EAR CANDY CABS? ANYONE OWN ONE or TWO?

[Cory]

I've got an ear candy buzzbomb 2x12 for guitar. It's great! It's extremely well built. I couldn't be happier! I'd love to try a bass one out.

 

[JmJ]

Anyway my point is that from what I've read, the Earcandy cabs rock hard and sound awesome, in spite of the possibility that they may not be designed on the soundest of acoustical principles, and may not do quite as well in the lowest frequencies as they claim.

Not sure what you heard but the BassBomb handles my ADGCF tuning and sub bass sounds without breaking a sweat. I rehearse in a studio with an Aguilar / Epifani set up that costs over $5,000 My BassBomb / LMII set up sound much much more accurate & clear. Puts it to shame actually.

 

[blowinblue]

Not sure what you heard but the BassBomb handles my ADGCF tuning and sub bass sounds without breaking a sweat. I rehearse in a studio with an Aguilar / Epifani set up that costs over $5,000 My BassBomb / LMII set up sound much much more accurate & clear. Puts it to shame actually.

You seem like a nice fellow, but you must be tone deaf. Those of us who 'know'...know that the BassBomb can't sound good. It's not designed properly.

M. M.

 

[TAZ]

I bought a Bassbomb a coupe of years ago to replace 2 1x12 cabs. I just wanted to load one cab instead of two or I was just bored and wanted to try something else. All the gigs for most of the past two years have provided backlines and I didn't get a change to use my own equipment until recently.

The bassbomb has a lot of mids and I didn't think it got deep until I used it on wooden stages. It can get deep. No horn but there is a little high end that can be coaxed out of it. It doesn't sizzle but there is some smooth high end there.

I use it in a vertical position. The speakers are inline and not offset like 90% of 2x12 cabs. It has a little foot print on stage: 16"x17.5". I play small stages and a few inches here and there makes a difference. It is easy to move around and fit in the back of a little subcompact hatchback with room for a amp and handtruck.

The dimensions are very close to the 2x12 Bag End and close in size to a schroeder 2x12. It is also just just slightly bigger than most 2x10s.

It is old school sounding? Probably but with some eq the cab changes personailties.

I don't think it is a wonder cab but is certainly not a bad cab either. It is pretty efficient cab maybe because the mids are so strong. But I find that most 2 x 12 cabs are mid present.

The selection of options is the real selling point. If you're trying to match an amp or have reasons for a unusual tolex and grill cloth, this is a pretty nice way to go.

It is unfortunate that the owner describes his cabs in guitarist terms. They really seems to understand the floral description rather than specs that Bassists tend to gravite towards. On the other hand, he could publish specs and it would be as accurate as the rest of the manufactures which is to say, it's fantasy. So really it doesn't matter if there are specs or not... it's all marketing bullsh*t anyway.

 

[bigfatbass]

I had a student just last year with a bassbomb and I was very pleasantly surprised by it's overall tone. Not a bad box at all, reasonably priced, VERY portable (he had that little built in luggage rack thing they do), and in transparent green, with a black grill it was a stunner visually. I'll email him and see if has a pic to send me.

If they sounded as much like crap as the audio nazis say they do (you know'em, the guys that spend their whole lives playing at home fussing over their 10k pile of gear), Ear Candy would have closed years ago.

 

[bongomania]

If they sounded as much like crap as the audio nazis say they do (you know'em, the guys that spend their whole lives playing at home fussing over their 10k pile of gear), Ear Candy would have closed years ago.

That's ignorant and offensive on several levels. Just for starters, from the dawn of the audio industry it has been jam-packed with brands and products that underperform or are even fraudulent in their claims, where the brands thrived and made millions, many of which are still booming today. Consumers have proven time and again that they will support products that they want to believe in, even if the products are a ripoff. For another point, the "audio nazis" that you're talking about have only pointed out factual errors in the claims made by Earcandy. Not a one of them has said anything about the sound quality being poor. Go do a search and you'll see it's true. I could go on, but I don't feel like ranting at you more.

 

[bigfatbass]

I know nothing of ear candy's claims, and why do you assume all the negative reviews are from here?

And, considering all the opinions posted here by people who have never even played the object in question (see the most recent carl thompson thread) I don't think I was too far out of line.

Everybody hates an armchair quarterback, only pointing that out. Didn't mean to take a swing at your lighten up button.

 

[blowinblue]

If they sounded as much like crap as the audio nazis say they do (you know'em, the guys that spend their whole lives playing at home fussing over their 10k pile of gear), Ear Candy would have closed years ago.

