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Driving a poweramp

joelb79

joelb79

Mar 22, 2006
4,558
315
Lansing, Michigan
#1
I'm looking for the cleanest sound I can find. The idea has surfaced of using a power amp (QSC or Stewart) and driving the amp with just my bass.

The problem is the bass is a much quieter object than the poweramp is expecting.

Would a Radial Tonebone get me the gain i need to get to 0db with a poweramp?
 
#3
My understanding is you need to bring the instrument level up to line level, and that is where preamps come in to play. Will the Tonebone get you to line level?
 
#6
yeah.. but interesting as a cheap fix.

although.. i like the results of my audere into the poweramp. Just not near the potential and not usable for anything bigger than a monitor.

xgabriele said:
My understanding is you need to bring the instrument level up to line level, and that is where preamps come in to play. Will the Tonebone get you to line level?
Click to expand...

yes that is the question.
 
#12
Just to be clear to the OP, what you are asking for is a preamp. You're absolutely right that most basses do not put out the right output to drive a power amp, and that is why amp heads contain preamps, and why power-amp users use preamps. That gain boost is, at essence, the definition of a preamp. So if you want the cleanest signal, it's not that you don't want a preamp, it's that you want the most transparent preamp you can afford. The LowEnd is a good suggestion, and I bet if you search on "transparent preamp" you'll find some more options.
 
#14
Also watch out that a lot of preamps are colored. The EQ's are weighted, people buy them because they plug them in and think they sound great - cause the manufacturer weighted them to sound good at store volumes.

Buy something at a store the takes returns. Try it out in real life.

I own another behringer preamp and it's dead quiet. So don't dismiss because someone has a bias against value.
 
#17
Link to the FMR RNP. The lowend truvoice would be sweet, abet not rack mountable and a little pricy. Even used would kill me.

But basically from my understanding, im going to need 25DB of clean gain and a jensen transformer DI to be truely happy.

Avalon might be my go-to preamp.
 
#18
joelb79 said:
Link to the FMR RNP.
Click to expand...

OK, it took a while, but I finally unearthed this obscure and arcane link:
http://www.google.com/search?q=fmr+rnp

joelb79 said:
But basically from my understanding, im going to need 25DB of clean gain and a jensen transformer DI to be truely happy.
Click to expand...

Just remember that gain is not the only factor: you also have to look at the impedance and voltage levels needed to drive a given amp. There's another TB'er here who drove himself insane buying booster pedals that gave up to 35dB boost, but that were still unable to drive a power amp. The Avalon is fine; any other units, just check to see that they have a line-level output, and that's a good start.
 
#19
I've been killing myself over this.

What i'm getting at, is that I have no need for pre-shapes, they are a waste with me. I need a DI. I don't need any more eq than i build into my basses. Im happy with how my bass sounds without anything done to it. MY SVT sounds too dirty and not enough highs.

When i plug my bass into my poweramp in on the SVT, im getting a great tone, just not enough volume.

Time to look at Ebay.

The FMR is a tad out of price range however looks to do the job.
 
#20
joelb79 said:
I've been killing myself over this.

What i'm getting at, is that I have no need for pre-shapes, they are a waste with me. I need a DI. I don't need any more eq than i build into my basses. Im happy with how my bass sounds without anything done to it. MY SVT sounds too dirty and not enough highs.
Click to expand...

Though I use EQ at times, and not use it at other times, I really hate the way so many (most!) heads and preamps have some default profile built into them. Sometimes I suspect it's not only to wow 'em in the showroom, it's to obscure audio design deficiencies.

And then for me at least you often have to figure out what's actually going on when all the knobs are set flat, and then you might have to try to get rid of that mess so you can actually work with the cab that are at hand.

Actually I also suspect that even guys who freak out when presented with decent EQ facilities could quickly learn to use them well with practically any bass, cabs, and rooms, if there weren't so much ersatz "design work" going on behind closed doors.

Just imagine what it would be like if every mixing board had "tone decisions" built into all the channels - and maybe a different contour for each one! Which brings me to my suggestion: also look at pro audio gear, channel strips, etc. Summit, etc. Even if there's EQ facilities there you won't use you're much more likely to get representations at output that match up closely with input.
 

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