Darkglass Microtubes 900 Class D Amp

[Spector2112]

I had a fortunate delivery today, and was able to jam through this at practice tonight:

Link Removed

Oh, my! drool

Ooofff...GAS pains...

 

[Djadja]

I had a fortunate delivery today, and was able to jam through this at practice tonight:

Link Removed

Oh, my! drool

Can you make some comparisons to the Genzler magellan?

 

[tombowlus]

Can you make some comparisons to the Genzler magellan?

I have not done an A/B yet, but the initial impression is that the Darkglass is smoother and more pristine in clean mode, and the Magellan is more aggressive. Of course, this all changes once the overdrive is engaged.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Hey Tom, I hope you extrapolate on your observations for all us non owners to vicariously enjoy, as well as educate and inform us. Even though I'm not really a dirt pedal guy this amp has me intrigued and I want to know more about it especially in light of the fact it seems to have good reviews in clean department (which I use most of the time) as well. I recently have been in need of the occasional distortion effect on the gig and my preference would certainly be a more overdriven tube type oriented tone. I recently picked up the Minimega and while I'm liking the amp a lot, it's built in "crunch" (distortion) is way too harsh and non musical and for me, at least, useless. Also while the price on this is fairly high, it's only a little more than the MG800 and Mesa 800+ and a fair bit less than the Glock Blue Rock.

 

[husky123]

I had a fortunate delivery today, and was able to jam through this at practice tonight:

Oh, my! drool

Aw sh*t...TomB in the house.

 

[tombowlus]

Hey Tom, I hope you extrapolate on your observations for all us non owners to vicariously enjoy, as well as educate and inform us. Even though I'm not really a dirt pedal guy this amp has me intrigued and I want to know more about it especially in light of the fact it seems to have good reviews in clean department (which I use most of the time) as well. I recently have been in need of the occasional distortion effect on the gig and my preference would certainly be a more overdriven tube type oriented tone. I recently picked up the Minimega and while I'm liking the amp a lot, it's built in "crunch" (distortion) is way too harsh and non musical and for me, at least, useless. Also while the price on this is fairly high, it's only a little more than the MG800 and Mesa 800+ and a fair bit less than the Glock Blue Rock.

Will do! Just need more time...

BTW, I think that the MiniMega is a really great head, and it has an excellent clean tone. The Crunch option is interesting, but not something I'd use a lot. The two Microtubes options on the Darkglass are both extremely usable, from just adding a little "hair," to a mild overdrive, to a mix-filling major overdrive - and you can do this with either circuit, the Vintage or B3k, which doubles down on the number of usable options.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Thanks Tom, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I don't know of anyone else with a MM here and I'll probably be waiting awhile to bump into someone who has one of these Darkglass heads in this town, I only know of one Quilter here so far. I still get asked regularly by local bass players what my speakers are (Bergantinos) a lot of guys have never even heard of them. Sad but true, ya gotta' love living in the backwoods. Haha

 

[Taustin Powers]

How would you guys describe the typical clean tone of this amp? I play through an Eden WT550 right now, how would it compare to that?

 

[NOLA Bass]

How would you guys describe the typical clean tone of this amp? I play through an Eden WT550 right now, how would it compare to that?

First off, the vmt/b3 overdrive and distortion settings are a completely different animal than the Eden would offer. From a clean channel standpoint, it is super clear and packs a real punch. This amp is definitely more powerful. When you consider the advanced tone shaping of the overdrive circuits, I think it is a far more versatile amp.

 

[jjmf]

Can you give a comparison to the berg B amp as far as punch and clarity as well as the distorting effects too by chance?
Or compared to
Markbass t800 etc?

Seriously considering ordering one but can't try it first out here either

 

[tombowlus]

FYI, I just did a "hiss test" with a few of my heads, and the Microtubes 900 did fairly well. With a cab plugged in, but no input, and Gain and Master both turned up to about 10 o'clock, there is a slight amount of noise/hiss (not dead-silent, but quieter than most other heads). With the mute engaged, it was totally silent, even if you cranked both the Gain and Master. Very nice. Not many mute functions are totally silent. With regard to the fan noise, you can hear the fan if you are very close to the unit, but it's pretty quiet, and if you are a few feet away, it's barely audible (and this is in an otherwise silent room).

All in all, it's one of the better heads I've tried in terms of noise/hiss and fan noise.

 

[RHA III]

Thanks Tom, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I don't know of anyone else with a MM here and I'll probably be waiting awhile to bump into someone who has one of these Darkglass heads in this town, I only know of one Quilter here so far. I still get asked regularly by local bass players what my speakers are (Bergantinos) a lot of guys have never even heard of them. Sad but true, ya gotta' love living in the backwoods. Haha

I'll echo this post, Tom or anyone who can chime in with comparisons and reviews, please do. The internet and this site specifically is my only reference for buying gear. Kirk, you think you got backwoods? Try Cave Junction!

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Woah dude I played a rock festival in Cave Junction in about 1969-70'!!!!!!!!!!!!

My memory is just a little bit fuzzy. Lots of Peyote buds were consumed!

