Jad Freer Sisma Mega Thread.

[gtirard]

How interesting, ive been using 2 Moniques for about 7 years and not really found anything that compares so this is good to hear.

Hum, hold on, I didn't say it sounds like Monique, it's quite different in fact, but I have both and like both.

 

[fretless Bob]

Hum, hold on, I didn't say it sounds like Monique, it's quite different in fact, but I have both and like both.

I also didn’t say you suggested it sounded like a Monique, but the fact that you mention the 2 amps in the same sentence is nice to hear.

 

[smeet]

Hum, hold on, I didn't say it sounds like Monique, it's quite different in fact, but I have both and like both.

I love my Monique for its fat chewy goodness and huge sound, but it is quite dark for some styles. The Jule Simone is really nice too, although not as chewy as the Monique. My preference is for a clean sound with that tube coloration, weight, and give.

Im very interested to play the Sisma. Where do you feel it fits on the tubey/chewy vs sharp/fast/clean spectrum?

 

[gtirard]

I love my Monique for its fat chewy goodness and huge sound, but it is quite dark for some styles. The Jule Simone is really nice too, although not as chewy as the Monique. My preference is for a clean sound with that tube coloration, weight, and give.

Im very interested to play the Sisma. Where do you feel it fits on the tubey/chewy vs sharp/fast/clean spectrum?

Sisma is sharp and fast (in a previous comment I said "Monique is more wooly while Sisma's preamp is more "in your face").

 

[msb]

I’m a recent Monique owner , and immediately became a believer. In fact , last night I was a bit rushed and forgot to pack Monique , she was missed.
So I’m naturally very curious about Sisma.

 

[Franz975]

This just came in Friday. Here’s my first impression after playing a couple of days with it in a home studio: I was only using headphones, a 1x10 cab, and the DI out direct to an audio interface.

Unboxing

Sisma looks sturdy and built to last, beautiful finish, knobs are smooth and accurate. Overall look and feel of a high quality product.
It feels slightly heavier than its size would let you expect, it is for sure very dense, but not much heavier than a normal Class D amp + an external tube preamp. It fits in my gig bag, but I will probably use the nice included bag for safety reasons.

First impression

First test run, this amp seems to check all my boxes. I didn’t think I could find all these (almost opposite) qualities in a single amp:

• It has a strong tubey character if you want it (the official Youtube video is quite representative), but no « baked in » tone that you can’t get rid off.
• Neutral sounding when all knobs are at noon (that’s important for me).
• Very versatile: the combination of tube preamp + Baxandall tone stack + 2 semi parametric mids lets you dial in a large tonal palette.
• Intuitive - once you get used to each control, they’re all predictable and straightforward.

View attachment 4951654

Attention to details

I seems that Jad Freer Audio have really worked on the small details, in order to remove all the irritating issues you may find on other amps, and provide a pleasant and rewarding user experience in the studio and in live settings.

• The Deep and LPF switches have a subtle effect, and that’s great. It makes these options usable at any volume (on other amps or preamps, the deep switch is usually super cool at practice level, but excessively pronounced in a live context).
• The gain control is super progressive. The other tube preamps I have tried go very quickly from clean to distortion. With Sisma you can control very precisely the level of tube coloration.
• The combination of a Baxandall tonestack and the 2 semi-parametric EQ is very well thought out, which makes it efficient and intuitive.
• The Master knob is logarithmic, so you can adjust the volume precisely even at very low levels. Many other bass amps I know reach 80% of the power at 10 o’clock (Markbass for example), I hate this because it makes it super hard to adjust the volume at practice levels (plus I don’t like to be taken for a fool).
• Dead silent: all the outputs are completely free of noise, and you can’t hear the fan at all. Basically the power led is the only way to know that your amp is turned on when you’re not playing. Beware, it’s addictive.

So far, I really love the tone, I can’t wait to play it loud, with various bigger cabs. But after two days in a home studio I already know it’s a keeper.

I think this might be the first customer review available online, so feel free to ask me any question...

