Jad Freer Sisma Mega Thread.

[Andrea Lo]

Hi gtirard! Check out post 3 of this thread. The back of your amp says suggested min load 4 ohm. Are you sure you own a Sisma? (Sorry - couldn’t resist.)
View attachment 7504695

Thats a pic from the very first production model. There were additional work to make it 2ohm stable.

 

[gtirard]

Hi gtirard! Check out post 3 of this thread. The back of your amp says suggested min load 4 ohm. Are you sure you own a Sisma? (Sorry - couldn’t resist.)

LOL.

Mine has the serial number #38, and it says Min Load 2 ohm indeed, but when @P. Aaron asked me for a pic of the back side, I stupidly copied the image from the website instead to shooting my own amp (I remember it was at night, no light to shoot a nice picture and I wanted to answer quickly).

/End of investigation

 

[smeet]

What is the overall character of the Minerva cabinets? The company website says it’s “traditional” which I take to mean it does not have a lot of sparkle or high-frequency extension. I wonder how a Minerva 212 + 112 would compare to my Bergantino NV312T.

 

[Andrea Lo]

What is the overall character of the Minerva cabinets? The company website says it’s “traditional” which I take to mean it does not have a lot of sparkle or high-frequency extension. I wonder how a Minerva 212 + 112 would compare to my Bergantino NV312T.

It's more "low mid bump" and "high mid bite". Venere series is more deep and sort of hi-fi.

 

[gtirard]

What is the overall character of the Minerva cabinets? The company website says it’s “traditional” which I take to mean it does not have a lot of sparkle or high-frequency extension. I wonder how a Minerva 212 + 112 would compare to my Bergantino NV312T.

There are few demo videos of Volta on the Jad Freer Youtube channel (Precision, Jazz Bass Slap, Jazz Bass Pick, Rickenbaker…) and in each video, you hear the same bass line with the DI out of Volta, then through Venere and Minerva cabs. I think it gives a good sense of how these cab sounds. Of course, a Youtube video is never perfect, but it's better than nothing.

 

[carsonchilders]

What is the overall character of the Minerva cabinets? The company website says it’s “traditional” which I take to mean it does not have a lot of sparkle or high-frequency extension. I wonder how a Minerva 212 + 112 would compare to my Bergantino NV312T.

My experience:

It is “traditional” as in there’s a little mid emphasis, but it has a pretty great low end extension that somehow still feels tight.

What I’ve noticed is this is the first time I’ve had a cab that’s voiced in a way that helps a little bit live but still represents what’s going on in the PA from my pedalboard. Like, you can hear the character on the top end of different overdrives and things. I would call that “fidelity” but not clinical or hifi. I haven’t experienced the veneere line but I would imagine it is more accurate to what is literally sent to the PA.

Another anecdote of my experience would be I played a 2 112 Mesa powerhouse cabinet setup years ago. It had a serious amount of authority but was voiced in a way that hasher frequencies jumped out a lot more than I would like (think like 1k). The voicing of the Minerva reminded me of the authority I had with the Mesa stuff without the how extreme I felt the baked in tone of the rig was. This is just my memory from 10 years ago so YMMV. I haven’t played any recent Mesa cabs/any lightweight Mesa cabs.

 

[gregbackstrom]

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...

I received my new Sisma on Saturday, and played two weekend gigs with it. Here are my initial impressions:

LIKES:
The sound is full, with plenty of bark and growl. I bought this head in the hopes that it would fatten up my GR Bass AT 212+ and AT 110 cabinets. I think it does a great job of adding depth and character to those otherwise dry, mid-forward cabinets. Very impressive sounding! (Similar to my Ashdown RM-800 Evo, which I'm anxious to compare to Sisma.)

The tone controls work well, and are pretty intuitive, especially after play several amps with Bass / Lo-Mid / Hi-Mid / Treble stacks.

It works with a 2 ohm load, which is one of the reasons I bought it. I wanted something different than my Mesa TT-800, which is, so far, my favorite amp. The Sisma gives me that "other flavor," while still handling the low impedance load.

It's a quiet amp, even with all fans operating. Also, there doesn't seem to be any hiss or hum.

DISLIKES:
The "microswitches" for mute, LPF, and deep are too small for normal fingers (and normal eyes, for that matter). Visually, it's hard to tell if the switches are engaged, and the tiny lights are very hard to see on stage (especially the mute light).

