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Epifani Club! I've seen the "light"!

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I was! :)

So the tone sucked or something? Man, I would think that'd be a great cab to have for smaller stages.

It sounded fine but I ended up picking up a UL-115 and decided I only needed one 210 cabinet. I kept the conventional UL-210 over the AP-210 because it was better for stacking. I now own 110, 210, 112 and 115 UL cabinets and use them in different combinations.
 
To change the discussion a bit...

What are your general experiences with the D.I. on the Epifani UL-502? After I visited the Epi shop in Brooklyn back in 2005, my wife bought the 502 for me as a birthday gift; I must have spoken highly about it! :)

It was around the time I was going into studio for my first album and I took it to the studio owned by an engineer who is a well-known and respected guy in the circles. We used both an Avalon U5 and the D.I. from the UL-502 for the direct signal and we were amazed by the quality of the signal from the Epi; it actually blew the Avalon away, which is almost an industry standard unit for bass recording.

Anybody with similar or opposite experience?

Cheers,

Alper
 
To change the discussion a bit...

What are your general experiences with the D.I. on the Epifani UL-502? After I visited the Epi shop in Brooklyn back in 2005, my wife bought the 502 for me as a birthday gift; I must have spoken highly about it! :)

It was around the time I was going into studio for my first album and I took it to the studio owned by an engineer who is a well-known and respected guy in the circles. We used both an Avalon U5 and the D.I. from the UL-502 for the direct signal and we were amazed by the quality of the signal from the Epi; it actually blew the Avalon away, which is almost an industry standard unit for bass recording.

Anybody with similar or opposite experience?

Cheers,

Alper


Hey Alper!!! Happy New Year.

I only used the DI on the 502 once when I had it, and the sound guy raved about it.

In a discussion I had with Nick after I purchased mine, it seems that they spent a lot of time on making the DI totally high end. One of the things that I didn't particularly dig about that head was the huge pops and bangs you got when you plugged or unplugged the instrument cable and didn't use the mute. I assume that's why the mute automatically engages when you turn the amp on, which is a nice touch.

At first I thought there was something wrong, since I never had experienced that before with any head I've owned. Nick said this was due to some sort of 'ungrounded link between the input jack and the DI' to allow for the purest possible signal. That's a little over my head technically, but the point being the DI on that amp is not an 'afterthought' like on many amps.

K

PS Still digging your tunes quite a bit. Really nice!
 
Hey Ken,

Happy New Year!

The UL-502 is an interesting design really. I remember Nick telling me that approach they used in designing their DI as well. I must say they did a pretty good job!

The weight issue as well as the mid-scooped character of the amp is a turn-off for me now after having been spoilt by much lighter designs by Markbass, AI, TecAmp, etc. At one point, I even put the amp on sale on eBay, but I was not willing to sell it for the low fair market value, so I decided to keep it for the sake of its DI.

Do you happen to know the center freq on the bass control on the Epi, by the way?

Cheers,

Alper


Hey Alper!!! Happy New Year.

I only used the DI on the 502 once when I had it, and the sound guy raved about it.

In a discussion I had with Nick after I purchased mine, it seems that they spent a lot of time on making the DI totally high end. One of the things that I didn't particularly dig about that head was the huge pops and bangs you got when you plugged or unplugged the instrument cable and didn't use the mute. I assume that's why the mute automatically engages when you turn the amp on, which is a nice touch.

At first I thought there was something wrong, since I never had experienced that before with any head I've owned. Nick said this was due to some sort of 'ungrounded link between the input jack and the DI' to allow for the purest possible signal. That's a little over my head technically, but the point being the DI on that amp is not an 'afterthought' like on many amps.

K

PS Still digging your tunes quite a bit. Really nice!
 
Hey Ken,

Happy New Year!

The UL-502 is an interesting design really. I remember Nick telling me that approach they used in designing their DI as well. I must say they did a pretty good job!

The weight issue as well as the mid-scooped character of the amp is a turn-off for me now after having been spoilt by much lighter designs by Markbass, AI, TecAmp, etc. At one point, I even put the amp on sale on eBay, but I was not willing to sell it for the low fair market value, so I decided to keep it for the sake of its DI.

Do you happen to know the center freq on the bass control on the Epi, by the way?

Cheers,

Alper

I'm pretty sure it's 60 hz (I sent the manual with the amp when I sold it, but that's what I remember). However, it doesn't' behave like a shelving control (like the LMII, TecAmp, etc.). It was pretty cool to boost it, because it just became HUGE (although that's surely not my thing), but cutting it even a little just totally sucked the life out of that amp to my ear.
 
I just checked the manual but could not find any information in there regarding the EQ frequencies. I have a similar experience with the bass on the UL-502 as well, seemingly peaking at a narrow range of a specific center frequency. The Q value must be quite high (tight) on the bass control. But, as I play mostly short-scale 5-string basses with high C's, I do not have much bass response from my sources, so I tend to boost the bass by few dB's anyway! Or was it all in the fingers? :)
 
+1 on the 60hz, although I'm not 100% sure. That number stands out, though.

I'll echo the sentiments on the DI. Sound guys love me on large gigs, and I've never had better FOH sound - including on the U.S.S. Hornet...talk about a tough room. :D I've only used it once in the studio, and then on a, "What the heck" type of deal because I had the amp in the car for a later gig. The engineer chose it over his Countryman 85 and my Radial JDI and Sadowsky.
 
