A Markbass CMD question

[fclefgeoff]

I also use a CMD 121p with Modulus basses. I think it is a great amp but I bought a New York 121 cab to throw under it and that rig can handle ANY small to medium sized room I play. I have also used my GK MB800 with the NY 121 and have been pleased with the tone. Also, the VFE knob at about 9:00 is great at taming the tweeter.

 

[Low Class]

Erm...not quite. The combo has a smaller internal air space (taken up by the amp) so it can't be driven as hard before farting out. The separate cab has a tweeter dial to dial out the shrilly piezo horn. The Combo doesn't, but has a vfh filter to dial out the treble. The 2 box solution is slightly better but more expensive and a little less convenient. It's a pity Mark bass don't offer a screw on box to put your amp in and screw it to the cab.

Exactly!! Also the lows aren't as prominent.

 

[PCR]

... The key is it took about two weeks for it to break in, at first it didn't sound as good.

Glad I read this post. I just picked up a CMD121P. I already have a CMD121 (bought used) and 2x NY121 (one bought new, the other used). The new CMD121P sounds A LOT different than the other 121's. It's about 5lbs lighter than my older CMD121 too. It was different enough that I thought about taking it back. I had forgotten how long it takes to to break in (All mid). I'll run a tone through it tonight.

The weird thing is that the new CMD weighs 5lbs lighter than my old one (yes, I put it on the scale). I'm going to start another thread about it when I open up my old one to compare the speakers and cab.

Thanks for the reminder...

 

[elgecko]

...The weird thing is that the new CMD weighs 5lbs lighter than my old one (yes, I put it on the scale). I'm going to start another thread about it when I open up my old one to compare the speakers and cab.

Thanks for the reminder...

How much does the new one weigh?

 

[Low Class]

Glad I read this post. I just picked up a CMD121P. I already have a CMD121 (bought used) and 2x NY121 (one bought new, the other used). The new CMD121P sounds A LOT different than the other 121's. It's about 5lbs lighter than my older CMD121 too. It was different enough that I thought about taking it back. I had forgotten how long it takes to to break in (All mid). I'll run a tone through it tonight.

The weird thing is that the new CMD weighs 5lbs lighter than my old one (yes, I put it on the scale). I'm going to start another thread about it when I open up my old one to compare the speakers and cab.

Thanks for the reminder...

The older cabs were probably made in Italy and the new one in Indonesia. I'm finding that the Italian stuff sounds better overall.

 

[PCR]

How much does the new one weigh?

On my ultra precision bathroom scale:
New: 25 lbs
Old: 29.5 lbs

I picked up the the new cab, and was surprised by the difference. So far; I have weighed both combos, and the speaker from the new combo. I haven't had time to open the old one up yet.

The older cabs were probably made in Italy and the new one in Indonesia. I'm finding that the Italian stuff sounds better overall.

The older one is indeed made in Italy, and the new one from Indonesia. I will wait until I break in the speaker to see if there is any sonic difference between the two. Maybe everything will break in nicely, and they will both sound the same; hopefully.

I can tell you that my two NY121 are both made in Italy, and they sound identical to each other; and my old combo.

BTW, I have a MB LMIII (made in Italy too) that sounds exactly the same as the old combo. I use this head with my two NY121.

 

[PCR]

The older cabs were probably made in Italy and the new one in Indonesia. I'm finding that the Italian stuff sounds better overall.

LC: I am sure your ears are much better than mine. I have old, tired ears that in my youth spent way too much time with my head in speaker cones at concerts. Who'da thunk that rock n roll is actually bad for you?

How do describe the difference? (Just curious)

 

[Low Class]

On my ultra precision bathroom scale:
New: 25 lbs
Old: 29.5 lbs

I picked up the the new cab, and was surprised by the difference. So far; I have weighed both combos, and the speaker from the new combo. I haven't had time to open the old one up yet.



The older one is indeed made in Italy, and the new one from Indonesia. I will wait until I break in the speaker to see if there is any sonic difference between the two. Maybe everything will break in nicely, and they will both sound the same; hopefully.

I can tell you that my two NY121 are both made in Italy, and they sound identical to each other; and my old combo.

BTW, I have a MB LMIII (made in Italy too) that sounds exactly the same as the old combo. I use this head with my two NY121.

It'll probably break in to sound pretty close, but in general heavier cabs(denser wood) of the same build sound better than the lighter stuff IMO.

 

[Low Class]

LC: I am sure your ears are much better than mine. I have old, tired ears that in my youth spent way too much time with my head in speaker cones at concerts. Who'da thunk that rock n roll is actually bad for you?

How do describe the difference? (Just curious)

The older stuff just seems to have a bit richer tone than the Indonesian made to me.

 

[GMC]

Thanks, that point has been covered, and conceded, twice now.

I still maintain, as has at least one other on this thread, that many (most?) listeners won't hear much of a difference tone-wise, especially in a full-band mix.

But instead of reading strangers' back-and-forth on the internet, OP would need to do similar A/B comparisons as I have to come to his own conclusions. I'm of the humble opinion that he won't go wrong either way.

Soz, but I did say "not quite"...as in "A" doesn't quite equal "B". In an A and B session, I think the difference will be apparent. But in isolation, there is probably little between them in real world use. I think that the CMD 121P is an amazing combo. It's certainly the best thing in the Mark Bass range at the moment. Every thing else doesn't quite do it for me.

 

[B String]

To the OP: I would add another 1-12" cabinet. But I like 12s on everything.

The problem is that not every box matches up with every other box, even with the same size speaker. The way you might need to eq for the other box might not work for the combo.

 

[KJMO]

On my ultra precision bathroom scale:
New: 25 lbs
Old: 29.5 lbs

I picked up the the new cab, and was surprised by the difference. So far; I have weighed both combos, and the speaker from the new combo. I haven't had time to open the old one up yet.



The older one is indeed made in Italy, and the new one from Indonesia. I will wait until I break in the speaker to see if there is any sonic difference between the two. Maybe everything will break in nicely, and they will both sound the same; hopefully.

I can tell you that my two NY121 are both made in Italy, and they sound identical to each other; and my old combo.

BTW, I have a MB LMIII (made in Italy too) that sounds exactly the same as the old combo. I use this head with my two NY121.

I saw a thread somewhere, that Marko actually participated in, where a couple people actually said the Indonesian made cabs were substantially heavier, which is odd. However, from what he said, I really doubt all the plywood used for Italian made cabs was sourced from one place, and all the wood for the Indo ones was sourced from one place, so I'm sure there is all kinds of variability. He also mentioned that some time before production moved to Indo, that they stopped using B&C drivers, and sourced a copy from somewhere else (I think he said asia). So that probably has some effect on the sound too. Interesting, I think.

 

[PCR]

I saw a thread somewhere, that Marko actually participated in, where a couple people actually said the Indonesian made cabs were substantially heavier, which is odd. However, from what he said, I really doubt all the plywood used for Italian made cabs was sourced from one place, and all the wood for the Indo ones was sourced from one place, so I'm sure there is all kinds of variability. He also mentioned that some time before production moved to Indo, that they stopped using B&C drivers, and sourced a copy from somewhere else (I think he said asia). So that probably has some effect on the sound too. Interesting, I think.

Hmmm, that's ineresting. I took some pics of the Indo driver when I had it appart. I havent had time to open up my Italian one yet to check the difference.

Once I get everything opened up and pics, I'll start a thread. I'm sure it will spawn off a lot of theories and discussion.

 

[elgecko]

Hmmm, that's ineresting. I took some pics of the Indo driver when I had it appart. I havent had time to open up my Italian one yet to check the difference.

Once I get everything opened up and pics, I'll start a thread. I'm sure it will spawn off a lot of theories and discussion.

I'm glad I have a pre-CBS mini!

 

[bogie1519]

I settled on the MB Jeff Berlin Players Combo with 15in and added the 151 cabinet. And i love it, did catch both on sale so that helped. But still glad i did.
I had been using peavey and fenders for years so there was some adjustments to be made. the claim that all you have to do is set all the eqs to 12 and
its ready to go is BS. It took a couple of hours to find that sound i wanted. but once i did i was happy that i bought this rig. But it does take some getting
use to.

 

[scottm]

The older cabs were probably made in Italy and the new one in Indonesia. I'm finding that the Italian stuff sounds better overall.

I just bought a new one, and thought it was heavier than the older one I had that was made in Italy! It sounds different, and the quality seems worse. The first day I had it the handle on the top pulled off of it! I'm going to return it this weekend. Sad, I've owned a ton of thier stuff in the past and it all was so reliable and sounded great. I've had some friends complain about their new stuff along with hearing the GC people joke about the amount of returns from Markbass lately. Too bad.
-ScottM

 

[bogie1519]

Man I hope mine holds up better than that. It's my first MB amp

 

[scottm]

Man I hope mine holds up better than that. It's my first MB amp

I must have bought at least 15 different things from them over the years; heads, cabs, combos, etc...
When I got this home and unboxed it I could tell it felt heavier. Once I played through it I thought it sounded different too. Oh well.
I wish you the best of luck though.
-ScottM

 

[KJMO]

Man I hope mine holds up better than that. It's my first MB amp

I think there's good reason to believe yours will. The Blackline has always been made in Indo, and may have been an experiment to see if they could manufacture there without ruining reliability. It was very successful (marko himself said so). So I think the Blackline is reliable. Mine sure has been.

edit: does yours weigh what it is supposed to? Mine weighs 35lbs.

 

[scottm]

I think there's good reason to believe yours will. The Blackline has always been made in Indo, and may have been an experiment to see if they could manufacture there without ruining reliability. It was very successful (marko himself said so). So I think the Blackline is reliable. Mine sure has been.

Thanks for chiming in, that's good to know. I'm not saying my new combo sounds bad, just different.

Forgot to add, I also bought another brand combo that weights 33lbs, and the Markbass feels like it weights much more. Doesn't their site say 28lbs? I'll have to see if I can find somewhere to weight it though.

-ScottM