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AudioKinesis Cabs Part VI...
- Thread starter Thor
- Start date
sorry, that pesky work thing.
Let's just say I started the gig with only the Barefaced, but brought the H1203 out of the car for the 2nd and 3rd set. I was able to get a little closer between the two with EQ, but I just prefer the Hathor sound. That said, dirt pedals through the Barefaced are magic. Haven't heard a better cab for dirt.
Main thing is the Two10 is pretty thick through the low mids. That typically is not my thing, but there is a sweetness on the top end that is quite nice. Form factor and weight aren't bad at all. Not sure I'll keep the Barefaced as the C1203T/H1203 does what I need and I'm usually hate to have "extra" gear hanging around.
One thing that I love love love about the Hathors - I can hear myself without cranking the volume too high. To get an equivalent "read" with the Barefaced, I had to turn up and crank the upper mids a bit.
Sonic reference - Two10
H1203
Let's just say I started the gig with only the Barefaced, but brought the H1203 out of the car for the 2nd and 3rd set. I was able to get a little closer between the two with EQ, but I just prefer the Hathor sound. That said, dirt pedals through the Barefaced are magic. Haven't heard a better cab for dirt.
Main thing is the Two10 is pretty thick through the low mids. That typically is not my thing, but there is a sweetness on the top end that is quite nice. Form factor and weight aren't bad at all. Not sure I'll keep the Barefaced as the C1203T/H1203 does what I need and I'm usually hate to have "extra" gear hanging around.
One thing that I love love love about the Hathors - I can hear myself without cranking the volume too high. To get an equivalent "read" with the Barefaced, I had to turn up and crank the upper mids a bit.
Sonic reference - Two10
H1203
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Thanks for posting this. I have to say; not only was this a great comparison of the two speakers but also a reference for me of how well these two songs can be played. Very nice.
Edit: After listening again I dont think "very nice" describes it well enough...more like beautiful. This makes my day.
Man, Nostatic, there was a lot of nice tone going on in those clips...
Surprisingly, the Barefaced sounds tighter in the low end, but that might be from the increased low mid content.
The AK cabs definitely sound "sweeter" to me with having a much broader spectrum to the sound.
Surprisingly, the Barefaced sounds tighter in the low end, but that might be from the increased low mid content.
The AK cabs definitely sound "sweeter" to me with having a much broader spectrum to the sound.
so, was the change on the amp or the bass? did you change it back when you went to the hathor?
Thanks for the kind words. Hadn't reviewed Yesterday in awhile so I was having to think too much 
. Fun to do the duo thing and Jay (the guitar player) is pretty sypatico with my playing.
I changed the amp. Basically cutting some bass, low mid (around 120hz) and increasing mids around 800hz for the Barefaced, then dropping back to my "normal" settings for the Hathor which are bass about 1:00, small bump around 120hz. Becomes a bit of an audio semantic argument (no, ASA isn't playing Coachella) - am I increasing bass with the Hathor or cutting the low mids with the Barefaced.
Main thing is the way the 3" paper cone presents on the Hathor. While I was able to dial in a tone I liked with the Barefaced, I really couldn't get that bit of note edge/grind/bite from the 10's the way I can from the 3". But by contrast, the smooth top on the Barefaced made the dirt sound quite controlled and sweet.
. Fun to do the duo thing and Jay (the guitar player) is pretty sypatico with my playing.I changed the amp. Basically cutting some bass, low mid (around 120hz) and increasing mids around 800hz for the Barefaced, then dropping back to my "normal" settings for the Hathor which are bass about 1:00, small bump around 120hz. Becomes a bit of an audio semantic argument (no, ASA isn't playing Coachella) - am I increasing bass with the Hathor or cutting the low mids with the Barefaced.
Main thing is the way the 3" paper cone presents on the Hathor. While I was able to dial in a tone I liked with the Barefaced, I really couldn't get that bit of note edge/grind/bite from the 10's the way I can from the 3". But by contrast, the smooth top on the Barefaced made the dirt sound quite controlled and sweet.
Well I just gave Duke my down payment for my Hathor 212 build. Does anybody have any experience with the Hathor 212 cabs? Thanks!
- Nov 24, 2008
- 4,343
- 7,163
- Disclosures
- Owner & designer, AudioKinesis; Auth. mfg, Big E (Home Audio only)
This is very interesting and educational for me.
It is NOT obvious to me that my cab "sounds better"... sure the two cabs sound different, but they both sound RIGHT to me. Disclaimer - I'm a speaker geek, NOT a musician. Kudos to Alex on a job well done! I can't say that my highly complexicated cab sounds any more "right" to me than his simple straightforward 210!
