amp without controls to just be everything you want

[two fingers]

perhaps as both show-goers and performer(s) could check-in at the door (kiosk type), a computer could/would average their preferred tone, the amp would then deliver the results requested, maybe as pandora delivers

"Show-goers" do not care about bass tone AT ALL.

They care about song selection, talent, air temperature, drink prices, available singles in the room, etc.

If there were a list of 1,000 things any given audience member cares about, bass tone wouldn't even make the list.

 

[Nev375]

All we need to invent is that chip that reads your mind. Somebody get on that.

 

[Rumbledore]

Apps already exist that let band members do their own monitor mixes via ipads. The question is whether that would scale to 100+ people in an audience.

those are knobs and buttons, not mechanical, but they are not exactly as i’ve described.

That's because combo amps don't cover whole rooms, unless the room is very small or the band is very quiet.

no dice. that’s short-sighted imho. this is a dream not a “hey point me to the sweetwater page that sells this”

 

[Rumbledore]

"Show-goers" do not care about bass tone AT ALL.

They care about song selection, talent, air temperature, drink prices, available singles in the room, etc.

If there were a list of 1,000 things any given audience member cares about, bass tone wouldn't even make the list.

i personally think that is absolute bunko.

play a hideous tone all night (essentially ruin the band’s whole sound), and that band would sink off into never-land).

Just as an example of truth that they care quite greatly in fact, people commonly just straight up leave a club if the bass tone was hideous.

 

[lz4005]

"Show-goers" do not care about bass tone AT ALL.

I've been to shows where the sound was so bad I'm sure people wished they could fix it themselves. But that's down to incompetence on the part of the person running the PA. As long as there's a half decent mix you're absolutely right.

I've allways found that what an rta likes is not what your ears want to hear. In a past carear I was an SQ judge for karatio on occasion. Marks for accuracy but not sonic pleasure. Just my experience. Long live the sound man!

They're a good starting point for finding "zero". Then a decent sound person takes over to make things sound good.

no dice. that’s short-sighted imho. this is a dream not a “hey point me to the sweetwater page that sells this”

You can't change the physics of how sound waves travel. What you want isn't physically possible. An RTA setup plugged into a PA has been able to do exactly what you're talking about for over 30 years.

 

[Rumbledore]

What you want isn't physically possible

^HA! watch me do it

...and you guys keep mentioning “sound guy”. ugh... those are knobs and buttons, and are a no

 

[lz4005]

^HA! watch me do it

...and you guys keep mentioning “sound guy”. ugh... those are knobs and buttons, and are a no

Sound people aren't made of knobs and buttons. What are you talking about?

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

OK. Anyone remember Drew A. Kaplan, and his hi fi stereo catalog of gear marketed under the name D.A.K. ?
Would have been back in the eighties and nineties. He had a lot of cool looking and some cool operating stuff. His catalogs read like a used car salesman on steroids.

Of the two things I ever purchased from D.A.K. one was a graphic equalizer with built in analyzer and “reference” microphone.

The idea was to set up the mic at your primary stereo listening point, turn on the analyzer function which included a pink (I think) noise generator. Then you would set the EQ adjustments to make the room flat. It wasn’t automatic but you usually only needed to do it once.

The problem was that with my entertainment system set to compensate for the room. It sounded dull and lifeless.
I would end up setting things for a smiley face scoop on the EQ sliders to make it sound to my liking.

So constant, or even manually adjusting a bass amp to compensate for the room probably wouldn’t work out too well for being heard in the mix. You usually want to go more for a frowny face (inverted scoop) so you have mids enhanced to cut through the mix.

Oh BTW, the other D.A.K. purchase I made was a bread machine. I actually liked it much better than the EQ box.

DAK Industries - Wikipedia

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

OK. This thread started out with a legitimate question. But as things progress, it seems that the OP is bent on dissing all common sense responses.
This brings me to the conclusion that I think I know who he has been using for a sound man lately.

 

[Rumbledore]

Sound people aren't made of knobs and buttons. What are you talking about?

are you just being funny? im speaking english. and it seems like you would understand exactly what i meant. if not :sigh:, my comment refers to all the posts above that say an engender must be at a mixing console (which literally have the knobs and buttons). knobs and buttons must completely be excluded form this design. you seem to understand what literalism is. no offense

 

[lz4005]

The problem was that with my entertainment system set to compensate for the room. It sounded dull and lifeless.
I would end up setting things for a smiley face scoop on the EQ sliders to make it sound to my liking.

