Last year I moved my band towards an ampless stage, and to run everything directly into the XR-18 PA with QSC K12.2 (or K10.2) and a RCF SUB 705-AS MK3 subwoofer.
My stage rig for the last 11 or 12 years had always been Shure GLXD wireless into a MXR Compressor, then into my Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 and (x2) Mark Bass NYC121 cabs.
Since going ampless, my previous pre-amp was a MXR M-81 Bass Preamp. It was good, and I was able to get a decent tone, but it just lacked a little "amp like" sound.
So two weeks ago, I decided give the Magellan PRE/DI a whirl, and it arrived just 3 days before last Friday night's show. My only set up time was getting the box set up on my mini board, and plugging in my IEM into the headphone jack to dial in a reasonable tone. Then it was time to pack up and load in. (the Contour curve restored the 'amp' tone)
The first set went ok, because the overall lows were meh. During the break, I bumped up the RCF volume, and
!Everything started to sound GREAT.... except. With the low end kicked up and bumping like it should, my bass developed a resonate drone at low G that was aweful. I tried dialing it out with my MM Stingray tone knobs, but it stuck and resonated, and I had to play the octave on my second string to finish the song.
Then I remembered the High Pass filter on the Magellan, so between songs, I reached down, and turned the knob from 30 hz up to about 50-60 hz, and presto!!! No more resonate drone, and it didn't sacrifice my tone or thump!! Freckin magic! Just a twist of one knob!
So, if your band is looking to go ampless, I highly recommend the Magellan PRE/DI.
PCR
Last edited:
