Hey all,
So, as I wrote before, I have purchased a BBE BMax recently and really enjoy it's sound. One question though - is it me or must the preamp gain control be kept very low to avoid distortion? I use a passive Fender fretless jazz bass into the passive input. Even with the tone settings at 'flat' (Bass:2, Treble:2, Mid:10), I can get the preamp to distort with the gain control at 5 when digging in. Granted, cutting the mids or enabling the compressor will solve this, but it just seems odd that the preamp would run out of headroom so quickly.
Currently, I run the EQ section flat except for a boost of the mids (using the para-EQ) at about 450 hz or so, the boost is approximately 7 out of 10, though the manual says that this is a cut/boost control, so really I am only boosting about 6db or so if I understand things correctly. BBE is engaged with the lo contour at 2 and the process at 5. The master control has no effect on the distortion obviously, as it only controls the volume leaving the unit itself. In this situation, I can't run the preamp gain any higher than 2 without distorting when I dig in. For reference (though kind of apples to oranges), I could run my Crate BX-100's preamp gain at 7 out of 10 and still dig in pretty well without distortion (and with that I ran the EQ flat except for a 3db boost at 50hz).
I'm not looking to return it and I don't think anything is wrong with it, I guess I'm just sort of curious why there seems to be a lack of headroom, especially with essentially no EQ boost of any kind when flat. Forget boosting the treble or bass unless I am willing to reduce the gain or cut the mids. That said, if I reduce the gain obviously everything is fine and I can make it back up with the master volume and the volume controls on my amp, but I've never used an amplifier or preamplifier where you have to keep the gain at such a low level. Is this normal? Is this perhaps just a characteristic of the passive EQ (as most amps I have used utilize active EQ's)?
Again, I'm really pleased with the sound, just curious why the input gain needs to be so low (for the record, using the active input helps only slightly with this lack of headroom, though I can still distort it pretty easily when running around 5-6 on the preamp gain).
So, as I wrote before, I have purchased a BBE BMax recently and really enjoy it's sound. One question though - is it me or must the preamp gain control be kept very low to avoid distortion? I use a passive Fender fretless jazz bass into the passive input. Even with the tone settings at 'flat' (Bass:2, Treble:2, Mid:10), I can get the preamp to distort with the gain control at 5 when digging in. Granted, cutting the mids or enabling the compressor will solve this, but it just seems odd that the preamp would run out of headroom so quickly.
Currently, I run the EQ section flat except for a boost of the mids (using the para-EQ) at about 450 hz or so, the boost is approximately 7 out of 10, though the manual says that this is a cut/boost control, so really I am only boosting about 6db or so if I understand things correctly. BBE is engaged with the lo contour at 2 and the process at 5. The master control has no effect on the distortion obviously, as it only controls the volume leaving the unit itself. In this situation, I can't run the preamp gain any higher than 2 without distorting when I dig in. For reference (though kind of apples to oranges), I could run my Crate BX-100's preamp gain at 7 out of 10 and still dig in pretty well without distortion (and with that I ran the EQ flat except for a 3db boost at 50hz).
I'm not looking to return it and I don't think anything is wrong with it, I guess I'm just sort of curious why there seems to be a lack of headroom, especially with essentially no EQ boost of any kind when flat. Forget boosting the treble or bass unless I am willing to reduce the gain or cut the mids. That said, if I reduce the gain obviously everything is fine and I can make it back up with the master volume and the volume controls on my amp, but I've never used an amplifier or preamplifier where you have to keep the gain at such a low level. Is this normal? Is this perhaps just a characteristic of the passive EQ (as most amps I have used utilize active EQ's)?
Again, I'm really pleased with the sound, just curious why the input gain needs to be so low (for the record, using the active input helps only slightly with this lack of headroom, though I can still distort it pretty easily when running around 5-6 on the preamp gain).
