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Carvin Poweramp clarity?

Kwesi

Kwesi

Sep 19, 2007
8,150
161
35
USA; Mitchellville, Maryland
#1
Yes, I did search :)

Hey guys, I've just put together a new rig consisting of a Markbass F500 and Bergantino AE410 (waiting on the cab to get here) and I'm thinking of getting a rack setup going with a poweramp and tuner. I'm sure I can find a nice tuner easily enough but I'm looking for a really clean, cheap poweramp. the Carvin DCM1000L seems to fit the cheap bill but how clean is it? I just want my F500 to amplified, not altered. Would Carvin be a good way to go?
 
#2
Kwesi said:
Yes, I did search :)

Hey guys, I've just put together a new rig consisting of a Markbass F500 and Bergantino AE410 (waiting on the cab to get here) and I'm thinking of getting a rack setup going with a poweramp and tuner. I'm sure I can find a nice tuner easily enough but I'm looking for a really clean, cheap poweramp. the Carvin DCM1000L seems to fit the cheap bill but how clean is it? I just want my F500 to amplified, not altered. Would Carvin be a good way to go?
Click to expand...

I love Carvin, so I may be a bit biased, but I'd do it in a minute! You might even check their E-bay store and see if the have any of the old style DCM1000's new in box for cheap.
 
#3
I have a 1540L and it's pretty much a power amp. Sounds like what you put in.

The Carvin DCM-L series is a really, really good bet for this application because of its 1.0v sensitivity (which should be more likely to get loud enough with your fixed output with the Markbass DI).
 
#5
rpsands said:
I have a 1540L and it's pretty much a power amp. Sounds like what you put in.

The Carvin DCM-L series is a really, really good bet for this application because of its 1.0v sensitivity (which should be more likely to get loud enough with your fixed output with the Markbass DI).
Click to expand...

Very good to know! Have you tried the original DCM series? Were there any significant differences besides the weight?
 
#7
Kwesi said:
Very good to know! Have you tried the original DCM series? Were there any significant differences besides the weight?
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Never tried the original but I bet it's pretty much the same.

Honestly, crap like "clarity" or "coloration" with modern professional audio power amplifiers is just a non-issue in most cases. I've used owned and tried pretty much every major brand. Even my Pyramid ZPA150 (cheap ass DJ power amp) is transparent as the day is long.

The only real differences are features (DSP, built in low end rolloff, etc). Most of these are a non-issue if you're using a Markbass amp since you've got your eq and your low end rolloff already built in.

Anything you get will probably be fine sound wise. Look for a more sensitive one though (Crest, Carvin, Peavey IPR would be good bets).
 
#8
BassistForHire said:
You're a bass player.. power is your friend... low clarity on bass is usually a problem of not enough power. I have a BX500 and have had zero problems.
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Hehe, everything does seem better when it's louder doesn't it ;). This is all still speculative. I may just ned up running my F500 by itself if it gets the job done. but considering that I want to eventually have my own PA setu,p a poweramp might not be a bad idea.
 
#9
If you want to eventually own your own PA setup, a Crown XTI series would be a better purchase in my opinion. It might not work *quite* as easily with the sensitivity being lower, but it should be workable. And the XTI series is just badass for PA usage (built in crossovers, corrective eq, etc.).
 
#10
rpsands said:
If you want to eventually own your own PA setup, a Crown XTI series would be a better purchase in my opinion. It might not work *quite* as easily with the sensitivity being lower, but it should be workable. And the XTI series is just badass for PA usage (built in crossovers, corrective eq, etc.).
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And they looks pretty! One of those would match my MacBook Pro quite nicely :p.

Exactly what is sensitivity? Does lower sensitivity mean I'd have to crank the line out a bit more to get is to sound good?
 
#12
Sensitivity is how much voltage it takes to make the amp go to peak power with the attenuators wide open (e.g. turned all the way clockwise).

I get backwards on the higher/lower sometimes, but 1.5vrms is pretty standard ballpark range for input sensitivity. Power amps tend to range from .775vrms to 2.25vrms or so.
 
#13
I'd love to try the newer DCM light power amps, but I do have a last generation DCM 2000. It's uncoloured and crazy powerful. Stick a VT into it and you're in Xanadu. I don't know off hand all the specs to corroborate anything, but it's a great power amp and I would not hesitate to get another. Have used the pre out on an SVT 3 pro into it and it was awesome. Would like to know if the GB Shuttle 9 has a pre out in case I wanted to use it in this manner. (Because that's next on the list).
 
#14
I just PM'd rpsands about using a Crown XLS1500 power amp with MB F1 head. This would be used to bridge into a 8 ohm UL410-II cab.

I tried my B1500 into this cab earlier today w/VT pedal, Am St P5, sounded pretty OK. Then I hooked up LMII w/VT pedal into this same 8 ohm cab. I was amazed at what a loud, low and thick tone I was getting. Now, I was being safe with the volume knob on the B1500 and had the active switch on. So maybe it didn't get a fair shake but the LMII tone alone was just so damn nice.

So the LMII was really putting it out there. I thought I can use a power amp to boost up the LMII or F1. But maybe the VT pedal into these MB heads is enough. Gonna try the F1>VT pedal>UL410>55-02D at next gig. I'm thinking I won't even need the VT pedal but we'll see. Still if I could use a nice, less than 10lb power amp with F1 to drive this 8 ohm cab, could be nice. Que no? Oh and will it work?
 
#15
Yes, it will work, if you use the line out from the F1 into the power amp. Check this out--Two MB F1's will be smaller and lighter than an F1 plus any commercially-available power amp. And I regularly see F1's for sale cheap, used. A VT into a pair of F1's would probably knock your socks off.
 
#17
Oh and to Kwesi, yes Carvin power amps do a good job of cleanly amplifying without coloring. In general that is true of almost all PA-oriented power amps. The only power amps that will do much noticeable coloring are ones made by bass/guitar amp companies. So like the Fender, Eden, and Aguilar power amps can be expected to have "a tone" of their own. But any Carvin, Crest, Crown, etc. will have no tone of their own, they just amplify.

Note: some people insist that one or another PA power amp sounds "much better" than another, and it may be true for them, or in that specific context, or with the given preamps and settings, etc. But these descriptions of "better" tend to be about the sound having more "balls" or "heft" or "punch", rather than having a better (or different) tone per se.
 
#19
bongomania said:
Good point! :D I was thinking two cabs...
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Y'all are saying, I can run two F1 heads into my single,8 ohm, UL410 cab? Cause I own two F1 heads as I wanted to use my two GB Neox 212T cabs, each 4 ohms. That did work real nice but I don't want to haul two cabs to my club gigs now. So I wanted a one cab solution with the UL410-II.

Would I just connect the two F1's as I was doing with the two GB cabs. Return to send, then use one amps' volume knob to control both heads? If this would work, COOL, I'm so there already. And the VT pedal would just connect between bass and the main head with patch cord as I've been doing? Pls elaborate guys. I was gonna crash :o but y'all got my attention now. :D
 
#20
No no no, sorry I was being sarcastic. Two F1's into one cab would set your crap on fire.

Also: I don't know why you would swap a 4 ohm Neox 212T out and replace it with an 8 ohm UL410 as a one cab solution. The difference in overall volume is likely to be negligible between those two cabinets, especially since the F1 will rock the Neox 212T at 4 ohms :) Probably a bit late on that advice though.
 

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