Meatbox + Dedicated Subwoofer .... How?

[JerryTheFly]

[Longtime lurker, first time poster!] So, I've tried to do as much research on this subject as I could, but I just can't figure this thing out, so I'm turning to you guys, since you have always steered me in the right direction.

I am trying to run a DOD Meatbox subsynth pedal, with the dry out to my precious rig that I don't want to melt and the wet signal through an active DI box to an active subwoofer that will be separate from the house's PA system (aka a bi-amp situation). I went to test out a pair of 15" subwoofers today and attempted to play bass (without the Meatbox or DI) through a GK combo, running its direct out into the active subs. But hardly any sound was coming out. And I don't think it was the subs, because there were two of them and both had the same issue, which seems unlikely that they would both be duds. (Running a microphone directly into them produced little sound, too.) The subs were Samson dB1500a. So, I guess, my question is: I am doing this right and those subs just sucked horribly, or is there something else I need to be doing to get an active sub pumping out stupid amounts of low end from the Meatbox?

Side note: I'd ideally like to get the sub I settle on to let me mic my drummer's kick drum through as well, for practice and smaller venues that don't mic the drums.

 

[s0c9]

I assume you had the stereo/mono switch set to mono, connected to the Left XLR input and had the level turned up??
IME That should have worked fine.. with DI or mic

 

[JerryTheFly]

I assume you had the stereo/mono switch set to mono, connected to the Left XLR input and had the level turned up??
IME That should have worked fine.. with DI or mic

Yes to all of that. Barely any sound came out of it from both the mic and the direct out from the amp. Weirdest thing. I thought I had this thing figured out.

 

[s0c9]

Yes to all of that. Barely any sound came out of it from both the mic and the direct out from the amp. Weirdest thing. I thought I had this thing figured out.

Well.. on first blush, doesn't appear you did anything wrong... <shrug> I don't know what else to suggest.. it's not a complex hookup.

 

[tbirdsp]

Where was the crossover freq set (looks like it's labeled "sweep")? If it was down at 30 hz you wouldn't get much out of a bass guitar or most mics.
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[JerryTheFly]

Where was the crossover freq set (looks like it's labeled "sweep")? If it was down at 30 hz you wouldn't get much out of a bass guitar or most mics.
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We had it primarily at 12oclock, which I think was 150, shouldn't have been a problem. We did also sweep through the frequencies to no avail.

 

[s0c9]

We had it primarily at 12oclock, which I think was 150, shouldn't have been a problem. We did also sweep through the frequencies to no avail.

Strange.. nothing in what you've said you did triggers anything obvious...
It's an active sub, so it should be happy with the levels you were sending..

 

[JerryTheFly]

Strange.. nothing in what you've said you did triggers anything obvious...
It's an active sub, so it should be happy with the levels you were sending..

Right... It's mind boggling. Maybe those subs just suck. I'll try out another one. There's a Behringer 15" on CL that I could look at. If it doesn't work, I'm not sure what to do. I really don't want to melt my precious Avatar 4x10 neo...

 

[s0c9]

I really don't want to melt my precious Avatar 4x10 neo...

I doubt you'll melt it.. I run a 2x10 Avatar neo - it thumps for its size, and in the average small-ish venue (bar/club/restaurant) fed w/ an SVT7-Pro, I have oodles of headroom.

 

[mbelue]

Signal strength. You need significantly higher input to drive those subwoofers.

Your DI was likely Mic Level(mVs)and the subwoofer was likely wanting Line Level.(>1V)

If your bass amplifier has a line level effects loop these subs are ideal for running there.
The subs would actually be patched in to your amp supplying a high passed output back to your effects loop and further protecting your speakers.

In this use case scenario you would run your Meatbox wet output straight into your preamp and depend on the sub to protect your bass cabs.

 

[JerryTheFly]

Signal strength. You need significantly higher input to drive those subwoofers.

Your DI was likely Mic Level(mVs)and the subwoofer was likely wanting Line Level.(>1V)

If your bass amplifier has a line level effects loop these subs are ideal for running there.
The subs would actually be patched in to your amp supplying a high passed output back to your effects loop and further protecting your speakers.

In this use case scenario you would run your Meatbox wet output straight into your preamp and depend on the sub to protect your bass cabs.

Ah. That makes sense. Unfortunately I don't have an effects loop on my bass amp. Is there any options to boost my signal to line strength without my amp? I'm guessing an external preamp would work?

 

[mbelue]

Ah. That makes sense. Unfortunately I don't have an effects loop on my bass amp. Is there any options to boost my signal to line strength without my amp? I'm guessing an external preamp would work?

Yeah inexpensive mic preamps will work.
Something like the Tube MP by Art.

I that case I'd dry output to your amp and wet to the Tube MP. Like this though you may get some cancellation at weird times.(dependant on note selection and room placement).
While your bass amplifier may not put out much in the same frequency range as the sub it might be enough to mess with it. YMMV


As a side note using this configuration to mic a bass drum could most likely result in a TON of feedback.

 

[JerryTheFly]

Yeah inexpensive mic preamps will work.
Something like the Tube MP by Art.

I that case I'd dry output to your amp and wet to the Tube MP. Like this though you may get some cancellation at weird times.(dependant on note selection and room placement).
While your bass amplifier may not put out much in the same frequency range as the sub it might be enough to mess with it. YMMV


As a side note using this configuration to mic a bass drum could most likely result in a TON of feedback.

Right on. I'll give this a shot. Thanks for the advice!

 

[JerryTheFly]

So, I think it was those subwoofer, because I picked up a Behringer B1500-D Pro today and plugged in right from the Meatbox and it got all the low signals from it -- no DI box even. Pretty happy with the results.

 

[tbirdsp]

I had a B1500D for a small PA I had and it really isn't a bad unit.