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Markbass Megathread PART 2

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#301
I own a CMD 102P with the same head in it as the LMII. I've got to interject one thing here-- the head is great but the cab is extremely well designed and matched for the cab. And any problems with ordering or time constraints is on GC- I used to work there and they take their sweet time. Peter over at Markbass has answered numerous questions for me about the products, availability, etc. via myspace and the only thing missing from my sound is a MB Standard 410 HF to take up some of that wonderful headroom. If you want it GC can order it, you just have to pay for SO and shipping. I'm just tired of hearing Bergie, Epifani, and Eden-- the MB cabs do everything they do and with the exception of the Epifani they're a lot lighter while they do it. My dream concert rig is actually an SD 800 through two 410 HF's. I'll never need more than that.
 
#302
I recently played a SD800 with a 104HF+151HF, wow!! Headroom forever, extremly quick and tight. The SD800 is really powerful in 4ohms, incredible speaker-conrol. The only times I`ve heard anything like this, is with a high-quality PA-poweramp.
 
#303
bugbass said:
I recently played a SD800 with a 104HF+151HF, wow!! Headroom forever, extremly quick and tight. The SD800 is really powerful in 4ohms, incredible speaker-conrol. The only times I`ve heard anything like this, is with a high-quality PA-poweramp.
Click to expand...

+1. The SD800 paired with the newest version of the Epi 410UL (4ohms) is really something... huge power, uber clean, punchy as heck! This is currently my main rig.

The LMII is actually a little more forgiving to me regarding cabinet pairing... it sounds great through literally everything I've tried it with. However, if you get the pairing 'correct' with the slightly more fussy voicing of the SD800... holy moly:D
 
#304
KJung said:
+1. The SD800 paired with the newest version of the Epi 410UL (4ohms) is really something... huge power, uber clean, punchy as heck! This is currently my main rig.

The LMII is actually a little more forgiving to me regarding cabinet pairing... it sounds great through literally everything I've tried it with. However, if you get the pairing 'correct' with the slightly more fussy voicing of the SD800... holy moly:D
Click to expand...

The LMII sounds great on every cab I`ve tried it on, but I like the slightly cleaner bottom and quickness of the SD800. The extra headroom is nice too, even if the LMII is more than enough on 99% of my gigs.

Hm, I must find a way to check out the Epi cabs..
 
#306
bugbass said:
The LMII sounds great on every cab I`ve tried it on, but I like the slightly cleaner bottom and quickness of the SD800. The extra headroom is nice too, even if the LMII is more than enough on 99% of my gigs.

Hm, I must find a way to check out the Epi cabs..
Click to expand...


I agree, and actually was impressed enough with the size/weight/volume ratio of the SD800 to hunt down a cab that really allowed it to shine. While the original LMII/410UL is a match made in heaven (everyone that hears that is pretty blown away by it), the mid focus of the original model did not line up with the upper mid present voicing of the SD800 to my ear, and there was something there I couldn't really dial out, even with the semi-parametric EQ. The wider, more even voicing of the newest 410UL just shines with the SD800 (although not nearly so much with the LMII).

The SD800 is, as I've posted before, the first lightweight amp that truly has 'lead sled' capability. It is quite modern sounding, so I can understand that some wouldn't dig it. But if you like modern, with massive low end slam, this thing is awesome!!! IMO! and a big IME!:bassist:
 
#310
Peter Murray said:
There's a time frame!
I just know how sticky you guys are with timelines and delays. I don't want to say something will be available at a certain date, and then find out there's been a delay in production, or with customs, or whatever. But orders have been placed and the new stuff is on its way!
I can tell you the "order" that these new products will arrive in:

First new batch: F1, R500, 104HR, 151HR, Classic 108, Jeff Berlin combo and Minimark.

Second batch: Classic 300, TRV 121H, Classic 104.

Third batch: LMK, SA450, TRV 151P.

And then the rest should follow around the end of the year.

Hope that helps!
Peter
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COOL!!!

