Best way to send Avalon U5 output to 2 separate bass amps

I would split the single 1/4" TS out to two bass amp inputs.

The XLR out would possibly go to FOH. The headphone jack is pretty dissimilar to the 1/4" TS output in level and impedance.

 

What @Geri O said. One potential problem with using the U5 live is it should not be exposed to Phantom power. It will likely work for awhile, but not indefinitely.

Here a relevant thread: Device that defeats 48v phantom power?

 

Ya know, after all these years of doing production, I should know whether the Avalon can tolerate an accidental hit of phantom power, but I don’t. I will find out and report back, unless someone beats me to it.

I do know the REDDI will tolerate phantom power all day. Not much help here, eh?....

 

??? According to the thread I referenced, you already tracked the answer down with Avalon.

 

OMG!!

Wasnex, I fired off another email to Avalon asking them the same question earlier today! I'll bet those guys are gonna think "Does this clown have no memory at all??"....

I certainly forgot about that post and thread, I didn't look at it again until just now. Well, there ya go. No thanks to me...

 

What bass amps ? Is there a way to use them in a master and slave config?

I recall asking Avalon the Phantom power question and being told they weren’t sure. Which I though was a really, really lame answer.... I mean customer service / support can you just ask the EE that designed the thing ?

Other than that I liked my U5 a lot.

 

Is the Buster loud enough when you use the U5?

 

I am not generally a fan of running a preamp into another preamp, but the U5 has a max input of +24dBu, or 400W if you push the Speaker button. You should be able to feed it with the Effects Send.

 

IMHO better safe than sorry. There are lot's of threads on the web that say the U5 will eventually fail if fed phantom power. Here's a post that explains Avalon U5 and phantom power?

I suggest using an inline 1:1 isolation transformer to as a fail safe to protect from accidental phantom power exposure. I doubt you will notice any signal degradation while doing live work.

 

Okay so in reference to your other thread, it sounds like the PI and Output section of you Buster are healthy and the low power problem is occurring earlier in the signal path. FYI the PI is V3. Have you tried rolling a new 12AX7 tube through V1 and V2?

Just out of curiosity, are you running the Master volume wide open? If you want the amp to be as loud and clean as possible, turn up the Master and turn down the Volume. The Volume is really preamp Gain.

 

Keep in mind the Buster's Effects Loop is Parallel and there is a Blend Control on the back that allows you to set it between 10% and 100%. If you want to run the U5 in the Effects Loop, I believe you want to turn the Blend control to 100%.

 

Usually tube preamps have at least one gain stage before the Volume. As long as you can play your bass without causing this gain stage to distort, I doubt the tube has too much gain.

I don't have one of these amps so I don't know what the typical settings are, but I am under the impression that it is primarily a clean machine. If you can't drive the output section to it's max clean level with the Master volume maxed out, then something is wrong. Since you have pretty much confirmed V3 and the output tubes are working fine, I suggest rolling a fresh tube into V1 and V2.

It's possible the tubes 1 and 2 just need to be reseated. You could try carefully working them in and out of the tube sockets a couple of times. It's a mechanical connection between the tube pins and the tube sockets. Over time oxidation can build up or intermittent contact can cause the formation of carbon deposits. Take a look at the tube pins to see if there are any black marks that indicate arcing. If there is, then the tube sockets need to be retensioned.