The master is linear no ? Because logarithmic reach super high quick and after it is harder to get more

 

[Jim C]

Thanks for this.
Does it ship with an owners manual?

 

[Passinwind]

The master is linear no ? Because logarithmic reach super high quick and after it is harder to get more

It's exactly the opposite, linear pots top out faster.

 

[gtirard]

Thanks for this.
Does it ship with an owners manual?

No owner manual

 

[Andrea Lo]

No owner manual

I promise I ll write it down next month...anyway its pretty straightforward

 

[Jim C]

This was more about GR not including manuals to save the planet even though shipping is approx. 5,300 miles.
I was curious if this was something typically done in Europe.

 

[agedhorse]

This was more about GR not including manuals to save the planet even though shipping is approx. 5,300 miles.
I was curious if this was something typically done in Europe.

For the EU, the regulations require owner's manuals in English, French, German, Dutch Spanish and Italian for those regions that require them. They may be provided electronically provided certain conditions are met, though there is still documentation that's required in printed form (at least when importing into the EU).

 

[Franz975]

It's exactly the opposite, linear pots top out faster.

Okay I didn't know that thank !

Because when i see a logarithmic curve it look like it goes high quickly and then go flatter

 

[P. Aaron]

- I think I could have bought a Mesa WD800 or TT800, but it's super hard to find one from France, and when I discovered Sisma I favored a European (Italian) builder, and also I prefer to spend my money for a small company building hand made products rather than a big established US company. Very personal though, I would still love to try a Mesa amp, I'm sure I would love them.

It's important to many of us that a builder is regional or home country.

 

[DELACIUS]

Hey all I've tried this bass head in May, so here is what I wrote about it....

So today was a revelation day for me, first time that I have tried this bass amp I knew there are bass amps and now there is something new, called JAD FREER AUDIO Sisma amp.
That thing really is from another world of bass amps. After today I have to say no one managed to get to this level of musicality, taste, portability and efficiency.
Trust me, I have never been so amazed by any amp.
Many thanks to Konrad Lovrenčić for bringing it to try it out.
You got my attention now!

This bass amp is really feel like you have a big tube amp behind you, with cleanness of D class amps... Just again, way better.

Have to tell you that I 've been so mad about new amps in last 10-15 years because they are all the same, ICE power, DI box, EQ... no musicality in them... this one really blow my mind, if you can check them out.
I have no endorsement from them, so this is my truly honest opinion.

 

[Franz975]

Hey all I've tried this bass head in May, so here is what I wrote about it....

So today was a revelation day for me, first time that I have tried this bass amp I knew there are bass amps and now there is something new, called JAD FREER AUDIO Sisma amp.
That thing really is from another world of bass amps. After today I have to say no one managed to get to this level of musicality, taste, portability and efficiency.
Trust me, I have never been so amazed by any amp.
Many thanks to Konrad Lovrenčić for bringing it to try it out.
You got my attention now!

This bass amp is really feel like you have a big tube amp behind you, with cleanness of D class amps... Just again, way better.

Have to tell you that I 've been so mad about new amps in last 10-15 years because they are all the same, ICE power, DI box, EQ... no musicality in them... this one really blow my mind, if you can check them out.
I have no endorsement from them, so this is my truly honest opinion.

This one use Class G power amp, look like a cool amp. I don't know how it compare to a Bergantino which I use now

 

[gtirard]

Hey all I've tried this bass head in May, so here is what I wrote about it....

So today was a revelation day for me, first time that I have tried this bass amp I knew there are bass amps and now there is something new, called JAD FREER AUDIO Sisma amp.
That thing really is from another world of bass amps. After today I have to say no one managed to get to this level of musicality, taste, portability and efficiency.
Trust me, I have never been so amazed by any amp.
Many thanks to Konrad Lovrenčić for bringing it to try it out.
You got my attention now!

This bass amp is really feel like you have a big tube amp behind you, with cleanness of D class amps... Just again, way better.

