@Dsmnoisemaker will the output be enough to run into a powered speaker? Like a WJ 2×10 Powered Bass Cabinet - Wayne Jones AUDIO ?
Thanks
Thanks
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DSMnoisemaker & Humboldt Electronics Simplifier Bass Station
- Thread starter amper
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@Dsmnoisemaker will the output be enough to run into a powered speaker? Like a WJ 2×10 Powered Bass Cabinet - Wayne Jones AUDIO ?
Thanks
Absolutely. Technically you could run an unpowered DI into a WJ 2x10 with no issues as well...
Thanks, it should work, but I'm interested in what the output level will be. There's no volume control on my powered speakers, it's just dependent on the source.
Yes, I believe so, although I can't find published specs on it. I can't drive it hard enough from just my active bass or pedals - one has a DI output and that doesn't get as loud as my preamp.
You should be fine. Most powered speakers are expecting to receive at a minimum line level. Anything above that is an increase in volume.
So, I went into my studio, trimmed my input to 0 (the beauty of digital mixers) plugged in my bass, and my meters barely flickered.
I plugged in the Bass Station, and it was hitting 0 DB with room to get louder as I increased the volume.
You should be fine.
I'm barely using the capabilities of this thing. Gain at noon, Volume just shy of max, blend about 90% preamp. Reverb and chorus pedals are in the effects loop, mic placement around noon, resonance and cab sim balance around 3 o'clock. Either running a 4x10 or 8x10 depending on the bass I have plugged in, haven't touched the other switch. Don't need to do anything with the parallel loop, all my dirt pedals already have clean blends.
Tried mine yesterday at rehearsal. I went:
Parallell loop: C4 synth -> compressor (limiter - to catch spikes and volyme changes between presets with the C4)
Preamp loop: Vintage Microtubes (low gain) -> Pork&Pickle (high gain)
Even mix of preamp and parallell. Cabsim at 100%. Going for a big, fat, slightly scooped cab sound. Setlist was funk and soul.
Sounded really good. This pedal really shines at full band volume.
I found though that the parallell with lpf at 100 hz sounded awesome so I’m gonna try to put all the pedals in the preamp loop and just mix in a hair of parallell with lpf engaged until next time.
Parallell loop: C4 synth -> compressor (limiter - to catch spikes and volyme changes between presets with the C4)
Preamp loop: Vintage Microtubes (low gain) -> Pork&Pickle (high gain)
Even mix of preamp and parallell. Cabsim at 100%. Going for a big, fat, slightly scooped cab sound. Setlist was funk and soul.
Sounded really good. This pedal really shines at full band volume.
I found though that the parallell with lpf at 100 hz sounded awesome so I’m gonna try to put all the pedals in the preamp loop and just mix in a hair of parallell with lpf engaged until next time.
Does anybody else have a problem with aux in on this device? When I plug in a laptop or phone the bass signal is degraded, the highs and high mids are cut and bass is accentuated. Sounds kind of like a low pass filter. I can compensate by cutting bass and increasing gain or treble, but it's not the same.
Also, I find the preamp loop on mine is acting strange. My overdrive pedals react weirdly when I plug them into the loop (their volume is increased, but gain is decreased, one of them I can't even get to overdrive?), and the compressor is hissing (it didn't before). So overdriving the preamp and blending in clean lows doesn't work on my device. I probably wouldn't use it that way anyway, but it seems like a fault in the circuit and I'm wondering if others had a similar experience.
I'm running a G&L Sb-2, a very hot passive bass (I engage the pedal's active pad switch), monitoring through my headphones from the pedal's headphone out.
Also, I find the preamp loop on mine is acting strange. My overdrive pedals react weirdly when I plug them into the loop (their volume is increased, but gain is decreased, one of them I can't even get to overdrive?), and the compressor is hissing (it didn't before). So overdriving the preamp and blending in clean lows doesn't work on my device. I probably wouldn't use it that way anyway, but it seems like a fault in the circuit and I'm wondering if others had a similar experience.
