Barefaced 610 booming issue

[coreyfyfe]

I owned and gigged that cab as well ad a pair of the 2x10's. There is a mid bass bump in the frequency response. Unfortunately, it is up higher in the low mids than I would have liked. It created priblems for me too. The 610 more so. A hp filter won't help. Cut frequencies around 200hz to 250hz. A hump at around 150hz wouldnt have been so bad.

I just picked up a two10 and gave it a test run with my upright rig last week. Usually with the berg CN212 I use I set my notch filter to cure some boominess around the open A but with the two10 it was booming more around G. Easily dialed out with that amp but I could see it being an issue in the wrong room with an amp/eq that can’t be easily swept/adjusted like that.

 

[uncle woody]

So I've tested some more and tried more settings. The booming notes are E-G on the A-string mostly. A 250HZ mid cut seems to help.

I aim for a gritty high mid overdrive supported by strong lows for kick and punch.

However, cutting 250Hz also takes away the "balls" of the whole thing.

So I keep twisting knobs and EQ'ing but it never feels quite right, it's like the cab wants to do a different thing and we just keep arguing.

I sold my powerhouse 6x10 because I was tired of lugging the thing, but I am starting to think I made a mistake. I just had to plug it in and the tone was just "there", balanced and all.

It's a good cab and Barefaced is a great company, but I'm just not in love it seems.

Is this what buyers remorse feels like?

 

[Lowendtech]

I’d be having a go with a different amp (if you have access to one) to see if it’s just the combination of those two components. My Two10 reacts a lot differently with my PF50T than my WD800.

 

[bassboysam]

So I've tested some more and tried more settings. The booming notes are E-G on the A-string mostly. A 250HZ mid cut seems to help.View attachment 3668242
I aim for a gritty high mid overdrive supported by strong lows for kick and punch.

However, cutting 250Hz also takes away the "balls" of the whole thing.

So I keep twisting knobs and EQ'ing but it never feels quite right, it's like the cab wants to do a different thing and we just keep arguing.

I sold my powerhouse 6x10 because I was tired of lugging the thing, but I am starting to think I made a mistake. I just had to plug it in and the tone was just "there", balanced and all.

It's a good cab and Barefaced is a great company, but I'm just not in love it seems.

Is this what buyers remorse feels like?

have you tried a parameyric EQ like the Empress? it can give you more precise control compared to the amp's EQ so you can focus in and cut the offending range.

 

[uncle woody]

have you tried a parameyric EQ like the Empress? it can give you more precise control compared to the amp's EQ so you can focus in and cut the offending range.

It could, but still...

I don't want to be surgically EQ'ing before every show, or worrying about if the cab will work for tonight's room.
Cabs should sound great out of the box and finetuned with EQ, not require EQ.

 

[Tim1]

I’d be having a go with a different amp (if you have access to one) to see if it’s just the combination of those two components. My Two10 reacts a lot differently with my PF50T than my WD800.

Good advice. I often boost the bass with the Aguilar db751 on my Six 10. It is a fabulous pairing and even with bass boost does not boom with that head. It looks like you are using an Ampeg v4b. I have a V4b but have not tried it with the Six 10 so I will get it out and let you know if I notice the same thing. I do like the V4b with the big baby 2 as it adds a nice warmth to that cab.

 

[bassboysam]

It could, but still...

I don't want to be surgically EQ'ing before every show, or worrying about if the cab will work for tonight's room.
Cabs should sound great out of the box and finetuned with EQ, not require EQ.

almost any cab will do that though, that's just the nature of the beast. but i suppose you can keep trying cabs.

 

[sears]

I had a similar problem with a C (played on the E string) resonance at a rehearsal space with the supplied Eden amp + 410. It was intermittent and drove me crazy until I realized that it wasn't happening when I brought my pedalboard. My pedalboard has a Fdeck HPF and I think it was set low, to maybe 40Hz. I can't explain why setting the HPF for a frequency below the problem frequency would solve the problem.

 

[uncle woody]

I had a similar problem with a C (played on the E string) resonance at a rehearsal space with the supplied Eden amp + 410. It was intermittent and drove me crazy until I realized that it wasn't happening when I brought my pedalboard. My pedalboard has a Fdeck HPF and I think it was set low, to maybe 40Hz. I can't explain why setting the HPF for a frequency below the problem frequency would solve the problem.

