Hey biggredd yes I believe it is the Sansamp. I have the hiss with the rig on but nothing plugged into either RBI. Going to try and adjust the RBI's to get rid of hiss and see if I can recapture my "sound" using the EQ.
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Preamp + power amp club?
- Thread starter boamedt
- Start date
Hey biggredd yes I believe it is the Sansamp. I have the hiss with the rig on but nothing plugged into either RBI. Going to try and adjust the RBI's to get rid of hiss and see if I can recapture my "sound" using the EQ.
Let me know what you find out. Just curious, thinking about buying the Sansamp VTRM. Thanks
- Dec 21, 2007
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I'm now playing around with a used Peavey PV 2600 power amp (it was real cheap, as am I) and VT Bass DI pedal as a preamp. Works really well, and will become...actually is my back up amp. For gigs, it'll make it to the car and no further unless the Ampeg PF 800 quits on stage.
Still need to find a rack for it sometime this week. It's a pain to carry by hand as it's got some weight to it, with sharp edges'n $h!t and no handles or feet.
Still need to find a rack for it sometime this week. It's a pain to carry by hand as it's got some weight to it, with sharp edges'n $h!t and no handles or feet.
i am looking at a nice tube DI for the end of my guitar/bass/e piano signal chain before hitting my PA and/or audient id14 mic input.
any current opinions on the Radial Firefly?
any current opinions on the Radial Firefly?
Hey Biggredd sorry for the delay in getting an update to this. I ended up going through everything on my rig and isolated the hiss to the Sansamps. I was able to dial it out at the expense of dramatically changing my sound which was not acceptable to me. The EQ approach was only slightly less dramatic but still not a workable solution for me. The hiss was inherent and unavoidable for the settings I was running for my "sound" which was a huge disappointment for me. I even tried a rack mount dbx compressor/noise gate as well as a Boss NS-2 pedal. Both great products but not able to tame the hiss.
Tech21 makes top of the line gear and I would never steer anyone away from them but I would offer the caveat of trying out their gear wherever possible before purchasing - what did not work for me may work just fine for someone else. I would recommend that you try it out at rehearsal or stage volume as my hiss was not really an issue at low volumes but when we started full rehearsals it was an immediate issue.
So after several months of trying to dial out the hiss, trying to compensate with various other pieces of gear, and researching the issue I pulled the Sansamp RBI's and am going a completely different route. Currently I am running an MXR M87 Bass Compressor pedal into an MXR M81 Preamp/DI into a small Yamaha MG10XU mixing board into the Crown XLS 1000. I know its a ridiculously cobbled-together amateur approach but its working for me so far.
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Got another pre to try, a Reiner rock pre. They all can't stay. Would still like to try a Kern and Monique...
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Were you experiencing the same hiss when running a 1/4" cable between a single RBI and the Crown, no peripherals? If you're using the settings pic'd in the previous post, that may explain things and is pretty much the nature of the beast. The Drive is ~50%, Presence is dimed @ 100% on one of the units, and Treble is ~70%. IME with the RBI, that will accentuate all sorts of extraneous noise. I'll assume you're hitting FOH with a like signal (high hiss)?
Riis
Hey Zooberwerx I had the hiss with direct from the Sansamp to the Crown both with XLR and 1/4" cable. I tried every imaginable combination of settings while trying to maintain my "sound" with no success.
Hmmm...the dilemma: attenuate the hiss while maintaining the "body" of your tone. I've owned just about everything and continue to use an ancient SansAmp rackmount original with success. A few suggestions which you may have already followed...including the aforementioned EQ quirks!:
*Make sure the "active" switch on the front side is engaged.
*Connect the "SansAmp" output via 1/4" T/S cable to the Crown's "Link / Out" input jack on Channel 1...do not improvise.
*Make sure the Crown is programmed to Y mode, bypass (filter). The amp will function in stereo / dual mono mode, do not add addt'l cables / signals.
*The Crowns are designed to accept line-level signal with little or no attenuation on the front end. Use the SansAmp's "Level" control for volume.
*Crank the rig to performance volume. Still hearing hiss? Back-off Drive, Presence, Treble one by one to determine which has the most profound influence.
Riis
My racks with preamps/power amps:
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TC Electronics Triple C
Synq 2k2 Power Amp
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TC Electronics Triple C
Synq 2k2 Power Amp
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I don't do the separates thing anymore, but for awhile, I was running three different preamps into an SWR Power 750 power amp. I had an SWR Interstellar Overdrive, a Trace Elliot V-Type Rackmount Preamp, and a JoeMeek VC1Qcs channel strip (which I could use either just as a compressor, or as a full preamp/comp/eq channel strip). The SWR Power 750 is, of course, a fantastic power amp, if you don't mind a 3U amp with a non-switching power supply and output topology.
I have also used the Crown XLS602 PA power amp, which is a another great power amp. Normally, that one got used for our PA, but I'm pretty sure I used it a couple of times for my bass.
I wouldn't rule out going back to a separates setup, but I'm very happy with my Mesa Walkabout integrated amp, and my next one is looking like it's going to be a Darkglass Microtubes 900, which is also an integrated amp.
Maybe if I had roadies. There are so many really great sounding rackmount preamps out there that I'd love to live with for awhile.
I have also used the Crown XLS602 PA power amp, which is a another great power amp. Normally, that one got used for our PA, but I'm pretty sure I used it a couple of times for my bass.
I wouldn't rule out going back to a separates setup, but I'm very happy with my Mesa Walkabout integrated amp, and my next one is looking like it's going to be a Darkglass Microtubes 900, which is also an integrated amp.
Maybe if I had roadies. There are so many really great sounding rackmount preamps out there that I'd love to live with for awhile.
One more:
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Two different sounds in one rack...
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Two different sounds in one rack...
This is the JoeMeek VC1Qcs channel strip (non "cs" version pictured, externally identical, the only difference is the "current sensing" preamp) I used to use as either a compressor or as a full-blown preamp. Sounds great for bass, and of course for vocals, as well.
Signal chain:
DS-5R Power supply ~ or Standard Bass input > A/B/Y box:
A/B/Y ~ Radial Pro DI thru to WT550 Input:
Send out to Eventide H3000 (2) channels IN via custom adapter to XLR (works fine):
Left Eventide H3000 XLR out ~ IN ~ SF-2 Superfilter ch. A ~ ch. A out ~ Compressor IN ~ Comp. out to Eden Return ~ drives a Composite Thunderchild TC212.
Right Eventide H3000 XLR out ~ IN SF-2 ch. B ~ ch. B out ~ to volume pedal (to control Low Frequency output volume ONLY... Volume pedal Output IN ~ Crown Drivecore 1502 pwr. amp ~ Drives Low frequencies output to a Bag End 115 enclosure.
Fully wired internally/permanently in rack. I have found having (volume) control for the "sub" I can better control the low end boominess in a fickle room while not losing punching lows, lo mids, high mids and highs as the TC212 cabinet is running at the full Eden (set) Master volume. Works Great, is loud when I want it to be and is the most portable modular big rig I have put together.
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