Class D and Neo cabs are the future!

[seamonkey]

Class-d (and derivatives), SMPS, NEO's along with modeling is the future.
Somebody finds an old 200 year old piano and samples it. Taking up gigs of space. Somebody else analyzes the samples, figures out what's going on, then creates a physical model. You get hundreds of models at relatively low costs. This stuff is selling like mad to other musicians. Bass industry will catchup.

 

[seamonkey]

I was referring to cheap nos, but even RCA's are getting expensive. GE's, CBS, Ratheon, sylvania, have fun, you can get the NOS 12ax7 for about the same price as new production. NOS 12au7s 12at7's are typically cheaper. Plenty of good pulls out there, with a ton of life in them. You can look for organ pulls, ie amperex philips Mullard's labeled as electrohome baldwin wurlitzer. etc...
Now, I've had good luck with the tubes I've bought off e-bay, but apparently not everyone else has.

Can't help but think "NOS" if full of counterfeits. Who could tell. I doubt any government agency is regulating this. It's more important to track down the modern tech counterfeiters.

 

[the yeti]

what are "class d" amps and "neo" cabs?

 

[edwinhurwitz]

The future is now for some and never for others. I went this route last year and now go direct on most gigs using my VT Deluxe as a direct box. Some gigs, I need a bit of stage volume so my Markbass F1 and a 210 neo cab stay in the car just in case.

Some guys tell you, weekend warriors get paid for setting up and tearing down and we play for free. The quicker and easier my setup is, the better. As far as tone, people have been raving about the bass sound since I got the VT Deluxe so, it must sound ok out front.

I'm not surprised that people think it sounds good out front with just the VT DI. One of the biggest problems with getting a good bass sound in the room in clubs is overly loud stage volume. It leaks into every mic, smearing the sound. What feels like crisp, fat whump on the stage turns into something else out front. Getting the mud off the stage can do wonders for tone. Of course, I'm probably just as guilty as the next guy of cranking it up.

 

[Adam Bomb]

Wait - what?

What the heck is that?

I can plug my bass into that thing?

Is that the first amp?

How much does it weigh?

--Bomb
Nano Rigs of “Doom” Club no. 1

 

[NecroticImbecil]

Class E and Unobtanium cabs are the future.

Horses were once the primary mode of transportation. First the railroad, then the auto have made them obsolete. When are they going to stop making horses? Horses are a relic, certainly nobody would spend, say, 13 million dollars for one.

 

[Da Musician]

i'm an all around musician. tubes will never die. ask any guitar player, bass player, hammond organ player, high end studio producer, anybody who didn't want to spend the hundreds of dollars to buy an endless amount of software that never captures that tube sound, espcially on hammond organs.

 

[JimmyM]

i'm an all around musician. tubes will never die. ask any guitar player, bass player, hammond organ player, high end studio producer, anybody who didn't want to spend the hundreds of dollars to buy an endless amount of software that never captures that tube sound, espcially on hammond organs.

i totally agree. while modeling certainly has its place, and i'm a huge fan of some modeling programs and pedals and use them regularly, i use them mostly in conjunction with my tube ampegs, and there's something missing when i don't have an svt or b-15 to plug into. it's the extra dynamic range combined with the pleasing way the signal moves through lots of tubes. the tones you can cop, but anyone who's ever heard a real b3 vs a digital version of a b3 knows there's always something missing, even in the best recreations.

and that's why my main rigs are combinations of both. i love having the vt deluxe so i can have an accurate cranked b-15 model i can run through my non-cranked b-15 at a volume that doesn't get me fired. it also comes in handy when the svt/810e on my rider becomes the promoter's son's behringer combo amp because he's cheap. but replace my tube stuff to where i don't miss it at all? you're out of your minds!

 

[Sav'nBass]

For me, Class D and Neo cabs are all there is.

+1

 

[gneiss_bass]

Not willing to read this entire thread, but....

Class D represents highly efficient, low distortion volts..

As far as a particular 'tone', this is only left to the front end of the amp, and speakers. I suppose one could have an ultra low noise, highly linear solid state front end... jfets, op amps, whatever. Wait, mosfets!

An what you end up with is very clean sound of the instument plugged into this set up. Not neccesarily a bad thing. Just a thing. A cup of tea, if you will. A very fundemental cup of tea.

Or you can go 10% TDH, old skool.... tone. Eh, it's a cup of tea..

Or you could inject 10% TDH into a class D power section... tone.

Whatver floats your boat man! Play what you want to play.. Ain't it great having choices?

 

[Bassmec]

Wait - what?

What the heck is that?