That is weird indeed, might try it.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I had a similar problem with a C (played on the E string) resonance at a rehearsal space with the supplied Eden amp + 410. It was intermittent and drove me crazy until I realized that it wasn't happening when I brought my pedalboard. My pedalboard has a Fdeck HPF and I think it was set low, to maybe 40Hz. I can't explain why setting the HPF for a frequency below the problem frequency would solve the problem.

What's the slope? If it's something like 18dB an octave you might still be knocking off 3dB at C.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

What's the slope? If it's something like 18dB an octave you might still be knocking off 3dB at C.

You could sweep a sine wave 40 to 80Hz into the Fdeck, and record a bypassed and effected signal in stereo into a laptop. The Fdeck might introduce some phase changes so you can't necessarily just invert one half of the stereo and sum to see the attenuation, but you might still be able to see it in an analyser.

 

[uncle woody]

So, I wanted to conclude this thread.

I have done a lot of experimenting and testing and have come to love the cab. Hear me out...

Summary: I find the cab sounding good but have issues with uncontrolled boosts in low frequencies, particularly on certain notes.

Test Case 1: Mesa Big Block 750
When I connect the Mesa there is much less booming. This amp is much more "in your face" and naturally very clear sounding. This concludes that much of the booming has to do with the way the Ampeg V4B interacts with the cabinet. The amp is much more focused on the "tuby" lows. I also suspect the Mesa amps work with internal HPF's.

Test Case 2: Bergantino NV610 comparison
A friend was potentially selling his NV610. We decided to AB the cabs to see what we would find.

We found that the Bergantino is much punchier and more present in high mids, while the Barefaced instantly presents a spectrum of low mids when plugged in. Isolated the Barefaced sounds the best (because of the added lows), but we both imagined that in a band setting the Bergantino would be best. After all, the Barefaced lows are hard to control and might cloud the room, while the Bergantino just kind of falls into place.

However...

After some EQ'ing we could get a setting where the Barefaced sounded very much like the Bergantino. Mostly by adding gain and adding a lot of high mids. I was pleasently surprised. Both are great cabs, but the Bergantino seems to do one thing particularly well (punch and presence), while the Barefaced aims more for an "all purpose" cab. The low end is there to take, but you can make it punch and scream as well if you want to.

Test Case 3: Selective EQ
Using a sweep filter I was able to tame the boom frequencies, but it also took away a lot of the "balls" of the sounds, and the notes that weren't booming in the first place suffered the most.

Test Case 4: Hi-Pass filter
A lot of you suggested the use of a HPF, which seems counterintuitive.

However, it did wonders.

I bought a Broughton HPF which sweeps from 25HZ to 190HZ (12dB). This gave me a control to the low-end. At the lowest point the room would be filled with boom and at the highest it would sound much more crispy (210AV like). I would sweep the filter high to low until the boom just starts to come in, but doesn't get out of control.

Conclusion:
It very much feels like I have tamed a wild horse. It took a lot of practice with EQ and the purchase of a LPF, but the look, weight and build quality of this cab more than make up for the trouble . And now I wouldn't trade the cab for anything else.

Buy the cab, it's a dream to carry and look at. However, be prepared to spend some time getting to know it and trying different amps and EQ's. Be prepared to find and tame the lows. If you want a cab that just falls into place, this might be a though marriage.

Could a mod add "FIXED" to the title of the thread please.
It seems unfair to Barefaced to scare away potential buyers that stumble on this title.

This is as much a review as I can give and it is purely based on my experience.

Cheers!

 

[Al Kraft]

Another HPF/having the right tool for the job success story. OBTW, nice methodical approach to the experimenting and testing...thanks for sharing the results!

 

[Tim1]

Perhaps should add that this is by no means everyone's experience. As usual it is very much ymmv. Without doubt the Barefaced is a marvelous cab, used successfully by many without the need for an hp. For me with an Aguilar db751 it is brilliant. Thanks for the review and comments though.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Could a mod add "FIXED" to the title of the thread please.
It seems unfair to Barefaced to scare away potential buyers that stumble on this title.

good idea.