So I count myself darn lucky that my cabs are apparently one flavor of "right" for enough of you guys to keep me busy!
One challenge to sorting through gear is that a recording like this is only part of the story. I've lost track of gear I've owned that I was frustrated with on a gig, but when I listened to the recording, I thought, "sounds great." While some might say that is the litmus test, I tend to be more of a "process" kind of guy, so I take my in-the-moment impressions as a significant part of the calculation over what I keep and what I move. One thing your cabs have always done for me is make it so that I can hear myself at a reasonable volume. For bass that can be a real challenge, and I've heard guys play who obviously were cranking their rig for reasons beyond then wanting it loud - I think they just couldn't hear themselves at a reasonable stage volume, so they push the loud knob.
I always come back to the 3" paper cone combined with the crossover being the secret sauce. Tweeters typically don't have enough of that upper-mid note definition that I find is my key to hearing what I'm doing in-context. And the 10's in the Barefaced similarly don't have that same bite. The warm and wooly lower mids vibe it does quite well, and that isn't part of the base sonic profile of the Hathors (at least to my ear). So it also ends up being what a player wants out of the cab. I know guys that live for thick and punchy low/mids, while I favor a bit more low extension and a nice articulate low/mid profile. Different strokes...
I have to say that IMO the hathor sounds way better. The Barefaced sound kinda thin to me. The Hathor sounds fuller and rounder.
Listening on headphones at work (not the best idea, but all I have at the moment) the Two10 has the popular mid sound some call burpy. This is prized by soloists because it's higher in the mid range and fast passages keep definition. The H1203 in comparison, sounds more full range and more of what us non-soloists or infrequent soloists are looking for. Just my 2 cents.
This is why I keep an MXR 10 band EQ pedal on my board - I like a tad more volume and some mid boost to cut through the band when soloing. I would guess that I'd have an easier time getting my Hathor 1203 to emulate the burpy sound of the Barefaced cab as opposed to the other way around.
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there's a lot to think about in the barefaced 210 v hathor 1203 listening.
better/worse is, of course, completely subjective.
my 2¢ is that i heard that 210 clip and thought, geez, i really like the lows on that (i tend to like a thicker low end than @nostatic). hmmmm . . . then i listened to the hathor track and thought, nope, this is it for me. *for me*, it comes down to a sense of *openness*. most bass cabs sound congested/compressed to me, which is not what i'm looking for. (obviously, we're going off of camera feeds with different eq applied to each cab, so it's sorta pippin versus red delicious.)
where i might diverge from other folks is that how i experience/hear a cab is extremely important to how i play (i.e., if i'm not feeling the cab, i really hate the experience). so, while i might think that the barefaced sounds good for todd in the clip, i might hate it if i plugged into it. (todd can verify that i get tweaky about this stuff.)
better/worse is, of course, completely subjective.
my 2¢ is that i heard that 210 clip and thought, geez, i really like the lows on that (i tend to like a thicker low end than @nostatic). hmmmm . . . then i listened to the hathor track and thought, nope, this is it for me. *for me*, it comes down to a sense of *openness*. most bass cabs sound congested/compressed to me, which is not what i'm looking for. (obviously, we're going off of camera feeds with different eq applied to each cab, so it's sorta pippin versus red delicious.)
where i might diverge from other folks is that how i experience/hear a cab is extremely important to how i play (i.e., if i'm not feeling the cab, i really hate the experience). so, while i might think that the barefaced sounds good for todd in the clip, i might hate it if i plugged into it. (todd can verify that i get tweaky about this stuff.)
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This is why I made the comment about the recording only being part of the story. I'm also fairly picky about the "feel" of the cab along with my own subjective sonic biases. The above is a pretty good straight comparison though, as it is the exact same setup (camera is a Zoom Q2n-4K) just 1st vs 3rd set. I agree with the Hathor sounding more open and you could describe the Barefaced as compressed, but I could see someone else saying the Barefaced has a thicker body and more punch. Just depends on perspective and what you're going for.
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noted, which is why i tried to embellish it a bit more.
What a great and informative comparison and the playing ain't too shabby either!
I have a H1203T on order and would love to hear a similar comparison with a Hathor 12 and 1 of Barefaced 12 inch cabs. My hope is the Hathor will be the answer to my endless search for one cab that sounds great for both double bass and electric.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,069
- 46,012
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Just have to drop this NAMM vid from last Thursday here. The guy playing the blonde singlecut is playing through my old DIY tube preamp and 1/2 rack power amp and Duke's special edition TC112, I assume.
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