That's ignorant and offensive on several levels. Just for starters, from the dawn of the audio industry it has been jam-packed with brands and products that underperform or are even fraudulent in their claims, where the brands thrived and made millions, many of which are still booming today. Consumers have proven time and again that they will support products that they want to believe in, even if the products are a ripoff. For another point, the "audio nazis" that you're talking about have only pointed out factual errors in the claims made by Earcandy. Not a one of them has said anything about the sound quality being poor. Go do a search and you'll see it's true. I could go on, but I don't feel like ranting at you more.

EarCandy threads are the perfect place to discuss 'experts' and 'audio nazis'. I have a high regard for Bongo's opinions and expertise but I did not find anything ignorant or offensive about Bigfat's post. The vast majority of the folks who have dismissed EarCandy bass cabs have not had actual hands-on experience with them. IMHO, hands-on experience is a prerequisite to posting a meaningful opinion about any piece of gear. Many form their opinions based on the EarCandy website. While Bongo may be correct in saying that the naysayers have pointed out only factual errors on the website and not condemned the sound quality of Candy cabs, the inference made by these folks is clear. That inference is...the products can't possibly sound as good as claimed and we'd all be better off spending our gear dollars elsewhere. Bongo may PM me for a link to one such thread.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Talkbass is the amount of 'expert' advice to be found here. What is an 'expert', you may ask? It's someone who hides behind their computer keyboard and spews out definitive and impressive sounding observations about gear with which they have no personal, hands-on experience.

Just for the record, I have no connection to EarCandy Cabs, I have never met the owner of the company, I do not at present own an EarCandy product, and have no plans to own one in the near future. I did have a ton of fun with mine while I owned it, however. Do I praise the product because I want to believe in it? Only you can judge me on that count.

M. M.

 

[bongomania]

IMHO, hands-on experience is a prerequisite to posting a meaningful opinion about any piece of gear.

It's tempting to agree with that, but let me make a silly example to explain the other side of the "argument":

Let's say I claim that my handmade all-tube SVT-type amp puts out 2000 watts and weighs only five pounds. Naturally people will scoff and say it's impossible. I say how can they know it's impossible when they've never used it themselves?

the inference made by these folks is clear. That inference is...the products can't possibly sound as good as claimed and we'd all be better off spending our gear dollars elsewhere.

Inference is your (and anyone's) personal interpretation. When I see someone state that a given speaker cab is physically incapable of producing the claimed low frequencies at the claimed sensitivity or SPL, I take it at face value. I don't infer from that that I won't like how the cab sounds. In fact I know perfectly well that it's the 80 Hz to maybe 3 KHz range that mean the most to me for tone and projection. So I will still consider the cabs based on the claims of excellent tone; I just won't buy in on the assumption that I'm pumping 35 Hz waves across the room.

I'm quite interested in trying out a Bassbomb, because as I posted earlier, I've mostly heard excellent reports about the tone. But I still think Bigfat's comments were offensive because he uses the word "nazi" to describe people who actually understand acoustic science and are trying to share their education with others.

 

[blowinblue]

Point taken regarding the term 'nazi'.

M. M.

 

[bigfatbass]

The hyperbolic term nazi was employed to suggest not just those with the knowledge, but those who use that knowledge solely to make a persnickity fuss. There are many more with deep understanding of the subject that actually employ it. I give a lot more weight to those opinions than those from someone with a great deal of book knowledge but who has never actually played a note on a stage.

My mockery was directed at the small sub-sect of basement commandos who like to do nothing more than dicker over minutia.

 

[svtb15]

the word Nazi was used in a funny, light hearted way.. remember the soup nazi on Seinfeld.. geezz everyone that finds offense needs to lighten up a little and realize we are supposed to be big boys and girls.. it was used in fun! no big deal.

Even if it were used in a mocking way,, does anyone remember "sticks and stones may break my bone but words will never hurt me"? Put the big boys panties on and get over it... have we become so weak that a word can ruin your day????

PS i agree with you Bigfat bass.. i hate armchair anything.. but especially armchair bass players that have never been out of the basement or bedroom...
Just my 2 cents... take it with a grain of salt
Back to the cabs forum.

 

[blowinblue]

Maybe we could come up with a special term here that would be palatable to all...'EarCandy nazi'. A dreaded and cursed bunch if there ever was one!

M. M.

 

[svtb15]

Maybe we could come up with a special term here that would be palatable to all...'EarCandy nazi'. A dreaded and cursed bunch if there ever was one!