Everybody I spoke to at three different GC's were NOWHERE near this definitive regarding "futures", so it sounded like vapor until now.
 
#312
Got me a LM2 at the big sale at GC yesterday, had to pay the full $599 (I tried like hell to get it down at least a little, but finally gave up and paid it) but got the no interest no payment for a year deal. So be watching the classifieds and ebay for me selling stuff in the near future ;)

I'll give a more complete report after the next couple days rehearsals and gigs.


Johnny
 
#313
Observations on recording with the LMII/Wizzy 110:
First of all, it's great when the heaviest thing you have to haul up the stairs is the URB!
LMII: Ran flat except for the bass was on 11oclock. I didn't use any pedals or effects. Both VLE and VPF were off. I told the engineer that the direct out was post EQ. His response was interesting. He said that was a good thing as he didn't need to spend a bunch of time EQing things to get the sound "I" wanted. Maybe from a recording standpoint this whole pre/post EQ thing isn't such a big deal after all. The LMII performed flawlessly. Fan noise was not an issue and I never had the volume above two. We didn't have to fuss with anything. I plugged in turned on and was ready to record in about three minutes.
Wizzy 110: In addition to the direct out on the LMII, the engineer placed a mic in front of the wizzy. He wanted to get the actual tone coming out of the cab as well. He stated that basses always sound fuller and have a better recorded tone that way. Listening to the playback, he was spot on. The little wizzy never clipped, farted or caused any problems. He placed the mic, I played for about a minute and was ready to record.
Overall: The engineer commented on how easy it was to get this rig set up and dialed in. He was also impressed by the sound of this combination and how little space it took up. Their studio rig is a large tube head with an 18" cab and a 210" cab, I won't say what brand as I don't want to open that can of worms. He liked the way the LMII/Wizzy recorded over their own current rig. He stated that is wasn't fussy and was consistent from beginning to end. No spikes or dips in tone or volume. These are my opinions and observations and different people may have different results. However this solidified my faith in this set up and Markbass and EA have a lifetime customer and they should be proud of their acheivements.
 
#314
wingnut said:
Observations on recording with the LMII/Wizzy 110:
First of all, it's great when the heaviest thing you have to haul up the stairs is the URB!
LMII: Ran flat except for the bass was on 11oclock. I didn't use any pedals or effects. Both VLE and VPF were off. I told the engineer that the direct out was post EQ. His response was interesting. He said that was a good thing as he didn't need to spend a bunch of time EQing things to get the sound "I" wanted. Maybe from a recording standpoint this whole pre/post EQ thing isn't such a big deal after all. The LMII performed flawlessly. Fan noise was not an issue and I never had the volume above two. We didn't have to fuss with anything. I plugged in turned on and was ready to record in about three minutes.
Wizzy 110: In addition to the direct out on the LMII, the engineer placed a mic in front of the wizzy. He wanted to get the actual tone coming out of the cab as well. He stated that basses always sound fuller and have a better recorded tone that way. Listening to the playback, he was spot on. The little wizzy never clipped, farted or caused any problems. He placed the mic, I played for about a minute and was ready to record.
Overall: The engineer commented on how easy it was to get this rig set up and dialed in. He was also impressed by the sound of this combination and how little space it took up. Their studio rig is a large tube head with an 18" cab and a 210" cab, I won't say what brand as I don't want to open that can of worms. He liked the way the LMII/Wizzy recorded over their own current rig. He stated that is wasn't fussy and was consistent from beginning to end. No spikes or dips in tone or volume. These are my opinions and observations and different people may have different results. However this solidified my faith in this set up and Markbass and EA have a lifetime customer and they should be proud of their acheivements.
Click to expand...


Cool. Per your 'pre/post' DI comment, typically you would want the post EQ for recording, where you actually many times want some tone shaping prior to going direct into the board and then to a hardrive or disc.

However, where things get sticky is in live performance, where many times the EQ used to optimize your tone through a bass cabinet on stage is very different from what is typically needed to make the bass sound good through a massive front of house system. In those situations, most soundpersons prefer a pre EQ, 'direct' signal without 'stage EQ' applied.