Have to tell you that I 've been so mad about new amps in last 10-15 years because they are all the same, ICE power, DI box, EQ... no musicality in them... this one really blow my mind, if you can check them out.
I have no endorsement from them, so this is my truly honest opinion.

What a dithyrambic review

I would never dare writting such an extatic comment about an amp, because I'm always suspicious when I read one, especially when you say that all other class D amps are identical and un-musical, I don't think we need to criticize other amps like that (did you really try them all?).

But yeah, I agree this amp is great - the more I use it the more I like it.

 

[DELACIUS]

What a dithyrambic review

I would never dare writting such an extatic comment about an amp, because I'm always suspicious when I read one, especially when you say that all other class D amps are identical and un-musical, I don't think we need to criticize other amps like that (did you really try them all?).

But yeah, I agree this amp is great - the more I use it the more I like it.

I was just trying to say what I really think which is sometimes bad in forums, ha!
Really this thing just works better then others, I don't know why... but, I can tell you that I've been playing Markbass amps for past 15 years (I was endorser), but I was playing also through Berg, Aquilar, TC Electronic, TechAmp, Ampeg, Epifani, etc. so all those amp are D-class with their twist on EQ, which don't get me wrong are great, but I fell like all these amps went to rabbit hole with bass players saying I need clean, powerful amp.
They just lost that thing where when you plug into amp and you say WOW..... DAMN....

Seems like bass players were only interested in headroom and clean sound and power (if they don't use valve amps).

I'm not that young so I really loved Hybrid amps, like Merlin, actually that amp sounded just perfect... I mean all these amps sounded different back then... like GK 800RB, SWR, TE AH1000 etc.

And then Digital stuff happened, which don't get me wrong I love: light, powerful, cheaper... but, for me they lost their identity and I Jad Freer amp brought that all back.... just how I fell it...

 

[gtirard]

I was just trying to say what I really think which is sometimes bad in forums, ha!
Really this thing just works better then others, I don't know why... but, I can tell you that I've been playing Markbass amps for past 15 years (I was endorser), but I was playing also through Berg, Aquilar, TC Electronic, TechAmp, Ampeg, Epifani, etc. so all those amp are D-class with their twist on EQ, which don't get me wrong are great, but I fell like all these amps went to rabbit hole with bass players saying I need clean, powerful amp.
They just lost that thing where when you plug into amp and you say WOW..... DAMN....

Seems like bass players were only interested in headroom and clean sound and power (if they don't use valve amps).

I'm not that young so I really loved Hybrid amps, like Merlin, actually that amp sounded just perfect... I mean all these amps sounded different back then... like GK 800RB, SWR, TE AH1000 etc.

And then Digital stuff happened, which don't get me wrong I love: light, powerful, cheaper... but, for me they lost their identity and I Jad Freer amp brought that all back.... just how I fell it...

I agree, but the only other amps I know (and dislike to different degrees) are Markbass, Fender, recent Ampeg, and Hartke. It's the amps I can find in the rehearsal studio where I go.

On the other hand, I also own a Quilter Bass Block 800, and I love it too. It's a class D power section, but not the classic ICE module everybody use, it's been designed by Quilter (Pat Quilter is the "Q" from QSC). Anyway, I prefer Sisma, but also love the Quilter, they are very different. The Quilter sounds full, it has a lot of heft and authority like a tube amp (even if to be honest I haven't played on a full tube amp for a very long time). I would never say that it sounds dull or sterile.

Last, I would also love to try Mesa amps, I'm sure I would love them, especialy the WD-800 and the TT-800, it's just too bad that we can't find them Europe (I had a Mesa 400+ long long ago that I loved). I would also like to try a Bergantino, they seem to have a great reputation here.

Anyway Sisma is my prefered amp, but it's just my personal opinion, and I know very little.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...I was playing also through Berg, Aquilar, TC Electronic, TechAmp, Ampeg, Epifani, etc. so all those amp are D-class with their twist on EQ...
.......................................
And then Digital stuff happened...

For clarity's sake (whoever she is ) Class D is NOT digital.