The power switch on the front panel seems oversized and unprotected compared to the knobs. (Someone else said this too. At the time, I thought it was a picky observation, but now I see what he means.)

The itsy bitsy "micro-feet" on the bottom panel are too small for any cabinet with a top handle. I'm using some anti-vibration discs to provide more clearance.

The fan screens that are attached outside the chassis give the amp a "project-box" vibe.

I think the knobs with the little mirror inserts look kinda cheap.

The bag isn't particularly protective -- the amp probably wouldn't do well if dropped. But hey, it's included, and other manufacturer's included bags aren't much better.

My Likes certainly outweigh the Dislikes, at least for me. The amp is nice and small, but could be a little larger with better ergonomic and higher-end features. This is my most-expensive amp, but you wouldn't know that from its looks. But you might from its sound!

That's all I got for now!

 

[gtirard]

I received my new Sisma on Saturday, and played two weekend gigs with it. Here are my initial impressions:

LIKES:
The sound is full, with plenty of bark and growl. I bought this head in the hopes that it would fatten up my GR Bass AT 212+ and AT 110 cabinets. I think it does a great job of adding depth and character to those otherwise dry, mid-forward cabinets. Very impressive sounding! (Similar to my Ashdown RM-800 Evo, which I'm anxious to compare to Sisma.)

The tone controls work well, and are pretty intuitive, especially after play several amps with Bass / Lo-Mid / Hi-Mid / Treble stacks.

It works with a 2 ohm load, which is one of the reasons I bought it. I wanted something different than my Mesa TT-800, which is, so far, my favorite amp. The Sisma gives me that "other flavor," while still handling the low impedance load.

It's a quiet amp, even with all fans operating. Also, there doesn't seem to be any hiss or hum.

DISLIKES:
The "microswitches" for mute, LPF, and deep are too small for normal fingers (and normal eyes, for that matter). Visually, it's hard to tell if the switches are engaged, and the tiny lights are very hard to see on stage (especially the mute light).

The power switch on the front panel seems oversized and unprotected compared to the knobs. (Someone else said this too. At the time, I thought it was a picky observation, but now I see what he means.)

The itsy bitsy "micro-feet" on the bottom panel are too small for any cabinet with a top handle. I'm using some anti-vibration discs to provide more clearance.

The fan screens that are attached outside the chassis give the amp a "project-box" vibe.

I think the knobs with the little mirror inserts look kinda cheap.

The bag isn't particularly protective -- the amp probably wouldn't do well if dropped. But hey, it's included, and other manufacturer's included bags aren't much better.

My Likes certainly outweigh the Dislikes, at least for me. The amp is nice and small, but could be a little larger with better ergonomic and higher-end features. This is my most-expensive amp, but you wouldn't know that from its looks. But you might from its sound!

That's all I got for now!

How does it compare to the TT800?

 

[gregbackstrom]

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...

How does it compare to the TT800?

It's too early to tell for me. I've got a handful of gigs coming up, and I might try swapping out amps between sets or days. I have a few that I want to compare: Mesa TT-800, Mesa Bass Prodigy, Quilter V803, Genz Benz ShuttleMAX 9.2, Trickfish Bullhead .5, Ashdown RM-800 Eco. But that may take a little time. My goal isn't to find "the one." It's more like "horses for courses."

 

[DJ Bebop]

My goal isn't to find "the one." It's more like "horses for courses."

 

[gregbackstrom]

It's too early to tell for me. I've got a handful of gigs coming up, and I might try swapping out amps between sets or days. I have a few that I want to compare: Mesa TT-800, Mesa Bass Prodigy, Quilter V803, Genz Benz ShuttleMAX 9.2, Trickfish Bullhead .5, Ashdown RM-800 Eco. But that may take a little time. My goal isn't to find "the one." It's more like "horses for courses."

Hmm …. I’ve also got a Jule Simone Pre / Simone 500. I think that’ll be my first comparison.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Pas de problèmes j'ai le temps de lire

Nice tone there, I think...for the price a Stomp is for sure way less expansive but I don't want to dial for hours to get a tone.. :/

I do like from what I hear the vintage side with the Bite engage. It is growly and solid. I just start using less distortion, only the tech 21 Geddy Lee for metal, but I understand more how to use EQ and boost around 1kHz to get more punch and agressive attack. I heard myself much better with that. I haven't change my compressor settings too and definitely want to use it differently.