M. M.

 

[DAcat]

As an EarCandy BassBomb owner who has just ordered a second EarCandy BassBomb 30 days ago( and very eagerly awaiting the new arrival) ...I was first of all amazed to find this thread still open from when I first posted on it a long time ago, and secondly happy to talk about what an EarCandy BassBomb Cab is like and actually sounds like, since mine is not just for decoration but is used for serious playing. I've been around the block a time or two-playin bass since 66, did some major touring, I have owned a lot of great gear in my life, I'm still gigging and I only buy equipment that makes me sound better. I would sell these cabs in a minute if they were'nt the best sounding cabs I could have my hands on.
First off... I am not affiliated with Earcandy Cabinets. I currently own one EarCandy bassBomb Cabinet-the one ontop of the Schroeder 410 cab in the photo in my earlier post in this thread. The EarCandy BassBomb is a well made custom cab with 2 Eminence 12" speakers with 4 ports and no tweeter. My cab handles 950 watts RMS. Its built rock solid and there is no rattling from this cab. No distortion either. But the tone IMO is more of an old school sounding cab...that does'nt mean that you don't hear high mids...plenty of em...but I think the highs are definately attenuated some...but I don't mind that-that means less string noise! These are also extemely efficient cabs-my 212 Bassbomb was as loud as my Schroder 410R-which until the BB, was the loudest cab I'd ever played through. To get an Idea what these BB cabs sound like-look up the recent threads on on the new Genz Benz Uber 212 and 410 cabs...I also bought a GB Uber 410 recently and it's tone is extremely similar to the Earcandy BB...as of yet I have'nt A/Bd them side by side since they are in two different places...but the Genz Benz Uber Cabs and the Ear Candy BassBomb cabs are two of the best sounding cabs I've ever played with my Genz Benz GBE1200. I consistantly get great reviews from other bassists who hear these cabs as well. So with all of this, you can probably understand why I ordered a second BB cab. Contrary to a prior post, the BassBomb cabs are not made as open backed cabs, nor are any of the EC bass cabs(only the guitar cabs are made as open backed cabs). These BB cabs are around 62 lbs if my memory is correct, and you have many options as far as grill and cabinet coverings. I just recently sold off of my other favorite cab, a Schroeder 410R(And I will sell off my EarCandy BB if I find a Cab that will sound better), in order to order my newest Bassbomb...which will look just like the one in the pic in the previous post.
Interesting...just today my wife asked me this question for the upteenth time "Now why did you buy these new cabinets...are you still searching for your sound?" ...and I answered, "Yes dear, I had my sound, then I lost it- or more correctly, I felt it could get better, so thats what I'm trying to find."...Funnily enough , we were listening to a Lyle Lovet concert tonight and Victor Krauss, his bassist extraordiaire, was playing upright bass and had "tone to die for" and I told my wife..."Now if I had that tone....I 'THINK' I'd stop buying cabs, amps and basses!" LOL Peace...DAcat

 

[jimmyjames77]

I've owned two ECC 212s for years. They are the thickest cabs I've owned. At the is saying alot.

 

[apertes5]

ive been playing ampeg almost exclusivly for years but was fairly unhappy with the sound i had. did some research and, despite some "discrepencies" with Tim's descriptions of the sonic capabilities of his cabs, i decided to order a bassbomb 2x12.....

i could not be happier with the sound/looks of this cab. it is louder and cleaner than my old ampeg 410-hlf that was the size of an oven. its everything i want tone wise from a cab and paired with any eden product IMO, you cannot go wrong...if anyone has any questions for an earcandy owner let me know

Link Removed

 

[Mystic Michael]

ive been playing ampeg almost exclusivly for years but was fairly unhappy with the sound i had. did some research and, despite some "discrepencies" with Tim's descriptions of the sonic capabilities of his cabs, i decided to order a bassbomb 2x12.....

i could not be happier with the sound/looks of this cab. it is louder and cleaner than my old ampeg 410-hlf that was the size of an oven. its everything i want tone wise from a cab and paired with any eden product IMO, you cannot go wrong...if anyone has any questions for an earcandy owner let me know.

Apertes,

How are the upper mids and the highs? I've read conflicting reviews/experiences of the BassBomb in this regard. Though they all agree that the BB doesn't have the shrill HF horn sound, some say the higher frequencies are quite subdued ("old school" is the term), while others say it has a good degree of sparkle and snap for a tweeterless cab.

What say ye?

MM

 

[bongomania]

one thing I've learned is sometimes you gotta stop listenning with your calculators.

Again with this. If anyone has seen a post where a supposed speaker cab expert has said that they think Earcandy cabs "will sound bad" based on the specs, please PM me with a link to it.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Again with this. If anyone has seen a post where a supposed speaker cab expert has said that they think Earcandy cabs "will sound bad" based on the specs, please PM me with a link to it.

How could anyone, they don't publish specs.

When you get down to brass tacks their cabs are simple bass reflex boxes loaded with Eminence drivers, and as such shouldn't be expected to be any worse than the same thing that comes out of every other factory, which is 90% of the products out there. OTOH there's no reason to expect them to be any better either; one point that caught my eye is their references to impedance as 'ohms load' in what try to pass as technical documents. That doesn't exactly bespeak a high level of engineering expertise.