I'm running a G&L Sb-2, a very hot passive bass (I engage the pedal's active pad switch), monitoring through my headphones from the pedal's headphone out.
No I haven’t experienced and of that with my device. I would suggest you get in touch with @Dsmnoisemaker. Their customer support is really solid.
First, I need to know which output you're testing through - each one behaves slightly differently.
I would try the following things:
- Unplug everything from your effects loop
- Make sure the high pass filter is turned off
- Turn the Preamp blend all the way to the left (counter-clockwise) so it bypasses the pre-amp
- Connect the Aux in and see if the bass signal is degraded
- Does the low cut on your bass still occur?
If the low cut still occurs - you have a problem.
If there is no low cut move on to the next step.
- Turn the preamp blend all the way to the right (clockwise) so it is all pre-amp
- Turn the mic position all the way to the right so that the mic placement is in the center
- Turn the Cabinet blend all the way to the right - so that it's wet
- Set the speaker color to modern
- Set the cab size to 8x10 sealed
- With the Aux in connected, is your bass signal degraded?
- Increase the volume to 3/4
- Increase the gain to just until it distorts, then back off to a clean signal
If the low cut still occurs - you have a problem
If that's all fine, let's work on the distortion pedal
Connect your distortion pedal to the pre-amp fx send
- Turn the preamp blend knob all the way to the left bypassing the pramp
- Adjust the input on your distortion/adjust your distortion to taste
- Is there a cut in your bass signal?
If that's fine, move on to the next step
- Rotate the preamp blend knob all the way to the right
- Did all of your distortion go away?
- Rotate the preamp blend knob so that it's at 50% (this is half of your pre-amp/half of your parallel)
- Is there a cut in your bass? If so flip the phase switch
- Is there a a cut in your bass? - You have a problem
I've demoed this device a couple of times.
Seemed fantastic to me. I didn't try the fancy routing and connectivity options, just the preamp and speaker sim. Loved it, including the overdrive character, and I think it could be a big hit if just that preamp & maybe the speaker sim were put into pedal form.
IMO it's a top contender, perhaps the winner, in the preamp / mild OD category, and I have dozens of the top pedals in that space.
Great job, DSM & Humboldt!
Seemed fantastic to me. I didn't try the fancy routing and connectivity options, just the preamp and speaker sim. Loved it, including the overdrive character, and I think it could be a big hit if just that preamp & maybe the speaker sim were put into pedal form.
IMO it's a top contender, perhaps the winner, in the preamp / mild OD category, and I have dozens of the top pedals in that space.
Great job, DSM & Humboldt!
That's a really great roadmap for testing, thank you. I'll try it out in the coming days and report back. At the moment I'm using only a headphone output, don't have the means to test the other ones at the moment.
It's really a great sounding pedal, there is nothing quite like it on the market for analog preamp and cabsim, perfect for my use at the end of the pedal chain. And a very small footprint.
So I did some troubleshooting, and I have some results. I'm now focusing only on the aux in problem.
In all the settings - parallel only, preamp only, cabsim dry, cabsim wet, phase on, phase off, active switch on, active switch off - and in all the combinations, there is clear signal degradation. Or should I say signal change? As soon as I plug in something in the aux in, the gain goes down, especially high end and some mids, and bass frequencies are accentuated.
Two extra notes. One, this happens only if the aux device is on. For instance, if I plug in a laptop that is off, there is no change in signal. If I then turn the laptop on, there is immediate change. Same goes for smartphone.
Two, the change in signal also happens when the bass is unplugged. For instance, if I take out the cable from the bass and put it on my hand, there is that familiar noise. When I then plug in a device in aux in, the sound of that noise changes (it's generally quieter). So the problem is not the bass. This also happens with different cables and patch cables, so the problem is not the cable either.
I suppose one thing that remains to be tested is the aux in cable. It works fine on other devices (Vox Amplug). At the moment I don't have a spare one to test, but I might eventually get one.
I think I read somewhere that TC Electronic Spectradrive has a similar problem. I think it was even mentioned in their manual. Any experiences there?