That being said, the jumper switch from post to pre EQ and back is quite simple.
 
#315
tombowlus said:
One GC I talked to had the R500 and Classic 300 on their computer, so I had high hopes. :D
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+1, same for the SA450, but that's when I inquired... even to the management level... and they gave me absolutely no definitive info at all. They even said that since no availability time was entered in the system, it pretty much meant nothing at this time... just a place-holder in the system for POTENTIALLY carrying the product (yeah, they used that word). :(

Better news today from Peter tho. :)
 
#316
Vic said:
+1, same for the SA450, but that's when I inquired... even to the management level... and they gave me absolutely no definitive info at all. They even said that since no availability time was entered in the system, it pretty much meant nothing at this time... just a place-holder in the system for POTENTIALLY carrying the product (yeah, they used that word). :(

Better news today from Peter tho. :)
Click to expand...

While I'm not one who see's enough advantage to the SA450 to justify the larger size and significant price premium, here's a request to the MB guys:

If you could get the wattage of the SA450 closer to the SD800, but still use a class A/B power amp, I would sell everything I own and buy two of them:D

Since the SA450 has identical spec's to the LMII (power, etc.), and is in a box almost twice the size of the LMII, it seems that this would be possible. Even an SA600 would be great, and actually, from a product line perspective, would sit in your product mix much better than the SA450, given its similarity to the LMII.
 
#317
KJung said:
While I'm not one who see's enough advantage to the SA450 to justify the larger size and significant price premium, here's a request to the MB guys:

If you could get the wattage of the SA450 closer to the SD800, but still use a class A/B power amp, I would sell everything I own and buy two of them:D

Since the SA450 has identical spec's to the LMII (power, etc.), and is in a box almost twice the size of the LMII, it seems that this would be possible. Even an SA600 would be great, and actually, from a product line perspective, would sit in your product mix much better than the SA450, given its similarity to the LMII.
Click to expand...
It's TWICE the size??? Also, I don't think there's a huge premium price diff... I think it was only like $150 at the most. Sure you're not thinking of the TA-501 on the price thing?
 
#318
Vic said:
It's TWICE the size??? Also, I don't think there's a huge premium price diff... I think it was only like $150 at the most. Sure you're not thinking of the TA-501 on the price thing?
Click to expand...

The SA450 is in the same exact box as the SD800, with the same control layout.... a pretty standard two rack space sort of size... a little smaller in the width that the TF.. same height and about the same depth. That's not particularly a problem per se, but given that you are getting the exact same power amp and power supply, it just seems a little strange.

My understanding was the price premium was much more than $150. I remember seeing a price list a while back... however, not sure there.

However, a product that sat between the mighty SD800 and amazing LMII, with the additional front end and back panel stuff of the 800/450, and power between the LMII and the 800 would be quite a 'sweet spot' to me, and would again help justify the higher price and larger box more than the additional bells and whistles of the 450.

Just IMO there.

Edit: By twice the size, I'm talking about internal volume... it's obviously not 20 by 20! It's a touch smaller than the TF.
 
#320
KJung said:
My understanding was the price premium was much more than $150. I remember seeing a price list a while back... however, not sure there.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure the GC guy looked up a price somehow and it was right about $750 for the SA450. Besides, much more than that, and you're close to TA-501 territory (price = LMII + $400).

However, a product that sat between the mighty SD800 and amazing LMII, with the additional front end and back panel stuff of the 800/450, and power between the LMII and the 800 would be quite a 'sweet spot' to me, and would again help justify the higher price and larger box more than the additional bells and whistles of the 450.
Click to expand...
+1

Edit: By twice the size, I'm talking about internal volume... it's obviously not 20 by 20! It's a touch smaller than the TF.
Click to expand...
That's what I thought, but I don't think most would really perceive it as 2x, tho certainly larger. Thing is, to me, that'd be a non-issue, really. I'm just as happy to rack it vs bag it, and the weight would still be stupid light for the power/tone, which is the main feature to me.
 
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