Mesa Subway Bass DI-Preamp

[agedhorse]

So would a d800 run a poweramp
+4 dB. If so how would you wore it, the DI

@agedhorse

Yes, +4dBu is no problem. I would recommend downloading the owner's manual from the website, there's a lot of useful information there.

 

[paytojt]

Yes, but mostly when driving the amp hard because the D-800 has several anti-saturation control circuits that allow for the amp to work well under these conditions.

Ok, thanks. As long as I'm close to the subway d800, since I probably won't push the amp hard enough through my 112 to notice.

 

[bucephylus]

I see in the thread in the "Effects" forum that folks who ordered from Mesa Hollywood have already received their unit. Guess I made a mistake ordering from Sweetwater.

 

[BassikLee]

Yeah, they haven't called me with a shipping notice either. They have until Monday

 

[bucephylus]

Just received my shipping notice. Yay!

 

[BassikLee]

Me too!! I'll have it in my greedy little hands on Monday. Can't wait

 

[bucephylus]

Wednesday for me. I'm in the Southwest; so, Mesa Hollywood probably made more sense. Oh well... no big deal.

 

[bucephylus]

My unit arrived this afternoon.

First, my interest is in using it as a standard, but small footprint, preamp. I am not a pedal board kind of player. I had previously described my little modular micro rig here:
The Unintended Micro

So, here is the updated rig:

I played this with a few basses; and I can definitely see why people like this preamp. VERY bass friendly and flexible controls. I was quickly able to dial in lots of slamming goodness with passive and active instruments. Bravo Andy and Mesa folks. The voicing does seem a bit bottom heavy, but nothing that can't be dialed to an optimum. I'd rather have too much and cut than not enough and struggle.

In all honesty, this preamp makes me start thinking about a D800+.

 

[fourtet102]

Here's my comprehensive, in-depth review : I LOVE IT!!!!

Running through my power amp sounds much better than any other preamp box. For the price you can't go wrong.

 

[agedhorse]

A quick note about appearing voiced a little bass heavy... in smaller rooms this is more a function of position and the acoustic interaction of the room boundaries which is why I do a fair amount of testing outdoors where I can eliminate these effects from the measurements. Why might this be important? Because these are designed to be professional type products that are more likely to be used in larger venue (and outdoors) applications where without factoring boundaries into the response the amps might appear to have a bass light voicing instead. This is why I have said in the past that the deep switch is a feature that works better in larger venues or outside venues where the lack of boundaries works as an advantage. (It also works well at lower volumes to effectively lower the F3 response of a smaller speaker, but at high volumes this approach requires some caution with many speakers)

Even though this platform is at home in large venues, a small reduction of the bass eq control will effectively decrease the apparent boundary effect, though position in a smaller room will always be fraught with such issues.

Hope this helps.

 

[buckangus]

Uh, this is a preamp / DI ... not an effects, correct? So why would it be relegated to the effects section of TB?

 

[bucephylus]

Uh, this is a preamp / DI ... not an effects, correct? So why would it be relegated to the effects section of TB?

IMO, we are better avoiding getting parochial about this kind of perspective, because it doesn't lead to interesting discussions.

That said, one of the user types that Mesa aimed this product at was the players who are primarily using pedal boards. The unit is designed to go on a pedal board, and Mesa describes it as a "pedal" on their web site. Even though it has no foot actuated switch. Also, the "Effects" forum has actually turned into a "Pedal Boards" forum. So, the misnomer is more in the TB labeling of the forum. Perhaps.

Anyhow, I am an advocate of smaller modular systems and plan to use the unit as more of a traditional preamp on top of the cab. But, I suspect that use will be in the minority compared to pedal board use. At the end of the day, it's a preamp, whether it is on a pedal board or on the cab. The audience doesn't care if the unit is on a pedal board or on the cab; so, I don't either.

Beyond that, my vote is that we just be nice to each other. FWIW YMMV.