I just checked the manual but could not find any information in there regarding the EQ frequencies. I have a similar experience with the bass on the UL-502 as well, seemingly peaking at a narrow range of a specific center frequency. The Q value must be quite high (tight) on the bass control. But, as I play mostly short-scale 5-string basses with high C's, I do not have much bass response from my sources, so I tend to boost the bass by few dB's anyway! Or was it all in the fingers? :)

I just checked the on-line manual also and couldn't find it, but 60hz sticks in my mind. Maybe from talking to Nick when I first got the amp.

Yeah, it sure doesn't feel like the standard shelving control, more of, I agree, narrow Q sort of standard tone control. There is a LOT of tone in there, but for the most part, I kept it flat.
 
To change the discussion a bit...

What are your general experiences with the D.I. on the Epifani UL-502? After I visited the Epi shop in Brooklyn back in 2005, my wife bought the 502 for me as a birthday gift; I must have spoken highly about it! :)

It was around the time I was going into studio for my first album and I took it to the studio owned by an engineer who is a well-known and respected guy in the circles. We used both an Avalon U5 and the D.I. from the UL-502 for the direct signal and we were amazed by the quality of the signal from the Epi; it actually blew the Avalon away, which is almost an industry standard unit for bass recording.

Anybody with similar or opposite experience?

Cheers,

Alper

nope,

that's pretty much how i've experienced the epifani DI.

i'm sure nick has already chewed your ear off, but much of the design phase around the epi head was about making sure there was nothing encumbering the signal flow. hence, his dislike of the jensen DI in early incarnations, and the later development of his own phantom power safe version.
 
I haven't owned mine for two years now. It was a really great sounding head, in addition it felt like a tank. BTW it fits nicely in a small SKB mixer briefcase.

I used the DI live only with good results, I do however remember that if I ran the DI preEQ it didn't mute the sound going to the FOH and that was a problem. Along with a number of fancy restuarants that insisted I put tape of the blue Lazer beam as I was blinding his patrons.

That wide Q (I am assuming what it is) on the bass knob was really great to add some low end to Bag End 15 cab or add bottom to the bridge PU favored Jaco type tone. I always thought of that head as a great tone shaper and poor in EQing a room. Great outside, not so nice in a glass or marble hall..
 
I just checked the manual but could not find any information in there regarding the EQ frequencies. I have a similar experience with the bass on the UL-502 as well, seemingly peaking at a narrow range of a specific center frequency. The Q value must be quite high (tight) on the bass control. But, as I play mostly short-scale 5-string basses with high C's, I do not have much bass response from my sources, so I tend to boost the bass by few dB's anyway! Or was it all in the fingers? :)

like i've said many times before, the bass knob isnt the filling, fattening bass many of us are familiar. rather, its a "make cab bigger" knob. and given i get a mostly room shaking feel from that knob, i think its more of a shelving kind of circuit that many either like or dislike. for my needs, tho, especially w/ my 1x12 cabs, i love it! makes a little 1x12 seems much more enveloping than it seems.
 
I haven't owned mine for two years now. It was a really great sounding head, in addition it felt like a tank. BTW it fits nicely in a small SKB mixer briefcase.

I used the DI live only with good results, I do however remember that if I ran the DI preEQ it didn't mute the sound going to the FOH and that was a problem. Along with a number of fancy restuarants that insisted I put tape of the blue Lazer beam as I was blinding his patrons.

That wide Q (I am assuming what it is) on the bass knob was really great to add some low end to Bag End 15 cab or add bottom to the bridge PU favored Jaco type tone. I always thought of that head as a great tone shaper and poor in EQing a room. Great outside, not so nice in a glass or marble hall..


That's a great way to put it!

I forgot about the strange way the mute control worked on that amp. For many, that would not be a good thing.

I also had a venue where they asked me to tape that light. It was a retina killer!
 
like i've said many times before, the bass knob isnt the filling, fattening bass many of us are familiar. rather, its a "make cab bigger" knob. and given i get a mostly room shaking feel from that knob, i think its more of a shelving kind of circuit that many either like or dislike. for my needs, tho, especially w/ my 1x12 cabs, i love it! makes a little 1x12 seems much more enveloping than it seems.

That's how I hear it, I probably shouldn't have thrown out the "Q" thing as I'm not that smart...
 
I haven't owned mine for two years now. It was a really great sounding head, in addition it felt like a tank. BTW it fits nicely in a small SKB mixer briefcase.

I used the DI live only with good results, I do however remember that if I ran the DI preEQ it didn't mute the sound going to the FOH and that was a problem. Along with a number of fancy restuarants that insisted I put tape of the blue Lazer beam as I was blinding his patrons.
(...)

funny,

but on tour, i too usually use the SKB mixer case. for local stuff, the EA iAMP800 bag fits the head just as nicely. kinda wish nick & co. would make a proper head bag tho.

and yea, that light bugs many a soundguy. the gent at Sullivan Hall still remembers me by that light!

as for the the bass control, i'm thinking the frequency is set much too low for most guys, which sorta leads to a boomy sound in certain rooms.
 
I always thought of that head as a great tone shaper and poor in EQing a room. Great outside, not so nice in a glass or marble hall..

Bada boom x100! Although I don't do a lot of shaping...knobs set to flat make me happy. :D I love doing festival gigs - reinforced or not - because the Epi stuff...cabs and heads...does "outdoors" better than anything I've used.
 
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