As I mentioned earlier, I also have both. The one thing that is very apparent when you compare the DG900 to the D800 using a good pair of studio monitors as a reference: the D800 is very mid-scooped; the DG900 is not.
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Darkglass Microtubes 900 Class D Amp
- Thread starter Spector2112
- Start date
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,964
- 5
- 220,660
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Just for clarity and accuracy sake, the D-800 is not mid scooped but really quite flat in the mids (with the voice control fully counter-clockwise). Perhaps you were hearing something else, or perhaps the DG900 is more mid forward?
I am actually going to be running both heads at the same time. Using the d800 for my clean channel and the microtubes for a dirty channel. Can't wait!
Theory behind it will be much like Dug Pinnick ' s or Justin Chancellor's rig. Here is a video on Justin ' s rigI have both but haven't tried this. I will now.
Great video. Seen it many times. I was thinking along these lines with the dirty head through my F112 and the clean head through my F212. The B3n is opening up possibilities along these lines too.
Thinking something similar here too. Are you using an aby pedal for it?
That'll sound cool!
I have tried and can actually get pretty close to a dUg time just with the DG amonalone and the drive dial and channel maxed.
If you really want dUg, the are bringing out a preamp pedal probably this year, they are just working on it
I have tried and can actually get pretty close to a dUg time just with the DG amonalone and the drive dial and channel maxed.
If you really want dUg, the are bringing out a preamp pedal probably this year, they are just working on it
I am either going to do that and have them both running at all times, or I am going to just run them both in stereo through my zoom b3.
I actually talked to the tech 21 guys about the pedal. They said they are in the very beginning stages of the pedal, but they are going forward with it. I will be interested in it, but I think this setup may be more my speed. I like the idea of running 2 channels for a purer tone
- Dec 10, 2008
- 2,341
- 5,822
- Disclosures
- Douglas Castro, Founder: darkglass.com
Actually when prototyping the first iterations of the Microtubes 900 we A/B'd with pretty much anything we could get our hands on and we were all surprised at how similar the dUg and Microtubes could sound (specially on the super high Gain stuff) specially considering that both circuits are designed extremely differently.
This weekend I let a couple other bands use my rig.
Here's what a guitarist had to say about it (the sound guy, while not as expressive, was equally enthusiastic)
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Edit: Interesting talk about a DUG pedal... I don't need more gear, no I don't !
I've tried the Bi-amp thing with my M900 and Streamliner 600 but decided it's not worth the hassle.
Here's what a guitarist had to say about it (the sound guy, while not as expressive, was equally enthusiastic)
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Edit: Interesting talk about a DUG pedal... I don't need more gear, no I don't !
I've tried the Bi-amp thing with my M900 and Streamliner 600 but decided it's not worth the hassle.
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Has anyone tried the TC Electronic RS210 or RS212 with the M900? I am saving up for a M900 and the TC cabs seem like good value practical cabs. Great for a modular setup too.
My new Microtubes 900 arrived today! I'll attach a couple of photos, below.
I've been using a MarkBass Little Mark II for about 9 years now. It's been reliable and has good clean tone. I've played a ton of gigs with it. I have liked most of the functionality of it (size, weight, ease of use, etc.), but I've always wished it had a pre/post switch for the direct out jack. It's post-only, so any amp tweaks on stage messed with the sound guy's signal if he took it from the amp head (which meant I just carried a DI along, too - another cable and box to set up and tear down). My amp before the LM II was an all-tube Ampeg V4-B Reissue. The Ampeg sounded really sweet when you cranked it up to where it was starting to distort, but to do that, it had to be cranked up loud. And it was heavy, really heavy. So the LM II was a godsend for portability and reliability.
The M900 has the portability of the LM II. One of the photos below shows how they compare in size. They are almost identically sized. In fact, I'm planning to use the same Dell laptop bag for carrying the new M900 around that I've used all these years for the now-retired LM II (photo in bag also below).
The M900 can also do a good job of distortion, and you don't have to crank it all the way up. And it has a pre/post switch for the direct out, and a Mute switch (features I'll use). So it looks like the best of the best from my previous two amps.
I hooked it up to my two MarkBass cabs here in my practice room in the basement and spent some time today dialing in tones. My goal is to have an always-on grit from the VMT channel and a clean tone when the VMT is not on that's useful for more subtle songs/parts. The last photo is where I'm at after the first session of twiddling, but that was just playing along to songs on a CD through a PA system... I know I'll need to adjust it for the live band setting.
So far, I'm really impressed and very happy. Looks like a perfect solution for my needs. I've had a B7K for over a year, so I know the Darkglass quality is great.
I'll be interested in seeing other settings from you guys and learning more as I go!
I've been using a MarkBass Little Mark II for about 9 years now. It's been reliable and has good clean tone. I've played a ton of gigs with it. I have liked most of the functionality of it (size, weight, ease of use, etc.), but I've always wished it had a pre/post switch for the direct out jack. It's post-only, so any amp tweaks on stage messed with the sound guy's signal if he took it from the amp head (which meant I just carried a DI along, too - another cable and box to set up and tear down). My amp before the LM II was an all-tube Ampeg V4-B Reissue. The Ampeg sounded really sweet when you cranked it up to where it was starting to distort, but to do that, it had to be cranked up loud. And it was heavy, really heavy. So the LM II was a godsend for portability and reliability.
The M900 has the portability of the LM II. One of the photos below shows how they compare in size. They are almost identically sized. In fact, I'm planning to use the same Dell laptop bag for carrying the new M900 around that I've used all these years for the now-retired LM II (photo in bag also below).
The M900 can also do a good job of distortion, and you don't have to crank it all the way up. And it has a pre/post switch for the direct out, and a Mute switch (features I'll use). So it looks like the best of the best from my previous two amps.
I hooked it up to my two MarkBass cabs here in my practice room in the basement and spent some time today dialing in tones. My goal is to have an always-on grit from the VMT channel and a clean tone when the VMT is not on that's useful for more subtle songs/parts. The last photo is where I'm at after the first session of twiddling, but that was just playing along to songs on a CD through a PA system... I know I'll need to adjust it for the live band setting.
So far, I'm really impressed and very happy. Looks like a perfect solution for my needs. I've had a B7K for over a year, so I know the Darkglass quality is great.
I'll be interested in seeing other settings from you guys and learning more as I go!
I've been running an RS410 and RS212 setup for 6 years now and they are wonderful cabs. They sound great with any amp including the M900 which I picked up recently. Big low end which is articulated and not muddy and they're punchy as hell too.
@Nomogram
Here are my last settings.
I was messing about with a clear but driven sound similar to dUg Pinnick. I particularly liked this setting for me and my stuff. I was able to get it to play nicely with a Two Notes Le Bass pre-amp pedal. I've now added a Cali76-G so let's see how I tweak. Where you crank the drive is optional in my book but the basic sound on this is just phenomenal, and I friend of mine who isn't playing rock ended up with very similar settings.
Here are my last settings.
I was messing about with a clear but driven sound similar to dUg Pinnick. I particularly liked this setting for me and my stuff. I was able to get it to play nicely with a Two Notes Le Bass pre-amp pedal. I've now added a Cali76-G so let's see how I tweak. Where you crank the drive is optional in my book but the basic sound on this is just phenomenal, and I friend of mine who isn't playing rock ended up with very similar settings.
I haven't tried any other cabs with it so it's hard to say much other than it sounds great (and is extremely powerful).
The adjustable tweeter helps control the presence of saturated tones. Lately I've been doing tweeter 0% on the 112 and 90% on the 210 for my rock trio (with distorted strat and big drums).