That's exactly the job of a good sound person. Start with the "flat" sound from the RTA and then adjust it to sound good to your personal preference. It would be pretty easy to quantify that offset from "flat" as a curve and apply it to an automated process.

Or, this being the 21st century, carry it in on a thumb drive or phone app and apply the "OGB" curve to a properly zeroed out PA system. Then when it's my turn to run things the next day I apply the "LZ" curve. If you really want to do it right, you'd have the "OGB acoustic jazz" curve and the "OGB techno" curve, and the "OGB modern country" curve, etc since not all genres are best with the same mix.

 

[Rumbledore]

OK. This thread started out with a legitimate question. But as things progress, it seems that the OP is bent on dissing all common sense responses.
This brings me to the conclusion that I think I know who he has been using for a sound man lately.
View attachment 3133972

now this guy knows humor *but im not actually kidding

 

[David A. Davis]

i like the amp to be classy with sound and not have a button or knobs that adjust anything so a true sound can come out. i have a dream that a amp will be so you don’t do anything to “get there”. Even volume not have a button or knobs, so it’s automatic that listens to the room and makes it do everything. amp will have noise sensors that evaluate every situation and mix possible. there will be algorithms, but all analog. how about a bass amp for a live concert to adjust itself and will cut through by itself? can it be the future?

I’d say it’s possible, but expensive. By the time it’s affordable there will be no more live music.

 

[blastoff]

an amp

 

[SactoBass]

Maybe you are looking for the SoundMan to be replaced by a robot? That would give you the more "automatic" feel you are going for.

"Ladies and gentlemen: now introducing the latest in bass amplification technology......
the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 with SPPC (soundman pre-programmed chip):"

 

[lz4005]

are you just being funny? im speaking english. and it seems like you would understand exactly what i meant. if not :sigh:, my comment refers to all the posts above that say an engender must be at a mixing console (which literally have the knobs and buttons). knobs and buttons must completely be excluded form this design. you seem to understand what literalism is. no offense

You aren't comprehending how zeroing in a PA system with an RTA works. It can be done automatically, and often is. No buttons or knobs need to be touched by human hands, other than the one that tells the system to begin the calibration process. Everything else happens in-the-box.

Whether the results of that process sound good or not is subjective. There are RTA systems that allow you to pre-program it to find flat response, then add and subtract certain user defined frequencies as a step of the automated process.

This is something that currently exists and has, with varying degrees of automation, for decades. It is a very old concept in sound design.

 

[Rumbledore]

You aren't comprehending how zeroing in a PA system with an RTA works. It can be done automatically, and often is. No buttons or knobs need to be touched by human hands, other than the one that tells the system to begin the calibration process. Everything else happens in-the-box.

Whether the results of that process sound good or not is subjective. There are RTA systems that allow you to pre-program it to find flat response, then add and subtract certain user defined frequencies as a step of the automated process.

This is something that currently exists and has, with varying degrees of automation, for decades. It is a very old concept in sound design.

great! then pleas show me a combo amp similar to the form factor of a rumble 200, that listens to the room, then collectively provides what everyone subconsciously, and objectively wants to hear. doesn’t exist.

 

[SactoBass]

I like knobs on my amps. They're fun to turn!

But that's just my own personal preference.

I think the OP's inquiry is an interesting one. Out of the box thinking for sure. I like that!

 

[lz4005]

great! then pleas show me a combo amp similar to the form factor of a rumble 200, that listens to the room, then collectively provides what everyone subconsciously, and objectively wants to hear. doesn’t exist.

Not possible.

Reason 1: "what everyone subconsciously, and objectively wants to hear." is data that cannot be provided to a machine. Because that data does not, and cannot, exist. It will be different for each individual.

Reason 2: An amp the size of a rumble 200 cannot cover most rooms evenly. This is not something technology can change. Moving air is directional. That is why we use PA systems with multiple speakers in multiple locations. Even then the sound changes as you move around the room.

Reason 3: Every genre of music (and sometimes every song, and sometimes every section of every song) requires different volume and tone for the bass. Will your psychic combo amp also know the difference between reggae, jazz, folk and hip hop?

There are more reasons, but those should be enough.

What you want can not happen.

 

[Rumbledore]

folks, if i may; being honest, im having a frustrating day and starting the thread is an act of deferred outlet on my part. it’s about much more than an imaginary wonder amp