 

[Taustin Powers]

First off, the vmt/b3 overdrive and distortion settings are a completely different animal than the Eden would offer. From a clean channel standpoint, it is super clear and packs a real punch. This amp is definitely more powerful. When you consider the advanced tone shaping of the overdrive circuits, I think it is a far more versatile amp.

I wouldn't necessarily need more power, I've never had a problem with the Eden WT550 and Eden 410XLT. I would just be interested in how they compare tone-wise. Like, the Eden has its own typical warm Eden tone.

Would the Darkglass be a good match for the Eden 410XLT cab (4 Ohm version), or would I be overpowering the speaker?

 

[AciDBatH666]

Had our first gig last Friday with the new amp. I think I dialed in my settings in the practice unit pretty well, so I didn't mess with them too much once we set up. All I really did was check my levels to make sure there wasn't any big volume jumps with going between settings.

For those that don't know, my pedalboard consists of an always on B7K with the drive at 9:00, and a B3K that I use with full drive for those times when I need distortion. With this amp, I don't have a need for the B7K at all any more. If I cut it on I'm basically doubling up the eq and it's just too much. Now a B3K cranked into the M900 is pure nasty.
I basically went between M900 Eq, to B3K M900 microtubes with the drive at about 11:00 and blend at 2:00, and a B3K with full drive and blend @ 2:00.

My observations from the gig.
1) This amp punches through, HARD. I love it. I think a lot of this is due to the mid band switches. The tone is everything I've wanted.
2) The clean gain can be pushed pretty high and still be clean.
3) The LEVEL on the Microtubes is VERY hot. I find when setting my levels between the Microtubes on and off required me to bump the Preamp section gain pretty high, and then Microtubes down to about 9:00 level.
4) I'm going to need to put solid black electrical tape over the footswitch LED for when it's showing that it's connected. Right now there's 2 blue lights right next to each other, and if you're familiar with DG blue lights, they're ULTRA bright. So one is always on showing that the footswitch is connected, and the 2nd below is for your microtubes. They're so close and bright that I can't tell when I've got the Microtubes activated or not. A lot of the time I had to turn around and check my amp to see if it was activated or not just to double check. I switch my pedals a lot when I gig so I just need to make sure I've activated what I want. Sometimes the room is punchier than normal so I kind of dial back my effects and distortion during solos and stuff so I'm not so prominent in the mix. I think some black tape will solve the blue light issue.
5) I know a lot of guys are usually either on Team B3K or Team Vintage. I had a Vintage and just didn't really find the smoothness of that pedal fit my tone for our band. But there's something with the Vintage settings in the M900 that come through really good and I might find that I use here and there.

 

[NOLA Bass]

Pelican Cases

1485 Air
or
1450 medium

Just ordered an IBEX Case that came up on Amazon when looking at options. It was a bit cheaper than the Pelican and was on Amazon Prime. I'll report back when it arrives Thursday.

 

[Maureen M]

To anyone wondering about rack mounting, if you've got a 1U rack tray, you can just drill your own holes through it and mount it up. I put some washers (Ø1/8" hole is what the screw size is) and just mounted it up. The only issue you may run into is the screw head hitting the surface underneath it. For soft racks like mine, it's got a board underneath where the tray would sit flush, so I was worried that the head would not clear it. If you've got a different rack that actually has space under it you're in the clear.

Worst case, you can move the rack up 1/2 a space. But the holes on rack ears aren't perfectly spaced like that, so you may have to open the holes up on the tray.

Here you can see the head clearance below.

Thank you for posting this! I picked up a Microtubes 900 a few weeks ago and I've been trying to figure out a good way to get it into a rack. In the meantime I've been using a heavily padded SKB mixer bag but I always feel safer when my gear is in a hard case.

I love this amp.

 

[jjmf]

I Would love and appreciated any & all sound "A-B" comparisons vs any of these:
Beef B amp/GK Fusion MB 800/Markbass t800, LM, SA/SD etc/ Hartke LH / Svt CL, 2pro

Really want to order 1 here in the backwoods of Edmonton but getting some input first would be great

 

[Cuzzie]

For my 2 pence worth having a Hartke LH1000 and a darkglass b7k and VMT pedal, i think you will be talking apples and pears for the amp. Don't get me wrong the Hartke is loud, and it will handle what you throw at it and amplify it. I am happy with it as i can tone shape before it and then let it pump out.
I don't have the Microtubes but by listening to sounds, etc this amp will allow you to tone shape very nicely, but it is also 3 times the price. I got my LH used for about $220 in great condition.
DG is also super light compared to the LH.

I hope others can chime in

 

[AciDBatH666]

I Would love and appreciated any & all sound "A-B" comparisons vs any of these:
Beef B amp/GK Fusion MB 800/Markbass t800, LM, SA/SD etc/ Hartke LH / Svt CL, 2pro

Really want to order 1 here in the backwoods of Edmonton but getting some input first would be great

I've got a 1001RBii, MB800 Fusion and the M900. I'm planning on making a video A/B/C'ing through these 3, I just haven't had the time to do it. Hopefully this week I can get into it.