner Manual says about the power:

Power --
Power Input Connector: 2.1mm x 5.5mm
Polarity: Center negative
Voltage: 12V DC
Current: 200mA
Power consumption: approx. 2W
~~
Supplied Adapter --
Connector: 2.1mm x 5.5mm
Polarity: Center negative
Voltage: 12V DC
Max Current: 2000mA

 

[jcburn]

I have more dumb questions!!! Well one for now....

I've never owned or played through a full tube amp, nor do I see a chance to do this in the future.

Baring that in mind there is a lot of discussion about the magic of power amp saturation/overdrive. Not having witnessed this phenomenon could I use the Opus into the effects return of one of my solid state amps to emulate realistic power amp saturation?

 

[John D Harris]

I have more dumb questions!!! Well one for now....

I've never owned or played through a full tube amp, nor do I see a chance to do this in the future.

Baring that in mind there is a lot of discussion about the magic of power amp saturation/overdrive. Not having witnessed this phenomenon could I use the Opus into the effects return of one of my solid state amps to emulate realistic power amp saturation?

Yes, you can do that.

I'm not a full tube head aficionado (having played an Ampeg V4B at a gig only once a few years ago, but I did own a 1960's Blackface Bassman about 45 years ago), so I wouldn't be comfortable saying that it exactly emulates the real thing when it comes to other flavors of tube amps, but my impression is that it does a very good job, especially with the Foundry (Showman) and the Foundry Bass (Bassman) models - both with either the 6L6 or KT88 Power Amp Models.