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Mesa Subway Bass DI-Preamp

#121
boamedt said:
That circu

That tube emulation circuit is only active when your pushing the power amp part of the d800, correct? Like when the power amp limit/clip/whatever thats called light comes on right. I didn't think it was active at normal volumes
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Correct.
 
#122
So the tube emulation circuitry doesn't have a role in the preamp OD tone? I notice there's an OD indicator light on the head but not the pedal? BTW the more I learn how to massage the front end OD to my liking......the more I am liking the head as a whole!
 
#125
lomo said:
So the tube emulation circuitry doesn't have a role in the preamp OD tone? I notice there's an OD indicator light on the head but not the pedal? BTW the more I learn how to massage the front end OD to my liking......the more I am liking the head as a whole!
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There are 2 different tube emulation circuits, each having a different and specific effect on the tone/feel. There is an input O/D tube emulation circuit that more closely emulates the tube preamp type circuits and that is included in the pre-DI. There is also an output tube emulation circuit that operates in conjunction with the power amp and depends on specific parameters of the power amp in order to develop the proper feel. Since this circuit is tightly integrated with the specific class D power amp, it can't be included with the Pre-DI.

There is no O/D indicator on the Pre-DI because it's more of an effects/pedal board type product and since there is only one O/D emulation circuit, turn up the gain until you get the tone/feel that you want. There's not as much going on without the output emulation circuit.
 
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#126
NickFromNY said:
@agedhorse. This may be a silly question, but why is the DI not run by phantom power? I love the unit, by the way
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Good question. When faced with designing a product like this, one of the things that I hear over and over again is how players are tired of noisy DI's and noisy circuitry. One of the primary design goals was a really quiet DI that sounds good, is forgiving of driving long lines (ie. 250 foot snakes with another 100' of cable hanging off of it) and has bullet-proof reliability. In order to do this, the circuitry is pretty robust and the amount (and quality) of electronics present draws more current than phantom power can provide. I did have an identical version that COULD run with phantom power using low power electronics, but the noise floor was significantly higher and the line drivers just couldn't drive long lines reliably. Also, when used as a preamp only, not connecting to the PA, there wouldn't be phantom power available from the input of a power amp which complicates the internal circuitry.

These are the kinds of tradeoffs get made whenever developing new product. We discussed this very challenge and the performance differences were so dramatic that the phantom powered based circuitry was "voted off the island" very early on by everyone involved in the project.
 
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#128
IMG_1124.JPG


My new practice set up, which also works amazing as a wired in-ear set up at gigs...
 
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#131
boamedt said:
@agedhorse
any reason not to use the balanced xlr preamp out instead of the unbalanced 1/4" pre amp out to plug into my crest 3.0? The balanced line will run the crest with greater ease, yes?
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Yes, that is exactly what it's intended for. Always use a balanced connection wherever possible. The manual covers this in some detail.
 
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#132
agedhorse said:
Yes, that is exactly what it's intended for. Always use a balanced connection wherever possible. The manual covers this in some detail.
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Great box @agedhorse !! SR5-->Subway-->K12/house is all I think I'll ever need now and the line-out XLR for powered speaker use is a huge plus. Question; Can all 3 outs be used simultaneously? I noticed a warning for the new Clearlink send to only use one or the other 1/4 or XLR, and have tried 2/3 outs (both XLRs) of the Subway with great results so far... just double checking I didn't miss something before I try this in the new year. Cheers!
 
#133
StingRayNC8 said:
Great box @agedhorse !! SR5-->Subway-->K12/house is all I think I'll ever need now and the line-out XLR for powered speaker use is a huge plus. Question; Can all 3 outs be used simultaneously? I noticed a warning for the new Clearlink send to only use one or the other 1/4 or XLR, and have tried 2/3 outs (both XLRs) of the Subway with great results so far... just double checking I didn't miss something before I try this in the new year. Cheers!
Click to expand...
Good question. Yes, all 3 outputs can be used at the same time... you paid for 3 outputs so you get 3 outputs ;)
 
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#140
boamedt said:
O yea! My second fearful 12/6 flat pack is being shipped today
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Nice! I ran a 12/6-12/sub for a few years. It kicked like a mule.:bassist: You'll dig it. I really looking forward to the Mesa DI. I have a modified BDDI, Vulcan, modified Tech 21 Oxford, and BFR. I really like being able to switch out pedals for different flavors, or combining them just to experiment. I'm hoping the Mesa has the bottom end that my SVP-Pro had.......My BDDI could get close but just wasn't as fat........
 

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