Since we are all throwing in our .02 on this concept:
-The variable HPF is a neat idea (but I never have used one).
-Possibly doubling the overall output, part of the goal being more clean output (I think that means same structure/scale, just louder, right?)
-At venues, the option to send a consistent pre-D.I. signal would be nice (unless that design significantly altered the D.I. quality/tone).
-Speakon connectors would be cool, but no biggie.
If it helped keep down the size, I would be fine with a 2-band (with some overlap) instead of three--and no effects loop.
This reads like I should just get a D-800+, right?
I had the D-800 for a bit. I know there are various factors that affect one's idea of "fast" or "responsive" (which, in my case, might include bone-headed e.q. work or wishful thinking), but for me the D-800 was lightning fast and solid. I even got the sense that it contributed to improved timing. I felt a solid, immediate and even-sounding low end.
But I couldn't get it to slow down!
I was advised to try a few compressor tricks but never made it work.
The Walkabout was my first experience with what I think people refer to as "sag". I like to use palm-mute picking when it works for a song, and that amp would thunk-thunk like nothing I tried up to that point; something about the mid and low-end.
And the overdrive is great. I would set gain around 11:00 or 12:00, sometimes 1:00 depending on the setting, then hit it with a mod'd Sparkle Drive (set more as a dirty boost) and...glorious.
Trying to execute above-my-pay grade, fast staccato fingerstyle parts, the Walkabout might be the slowest feeling amp I have played. But someone smarter might have resolved that with e.q. or more practice.
I seem to always search for a middle ground. I never had all three side-by-side, but the Ashdown ABM500 kind-of gets there. It feels slightly quicker than the Walkabout, but a bit more pillowy and distorted than the D-800. And, when engaged, the tube O.D. is excellent; darker than the Walkabout IIRC.
But the ABM always sounds better to me with the e.q. section disengaged. Adding it to the signal pathway, even set (ideally) flat, just feels different. And those cooling fans are like jet engines (so much louder than a Walkabout).
Plus, each ABM500 I used (early/mid 2000s models) had significant line noise, which I was told is some sort of electrical "leakage" associated with the fans (?).
I actually got the standard D-800 to sound a lot like the ABM ("better" depending on the context), but I never could simulate the (what I'm guessing is) harmonic distortion or sag.
(I waste too much time trying to make amp A sound like amp B.)
-The variable HPF is a neat idea (but I never have used one).
-Possibly doubling the overall output, part of the goal being more clean output (I think that means same structure/scale, just louder, right?)
-At venues, the option to send a consistent pre-D.I. signal would be nice (unless that design significantly altered the D.I. quality/tone).
-Speakon connectors would be cool, but no biggie.
If it helped keep down the size, I would be fine with a 2-band (with some overlap) instead of three--and no effects loop.
This reads like I should just get a D-800+, right?
I had the D-800 for a bit. I know there are various factors that affect one's idea of "fast" or "responsive" (which, in my case, might include bone-headed e.q. work or wishful thinking), but for me the D-800 was lightning fast and solid. I even got the sense that it contributed to improved timing. I felt a solid, immediate and even-sounding low end.
But I couldn't get it to slow down!
I was advised to try a few compressor tricks but never made it work.
The Walkabout was my first experience with what I think people refer to as "sag". I like to use palm-mute picking when it works for a song, and that amp would thunk-thunk like nothing I tried up to that point; something about the mid and low-end.
And the overdrive is great. I would set gain around 11:00 or 12:00, sometimes 1:00 depending on the setting, then hit it with a mod'd Sparkle Drive (set more as a dirty boost) and...glorious.
Trying to execute above-my-pay grade, fast staccato fingerstyle parts, the Walkabout might be the slowest feeling amp I have played. But someone smarter might have resolved that with e.q. or more practice.
I seem to always search for a middle ground. I never had all three side-by-side, but the Ashdown ABM500 kind-of gets there. It feels slightly quicker than the Walkabout, but a bit more pillowy and distorted than the D-800. And, when engaged, the tube O.D. is excellent; darker than the Walkabout IIRC.
But the ABM always sounds better to me with the e.q. section disengaged. Adding it to the signal pathway, even set (ideally) flat, just feels different. And those cooling fans are like jet engines (so much louder than a Walkabout).
Plus, each ABM500 I used (early/mid 2000s models) had significant line noise, which I was told is some sort of electrical "leakage" associated with the fans (?).
I actually got the standard D-800 to sound a lot like the ABM ("better" depending on the context), but I never could simulate the (what I'm guessing is) harmonic distortion or sag.
(I waste too much time trying to make amp A sound like amp B.)
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