class d digital amplifiers

[bongomania]

Your power amp probably doesn't have a power adjustment.

Just to expand on this a little, so nerk (the OP) understands: the volume knob on an amp doesn't actually control the amount of wattage the amp puts out. It's like the brakes on a car or bike: yes stepping on the brakes will slow you down, but down from what? 40 mph? 60? 100? That "mph speed" is determined mostly by the strength of the signal peaks you feed into the amp, multiplied by 100% of the amp's gain potential. The volume knob then "taps the brakes" a little or a lot, but because it's not actually a wattage control, there's no way to know how much wattage your amp is actually putting out, just looking at the volume knob.

 

[Nerk]

good analagy... so basically the " volume" knob is essentially a limiter and not a booster...

anyhow... so I did reconfigure my rig this morning... in a 4u gator case tallied up to 70lbs... not bad... I ditched the tuner... and ill carry my wireless unit separately in its own case... but I kept my power "conditioner"... I like having everything pre wired ready to go... so now I have a 10u rolling gator case for sale and a behringer btr2000 for sale... guess where my next post on these forums will be ... jk.. id never sell that behringer to any bassist... simply just doesn't work well at all for the low E and B strings..

thanks again for all the recommendations..

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

It's not a limiter.

It's a multiplier. Signal goes in and gets multiplied, and the result is the output. More signal, more output. Less signal, less output. More gain, more output. Less gain, less output.

 

[bongomania]

Right, but I'm pretty sure he was using "limiter" in the sense of something that restricts, like brakes, the way that the volume knob reduces the gain down from maximum. Because while the amp itself is a multiplier, the volume knob is not--it reduces the amount of multiplication.

(Of course I know you know that Bob, I'm just trying to clarify for the OP.)

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

No, it controls the amount of multiplication.

 

[bongomania]

How are we disagreeing, exactly?

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

For one thing, I'm not assigning anything special to "maximum." The control has both a maximum (the circuit's highest multiplication) and a minimum (usually zero multiplication), and you can set it anywhere in that range.

 

[bongomania]

Sure, and what physical role does the volume knob play in that process?

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Well, it provides a way to adjust the multiplication, as I mentioned.

 

[majortoby]

It was my understanding that in circuits with an independent gain and volume knob, the gain controls the degree of signal multiplication, while the master volume knob attenuates the signal coming out of the head to the user's taste. Am I mistaken?

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Keep in mind that attenuation is a form of multiplication.

 

[will33]

I always just view it as a passive, cut-only input gain for the power section. If you run it wide open, it's as if it wasn't there, like a non-master volume amp. Just in this case, the power section (poweramp) is a standalone, separate unit it from the pre. The gain knobs on the power amp still act like the master volume knob on an all-in-one bass head.