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Double Bass Avalon U5 review

#81
flatback, you may have addressed this before. Maybe PB+J too. But has the unit held up fine under normal gig / road usage for you? I guess I tend to think of it as more of a studio type piece. Wondering if you've ever had any concerns re: the rigors of stage use.
 
#83
PB+J said:
I've hauled the thing to smoky bars in a unpadded tool bag, played outdoors in drizzle, left it in freezing and hot cars overnight, it's still working fine. it's fancy looking but engineered really tough
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I have it velcroed to the Focus III and it makes a very stable and very hifi box. (althought the Focus is oriented horizontally and the U5 Vertically so one or the other gets the front view) The Avalon is like a Sherman tank. I wish the electonics were in something more demure...like the Focus case (even though I love the silver knobs...) The idea or rack mounting them does not appeal, I want to get smaller not bigger. i dump the whole thing with cables into an old GK guitar amp sholderbag, that someone left in my garage once.
I've been doin gigs this bpast week with the underwood into this rig (Mixed with the Heil mic) and that is one in your face sound. I'm not really an in your face guy, but I sure dig playing with a light touch, the solo range actually gets louder with this pickup, and it cuts thru the mix like nothing I've played. The underwood straight into the Focus, is totally unusable with any EQ setting (for me) but with that #2 Avalon EQ curve it is really usable. The guys in my band mistake it for me playing with more balls and authority, but its really a matter of them hearing individual articulations rather then a more fuzzy slower sound. Its fun to drive the band differently, it really puts you in the drivers seat.
 
#86
yesterday Jack Sayers ( who frequents these pages) came over to buy my LDS 1x8's (sweet guy...we had a great time) we started A/B ing the cabs with the U5 and without and into the different cabs. Jack said something interesting about the sound of the U5 as we A/B'd it against just the Focus III. He said it sounded 3 dimensional with the U5. I think he was convinced to pick one up. The U5 really does give the sound a kind of all around fatness. He had a Schertler Stat B that straight into the Focus sounded very brite but had a really fantastic sound thru the U5. Just wish it was in a smaller box.
 
#87
flatback said:
yesterday Jack Spears ( who frequents these pages) came over to buy my LDS 1x8's (sweet guy...we had a great time) we started A/B ing the cabs with the U5 and without and into the different cabs. Jack said something interesting about the sound of the U5 as we A/B'd it against just the Focus III. He said it sounded 3 dimensional with the U5. I think he was convinced to pick one up. The U5 really does give the sound a kind of all around fatness. He had a Schertler Stat B that straight into the Focus sounded very brite but had a really fantastic sound thru the U5. Just wish it was in a smaller box.
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Yes, I corroborate this, the sound through the Avalon made a huge and obvious improvement with both of our basses (one with a Full Circle, mine with the Schertler Stat B. It was as if the tone not only warmed up, but widened and lengthened increased in size somehow. I really think the Avalon (once I get one) will make me happy with my sound for awhile.

Thanks again Piro for a fun afternoon of equipment comparison in Dogtown.
 
#88
Does this unit run hot to the touch?

flatback, how do you stack the U5 and the Focus? I seem to remember you posted a pic with them like criss-crossed. My Focus gets hot to the touch more often than not. Not enough to hurt, but quite warm.
 
#89
yea it gets hot. I have the Focus on top of the U5 and turned sideways so the U5 faces front and the Focus to the side...It seems to work ok and keeps me from fiddling with the knobs too much.
 
#90
Been using the U5 for over a year now...
Just wanted to update: This box is the **** man. So far this year (because of various technical difficulties) I have used the FC the Aptflex the Vektor and the Realist and what I am finding is that the U5 is what makes the sound, not the pick up...that is, all these pick ups have their personalities but the U5 is what makes any one of them sound great. I really don't care so much about pick ups anymore. Right now I am using a realist and thru the U5 it is so sweet, loud, no feedback no mud. The Aptflex which is real brite alone, thru the U5 is warm and fat, the FC just sounds great (too bad the connection keeps ****ing up)
Sometimes for small gigs I am tempted to disengage the U5 from the Focus and just bring the amp, when I do I am always disappointed in the flat 2 dimensional sound, which gets loud but not round.
I still wish they would put the electronics in a smaller package, but the size isn't a deal breaker for me (I already have such a small rig with the W10 and focus that its totally worth the extra schlep) The U5 is slightly bigger then the Focus and a bit heavier.
I am really surprised that it has not caught on here, people spend so much time trying to get a sound and the one piece of electronics that makes the most difference is out there.
 
#91
flatback said:
I am really surprised that it has not caught on here, people spend so much time trying to get a sound and the one piece of electronics that makes the most difference is out there.
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I'm pretty sure this is due to the price and the availability in stores. I couldn't find one here in the 'Ville to try, and am not willing to shell out nearly $600 to get one sight unseen. I'd love to try one, though...
 
#92
flatback said:
The U5 is slightly bigger then the Focus and a bit heavier. I am really surprised that it has not caught on here, people spend so much time trying to get a sound and the one piece of electronics that makes the most difference is out there.
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I think PB+J kind of said the same thing some time ago about his U5, and preamps in general, while most people seemed to vote that the pickup was the one piece of gear that was the most critical for a good sound. What you've observed using all those different p/u's though with the U5 sure is interesting.
 
#94
Aleph5 said:
Which tone setting(s) do you like, or do you bypass?
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I use 2 for the brite pick ups like the aptflex and Stat b and sometimes for the realist too (depending on the room) and 1 if I want more definition and high end. All you have to do is engage the tone button and disengage to hear the huge difference it makes in tone. I find the pre set curves to be extremely well tailored to piezos. My system is plug and play now without any knob twiddling (too bad too cause those big silver knobs are a handful)
 
#95
I don't use my U5 enough, just 'cause I don't have the opportunities. Settings 1, 3, and maybe 4 seem to sound best w/ my Full Circle. 1 is the fullest. I don't think 2 works for me at all. Strangely, it took me a while to realize I could defeat the tone section and it sounded pretty good bypassed. I wish I had compared it bypassed with the Reddi D.I. when I had them side by side. I suspect the Reddi would sound better then, but the U5 is much more versatile and user friendly, and a lot cheaper.
 
#99
Revisiting after many years....I still have the U5 and plugged it in the other day to hear how it sounds with the MAS 46 and my current Pickup (vintage Schertler Sat B) It sounds great....but a little too much muchness....I stopped using the U5 when the Headway came along because the Headway just sounded better and was WAY smaller. Im not opposed to carrying around something big like the U5, (or a fine Tube pre like the Monique) but it would need to sound just awesome. Right now I am really digging the Stat B mixed with a DPA 4099 straight into the Focus...The Stat B (set up right) sounds great on its own and after a bunch of EQ crunching I have the two of them pretty well dialed in...(a single cord with a 1/4 and XLR like BOB G's) and it is a very quick very easy set up. I play with a lot of different groups, some cats really want to hear the airy mic sound, some dont know the difference and some groups are loud enough that really any decent signal will do. A lot of my work is with pianists in duos and trios and there having the mic, really makes a difference in the sonic pallet. With the mic in the mix I put the MAS46 up on a stand vertically, (a drum throne stand with a piece of plywood instead of a seat) and it sounds great. The U5 has been relegated to a DI for my Vibraphone in my studio....
 

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