My tone at lower volumes

[PeaveyPlayer]

why is it that my tone is better at lower volumes ?

 

[backin82]

Interesting question. I've wondered the same thing. My uneducated guess is that it related to the head's ability to produce a quality signal, the cab's ability to replicate that signal, and room dynamics. Could also be that our ears can hear more nuance when not being blasted by a wall of sound.

Interested to see what others have to say...

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

Multiple reasons, but I think the most significant reason would be the way sound at higher volumes reflects off of any surrounding walls or surfaces.

 

[Kro]

why is it that my tone is better at lower volumes ?

Depends on why you feel it's better really, but my first thought is that it's likely that maybe you're doing your tone shaping exploration at lower volumes and expecting it to translate to when things are at-volume. Rigs respond differently at gig-volume for all sorts of reason. It is odd though, in my circle of bassists (who are by no means TBers), I'm much more likely to hear those challenged with the opposite problem.

 

[blubass]

I usually equate it to the bass frequencies being boosted at higher volume. They tend to drown out much of the midrange quality that really adds definition and clarity.

I had a Tech21 Landmark 300 head. Every possible combination at stage volume, I never found the tone I love from it. Running it at low volume, or through the sansamp DI, it was beautiful.

 

[Kro]

I just checked out your profile. It might be a long shot, but I noticed you're using the Marcus Miller SWR M2 PREAMP. What would you say your tonal goals are like? If trying to emulate MM's tone, depending on genre you're playing, it could be part of the reason.

Edit: blubass beat me to it, basically saying the same thing he is.

 

[omie]

My tone changing at gig volume after inserting a new piece of gear is the bane of my existence. It takes me forever to fine tune everything in the mix.

 

[rufus.K]

Room reflections and resonances

 

[SunnBass]

I find the exact opposite.
If I leave all my knobs where they're at, and lower the volume, I am quite displeased.

 

[rodl2005]

Yeah. I like mine at high volumes best.

 

[lancimouspitt]

For me I think I sound much better at lower volume when playing by myself,but when you factor in every one else playing,that loud sound is the way to go in a band context.

 

[chadds]

Is your touch different? Do you dig in when playing with others? That can change your tone drastically.
If you play lightly and crank your amp/pre you can have quiet tone at huge volume.

 

[interp]

Is your touch different? Do you dig in when playing with others? That can change your tone drastically.
If you play lightly and crank your amp/pre you can have quiet tone at huge volume.

Agree. This is also related to the headroom issue. A hugely powerful amp will tend to project tone out into the room better whether the volume is low or high, assuming your speakers are able to faithfully reproduce what goes into them.

I am firmly in the "you can't have too much power" camp, at least for live performance.

 

[Bassmec]

Fletcher–Munson curves - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPersonally I blame a couple of chaps called Fletcher and Munson.
They were responsible for working out the EQ changes necessary to get different sound levels to have the same frequency content.
Which of course they don't at all and that's why all those wonderful things you discovered in the privacy of your bedroom don't work at all at performance levelsX

 

[chris_b]

At low volume your amp and cab are probably benefiting from more headroom and you might be stroking the strings rather than digging in.

These all help to build a better tone.

 

[ofajen]

Your hearing is more accurate at higher volumes. As volume goes down, your sensation of the low end drops much more than the overall volume. You might try turning down the bass when you play louder and see if that translates your preferred tone better to higher volumes.

Otto

 

[bassbombs84]

You must change your eq when greatly changing the volume. Usually just roll off some bass and you are OK

 

[MegaSwing]

Multiple reasons, but I think the most significant reason would be the way sound at higher volumes reflects off of any surrounding walls or surfaces.

The space comes more into play at higher volumes.

Ever notice that nearly any setting sounds good outside in an open area?

 

[JR Roxx]

Speaker response is dependant on how much juice you feed them.

 

[TMARK]

As mentioned resonance and reflection, but note speakers take a certain amount of power to produce certain audible frequencies, which is design dependent. So you EQ for low volume and then when real power is applied, your speaker can bring up all the frequencies up to the audible range, and then your low volume EQ settings are wrecked.