 

[agedhorse]

Uh, this is a preamp / DI ... not an effects, correct? So why would it be relegated to the effects section of TB?

In fact, it has applications in both worlds. It's a Preamp and DI in one package, plus it can be used easily in pedal boards.

 

[bucephylus]

My main gig at the moment is primarily IEM; though I do use a 212 for reinforcement due to our FOH management capability. But, that's another thread somewhere else.

Anyhow, I used this unit last night for a sectional with two of the guitars and had a chance to hear how it interacts with the board. VERY interesting. Couple of things:

First, I used the preamp balanced feed to the board just to hear how that plays; and, in short, that seems a winner. I normally always send the direct feed to the board and let the sound person have the tone controls. But, the preamp feed on this unit is so controlled that I did not get the impression that it would be an issue. And, it gives a very nice range of tone control into FOH without taking over the board. Initial impressions are that this is an awesome feature. I like it.

Second, I did some belly aching in an earlier thread about the lack of a tuner out and mute button. However, I found that I can very easily take the through output into the tuner and just dial down the volume for tuning on stage. Don't know if that was the intent; but it works well enough for me. Nice job, Andy!

 

[agedhorse]

Yes, that is one purpose of the they out. The other is to feed an on stage bass amp for monitoring purposes.

 

[paytojt]

Yes, that is one purpose of the they out. The other is to feed an on stage bass amp for monitoring purposes.

Huh didn't know that. Gotta read the manual better I guess.

 

[bucephylus]

A quick note about appearing voiced a little bass heavy... in smaller rooms this is more a function of position and the acoustic interaction of the room boundaries which is why I do a fair amount of testing outdoors where I can eliminate these effects from the measurements. Why might this be important? Because these are designed to be professional type products that are more likely to be used in larger venue (and outdoors) applications where without factoring boundaries into the response the amps might appear to have a bass light voicing instead. This is why I have said in the past that the deep switch is a feature that works better in larger venues or outside venues where the lack of boundaries works as an advantage. (It also works well at lower volumes to effectively lower the F3 response of a smaller speaker, but at high volumes this approach requires some caution with many speakers)

Even though this platform is at home in large venues, a small reduction of the bass eq control will effectively decrease the apparent boundary effect, though position in a smaller room will always be fraught with such issues.

Hope this helps.

So, Andy, my main issue with your voicing has to do with my 5 string bass, which is an early Hollywood Tobias with the early TCT preamp. That bass is just VERY strongly voiced to begin with. In fact, I have only found three amps that play well with it. The voicing in the Mesa is outstanding with my passive Fenders and Sadowsky preamps. Killer. Since I play the Fenders and Sadowsky most frequently, the Mesa is very useful to me.

The Tobias is just a whole different animal and requires an ultra transparent amp to do its thing. Anything else is like putting habanero salsa on an overly spiced Szechuan platter. Just too much. Different requirements.

Anyhow, digging what your circuit does. Amazing little box.

 

[fourtet102]

I played gig last weekend with Mesa DI into Power amp into 4x10 using PJ. I was complimented after first set by band members for highly focused sound with perfect balance across all frequencies. My personal opinion was slightly different - I think I sounded the best EVER. Found my Holly Grail. The pedal found its place either on my desk doing recording duties, or on pedal board ready to rock. Best purchase in long time..... Makes me wanna play every day until my fingers start bleeding.

Also, other DI pedals required me to drive them extremely hard to hardly push my power amp whereas Mesa runs at 50% with amp getting enough juice to breathe with tons of headroom.

 

[bucephylus]

Ahem.

I took my beater Passive Fender J (SD SJB2 pups) to rehearsal last night; and I have to say that one aspect where this little box REALLY shines is what it does for the passive J bass. Definitely puts it on the same plane and then some with the active basses. How hip is that. Also, I am really digging the preamp send to the board. Never thought I would say that. Awesome!

 

[godblender]

Is there a LPF on this unit and if so what frequency is it centered at?