Mesa Titan Output Question

[theholeinthings]

Hey, just got a Mesa Titan and I haven't got to tinker with it very much, but I was having some trouble getting it to be very loud the other day at practice. Each channel has it's own master volume control but there is also a single OUTPUT knob that effects the overall level of both channels. The manual isn't very clear to me about what the OUTPUT does but it seemed to me like you would want to crank the OUTPUT knob all the way up to get any substantial volume out of the Titan. Would this be a bad idea? I know I need to let my ears be the judge but I just don't wanna run this amp in a way that could damage my speakers or fry the head. Also, I am coming from a Mesa M6 which has a single volume knob but at lower levels seems to have more output than then Titan. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[B-string]

With the output up full it will be just like how your old amp works. It is the final master volume for all channels.

 

[theholeinthings]

So running the OUTPUT up full is fine if I'm using the master as the actual level? Usually I don't have to crank the master on my M6 past 9 o clock. I'll try this on the Titan and see how it works. Just didn't want to do something foolish like maxing a control on a ridiculously powerful amp like the Tuan.

 

[B-string]

This might help? Example; Channel one set clean, channel two set with some overdrive "grind". Masters on the channels allow you to choose this by lowering the master on the overdriven channel to more closely match channel one's level. Output adjust how loud the output of both will be.

 

[theholeinthings]

I think that makes sense to me. Would it be a bad idea to crank the Master and use the Output has an overall level? I'm guessing this might create a dirtier tone...Whereas cranking the Output and using the Master for overall level would create a cleaner tone...not sure I'm right on that or not

 

[B-string]

It might be a lot harder to adjust the loudness that way, it would move the overdrive from the preamp stage to the power amp's first stage. With the output up full you'll need to not have the masters up high, use the input gain only and you'll get the cleanest.
No wrong way to do it really.

 

[theholeinthings]

Thanks for all the help!

 

[mikeswals]

I used to have one, that amp was loud-loud-loud! I didn't have to crank either volume knob to get ridiculously loud. I used to set my ch 1 gain for hot active basses at 10'clock, the ch 1 master at 12'clock. I used my ch 2 gain for passive basses at 12:30, the ch 2 master at 12'clock. I'd then simply bring up the master output knob to the required volume level which was really only at about 10-11'clock, and it would be so loud the drummer would complain.
As B string said, there is no wrong, but that head puts out a lot of juice!

 

[chaosMK]

Titan is a beast. The volume is pretty straightforward to operate. Basically turn the master clockwise and then set the channel-specific volumes so that the two channels are how u like 'em. I don't know what kind of cabs you are rockin (because this head is capable of blowing stuff) but I'd suggest incrementally adjusting the volumes like start at 9:00 on each and go from there. I doubt I ever had mine more than a quarter up!

It's a great amp, extremely flexible with a lot of cool tones.

 

[joebar]

I believe the titan is essentially two big blocks @4 ohms.

with the big block, the gains needed to be past noon to wake the amp up-the opposite of a carbine.

 

[theholeinthings]

Hmm. Well I'm using 2 Powerhouse 2x12 cabs which should be a near perfect matching. The other day at practice I had the Titan's Channel 1 Master and Gain each set at about 10 o clockish and Output set to 10-12 o clockish. This was not very loud in my opinion. Usually with my Mesa M6 with the Gain set to 12 o clock and the Master at 9 o clock it is quite a bit louder than the Titan was. (I'm also running all the tone controls on both amps set to noon). I honestly need to tweak with this amp some more because I haven't had much time with it (all my gear is at our practice space ), but like I said, I was kind of scared of cranking any of the knobs up because I know this thing is suppose to get stupid loud.

First thing I'm going to do is crank the Output knob and bring the individuals channel Masters to a level that sounds right. To be honest I didn't even know this amp would have a single Output knob for both channels. I thought each channel had their own Masters and Gain (which they do) and those set the individual levels. It wasn't until I turned the Titan on and it wasn't making any sound that I realized the Output was turned all the way down. (I thought the Output knob had something to do with the Solo knob since it is located right under it on the amp, and every other knob on this amp is just a duplicate for the 2nd Channel). Basically I'm just trying to get this Titan to be as loud as my M6 and deliver a tube tone, so I don't think this will be a problem once I know the ins and outs of the Titan. As long as I'm using my ears and watching my speakers, do I need to worry about damaging the amp by running the Output on max? I'm hoping once I crank that Output knob that I won't have to turn up the individual channel Master controls past 9 o clockish (cause it should be plenty loud at that point). Thanks again for all the helpful info!