BTW, I'm only asking here because DSM and Humboldt are no longer replying to their emails. They were super nice and helpful when they replaced my first unit in June (I had one that was part of a faulty batch, see post 115 in this thread), but now they stopped replying (two weeks ago).
I mean, I can live with these issues, but it's annoying, and this pedal is not cheap...
Thanks all for all the help!
In all the settings - parallel only, preamp only, cabsim dry, cabsim wet, phase on, phase off, active switch on, active switch off - and in all the combinations, there is clear signal degradation. Or should I say signal change? As soon as I plug in something in the aux in, the gain goes down, especially high end and some mids, and bass frequencies are accentuated.
Two extra notes. One, this happens only if the aux device is on. For instance, if I plug in a laptop that is off, there is no change in signal. If I then turn the laptop on, there is immediate change. Same goes for smartphone.
Two, the change in signal also happens when the bass is unplugged. For instance, if I take out the cable from the bass and put it on my hand, there is that familiar noise. When I then plug in a device in aux in, the sound of that noise changes (it's generally quieter). So the problem is not the bass. This also happens with different cables and patch cables, so the problem is not the cable either.
I suppose one thing that remains to be tested is the aux in cable. It works fine on other devices (Vox Amplug). At the moment I don't have a spare one to test, but I might eventually get one.
I think I read somewhere that TC Electronic Spectradrive has a similar problem. I think it was even mentioned in their manual. Any experiences there?
BTW, I'm only asking here because DSM and Humboldt are no longer replying to their emails. They were super nice and helpful when they replaced my first unit in June (I had one that was part of a faulty batch, see post 115 in this thread), but now they stopped replying (two weeks ago).
I mean, I can live with these issues, but it's annoying, and this pedal is not cheap...
Thanks all for all the help!
No issue here.
Bass in, aux in with a signal going, 'phones out plugged into amp (not headphones, which may matter but probably not), and bass sounds the same while plugging the aux in and out.
Try contacting Daniel here on TB. @Dsmnoisemaker
Ok, I got it sorted, thanks to @Dsmnoisemaker. There is no defect, just some lack of understanding, and a bit of user error.
Daniel wrote this to me: "the aux is mixed with the signal via resistors, so when the aux is connected, there's a 6dB drop on the bass signal. It's normal." After reading that, I experimented a bit more. I realized that really what I was hearing was not "signal degradation", but a simple volume drop. Short fix: just bump the headphone volume a bit, and the same sound is there. No need to touch gain or eq. Very easy! Honestly, I feel a bit stupid.
As for the preamp loop thing: well, the issue could be my overdrive pedals, or again some kind of user error. Anyway, I don't think I will be using that any time soon, and if I do, I will experiment more.
So everything is great! This box has quite a learning curve (at least for me), but it is truly amazing. Great sound shaping on its own, as well as after overdrives. Pretty much allows me to live without an amp (I move around a lot, so I need to keep things light). Together with some recent additions of high-quality cables and a quiet power supply, everything sounds fantastic.
Thank you DSM and Humboldt!
Daniel wrote this to me: "the aux is mixed with the signal via resistors, so when the aux is connected, there's a 6dB drop on the bass signal. It's normal." After reading that, I experimented a bit more. I realized that really what I was hearing was not "signal degradation", but a simple volume drop. Short fix: just bump the headphone volume a bit, and the same sound is there. No need to touch gain or eq. Very easy! Honestly, I feel a bit stupid.
As for the preamp loop thing: well, the issue could be my overdrive pedals, or again some kind of user error. Anyway, I don't think I will be using that any time soon, and if I do, I will experiment more.
So everything is great! This box has quite a learning curve (at least for me), but it is truly amazing. Great sound shaping on its own, as well as after overdrives. Pretty much allows me to live without an amp (I move around a lot, so I need to keep things light). Together with some recent additions of high-quality cables and a quiet power supply, everything sounds fantastic.
Thank you DSM and Humboldt!