I can plug my bass into that thing?

Is that the first amp?

How much does it weigh?

--Bomb
Nano Rigs of “Doom” Club no. 1

No mate its just a volume control, a pot! you know this part:

Except its made without regard to cost in the 1950's with resistor networks and big gold contacts and is something that just cant be made better.
It can only be made more fragile and therefore more likely to fail.
Its a British battleships, radio operators mono headphone volume control so it don't need to be lighter.
Here is the American Equivalent RCA military standard stuff
with the famous Daven Rotary pot:
Nano Rigs of “Doom” Club
That was real Quality and it went up to 20 man!
Its also one of those things that scientists have not been able to improve on, it was perfect just as it was designed.
You couldn't break it, even the valves/tubes had steel instead of glass envelopes.

 

[seamonkey]

i'm an all around musician. tubes will never die. ask any guitar player, bass player, hammond organ player, high end studio producer, anybody who didn't want to spend the hundreds of dollars to buy an endless amount of software that never captures that tube sound, espcially on hammond organs.

Something must capture this Hammond sound - because people buy recordings of them.
If you record a single note it's called a sample.

Even a Hammond organ is a wave form cut into a tone wheel that rotates in front of a magnetic pickup.
It's a sample of a waveform.

And Hammonds put a lot of string players out of business. Small combo orchestras in churches, and recording studios.

 

[Queg]

<snip>
I can TOTALLY understand those who use big tube amps... totally different thing than any solid state amp.

Those who use heavy solid state amps or non neo speakers are a bit confusing to me. Of course, there are some great non-neo cabs out there (one of my cabs has ceramic drivers), and of course, some nice mid weight solid state heads. However, they sure don't sound any 'better' than the lighter weight stuff now.

The most popular and highest selling (as far as I know) 'micro' amp is the Markbass LMII/III, which is a traditional class A/B amp that is small and lightweight due to the power supply.

Hm. I bought my (heavy, solid state) Aguilar DB750 from someone who replaced it with an LMII. Is my perception of the Aggie's strengths (exceptional headroom, full-bodied tone ie "girth", etc) only due to the character of the tube pre and placebo effect of weight = loud?

 

[seamonkey]

New Peavey, QSC, ... PA's with neo's and class-d rule the FOH. It's now possible for the common bass players to have the same quality of sound and reliability.

 

[JimmyM]

Something must capture this Hammond sound - because people buy recordings of them.
If you record a single note it's called a sample.

Even a Hammond organ is a wave form cut into a tone wheel that rotates in front of a magnetic pickup.
It's a sample of a waveform.

And Hammonds put a lot of string players out of business. Small combo orchestras in churches, and recording studios.

right...that's why you never see anyone playing violins anymore.

 

[Mike M.]

I have yet to try out the newer amps/cabs that are out there. The only gig I have is at church and I just go direct. But I'll tell you this, if I ever did gig again I'm already liking the idea of lighter amps and cabs that can still deliver the goods. Got a bad back and the last trip I made from my basement with my SVT (which I sold three years ago) almost did me in.

 

[JimmyM]

i can understand that. the only thing that deters me from using my svt rig more often is not knowing if i'll have to carry it up stairs or not. but at least i live in a single story with no basement

 

[chadds]

Who has class? Class D, F who cares. Rarely something Neo. It can't by nature of it's newness and lack of experience with life and tradition. So give the newbie it's due. It could be the second coming of sliced bread. Or the first coming of something we don't need.
Just kidding folks. Class D won't replace heavy iron. It will supplement. "Neo neo, Mr. Anderson."

 

[Dave W]

OP, are you aware this stuff has been on the market for a few years now? You seem to be blown away at it's awesomenes; starting this thread and the other thread listing makes/models. 90% of the threads on the first page are all probably about this stuff.

what are "class d" amps and "neo" cabs?

Light heads and light cabs...

Class D refers to the lightweight power section that is in most of the newer lightweight amps that have flooded the market within the past few years

Neo refers to neodymium which is a light weight magnet that is being used in speakers that are loaded into most lightweight cabs.

 

[gbarchus]

"some of my gigs last 4-5 hours. long time to listen to something you don't like as much just because it's easier to move."

+1 Jimmy!

I've learned to like the sound of my GK MB150S combo but it could never replace my Sadowsky SA200 unless I couldn't carry it.

How many of you have sat in a room and listened to a Hammond B3 with a Leslie cabinet (or two)? Do that and then let's talk about modeling. If my keyboard player is deciding whether to bring his Hammond w/Leslie or a sound module, I'll be on the way to his house with my pickup truck.

Gale