Those weeks waiting for the Capo are so long lol. Will see, sound great

SISMA is on the expensive side of the curve … thinking about a nice preamp and a cheap ICE power amp such as the HB Bass Block

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

It's a pity that there are so few Jad Freer Sisma products sold.
Otherwise this thread could have a specific topic and not contain so much BS.

@Franz975, perhaps you could explain how the magnetic field of different types magnets could change the tone of speakers. Are some magnets better for audio than others? What brings you to this conclusion? Is there math to support this physics / audio based comment?

I've owned Bergantino's with both ceramic and neo magnets and didn't hear more "punch" with all things being equal.

I agree I was interested in learning about the SISMA’s features but @Franz975 has unfortunately, completely derailed the discussion after 10 pages of reading

 

[gtirard]

SISMA is on the expensive side of the curve … thinking about a nice preamp and a cheap ICE power amp such as the HB Bass Block

I would rather buy the Mesa/Boogie Bass 800D than a preamp + ICE power amp.
I bought Sisma after truying the combination tube preamps + class D amp, I wanted to simplify my setup.
At the time money wasn't a problem, and Mesa amps were unavailable in Europe. I have no regrets, but if I had the same needs now, I would buy the Mesa Bass 800D, it's cheaper than a tube preamp + class D power amp, simplier, and I'm sure it sounds killer.
I see you are from Italy though, not sure the 800D is easy to find right now in Italy.

 

[kirkplunkett]

I absolutely love the SISMA. It’s won between all of my amps.

I like it better than the Bergantino Forté HP2 ULTRA. I like it better than my DG Microtubes 900. I like it better than my Noble into a power amp or the power section of any of my other amps. I like it better than the Vanderkley Spartan, any Mesa amp I’ve ever played. I’d say it’s on par with my Eden WT800, but wins because of the weight difference.

I like it so much that I decided to splurge and ordered a Volta, which has yet to arrive.

I have been using Barefaced cabs exclusively for years now, and the SISMA sounds fantastic with the Super Compact, BB2, and the Super Twin. I’ll be pairing the Volta with the new Barefaced 15:24.

I’m also a p bass guy… not sure if this makes a difference to you all as far as understanding the sound I prefer. I dig the old school vibe with modern flare.

I keep thinking about getting the Capo, but I don’t think I need it. I can load in/out in one trip for most club gigs these days… a goal I’ve been trying to achieve for over 3 decades.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I would rather buy the Mesa/Boogie Bass 800D than a preamp + ICE power amp.
I bought Sisma after truying the combination tube preamps + class D amp, I wanted to simplify my setup.
At the time money wasn't a problem, and Mesa amps were unavailable in Europe. I have no regrets, but if I had the same needs now, I would buy the Mesa Bass 800D, it's cheaper than a tube preamp + class D power amp, simplier, and I'm sure it sounds killer.
I see you are from Italy though, not sure the 800D is easy to find right now in Italy.

Yes they can be found but not always .. in any case a HB Bassblock 800 in addition to J&D Capo, provided that the latter is worth the hype, should still be cheaper than than a Mesa Boogie 800D (1090 € new on Thomann now).
Anyway I’ll continue reading

 

[DJ Bebop]

I was thinking even more budget-friendly. HB Bassblock 800 and a Subway+ preamp/di v2.

Old guy on fixed income cheap backdoor sneak into quality

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I was thinking even more budget-friendly. HB Bassblock 800 and a Subway+ preamp/di v2.

Old guy on fixed income cheap backdoor sneak into quality

I believe the Subway+ preamp can be found in Italy and it’s not that expensive IIRC .. thanks for the tip DJ

 

[gregbackstrom]

I was thinking even more budget-friendly. HB Bassblock 800 and a Subway+ preamp/di v2.

Old guy on fixed income cheap backdoor sneak into quality

The V803 with a Caveman BP1 is a wonderful combination!

 

[John D Harris]

Yes they can be found but not always .. in any case a HB Bassblock 800 in addition to J&D Capo, provided that the latter is worth the hype, should still be cheaper than than a Mesa Boogie 800D (1090 € new on Thomann now).
Anyway I’ll continue reading

They also make a Sarto Preamp/DI pedal which they say is like the clean side of the Capo.