Rear Ported Cabinets - Good? Bad?

[bobalu]

I'm looking for a new 410 cabinet, but my budget is keeping me down to the Hartke VX and others of this price range. I notice they all seem to be rear ported. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to rear porting? (soundwise and volume, I mean). The more expensive "better" cabinets tend to be front ported (GK, Mesa etc.).

 

[fdeck]

There is no serious disadvantage to rear porting. You need to keep the cab more than a couple inches away from a wall. If you can see the backs of the woofers through the rear port, there will be midrange leakage out the port.

 

[Crockettnj]

I notice they all seem to be rear ported. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to rear porting? (soundwise and volume, I mean).

port position is for all intents and purposes irrelevant in bass cabs unless you are looking at something super duper odd, which you arent.

So, no, its position is irrelevant.

I'm looking for a new 410 cabinet, but my budget is keeping me down to the Hartke VX and others of this price range.

go used. There are LOTs of deals out there now. Keep your eyes peeled. IMO only buy new if you can only find EXACTLY what you want new.

Chant with me now...
USED USED USED USED USED

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to rear porting?

No. Sound radiating from a port is omni-directional.
Let the games begin...

 

[KsPiNeSh]

There is no serious disadvantage to rear porting. You need to keep the cab more than a couple inches away from a wall.

IMO, this is where some of the "front porting is better" arguments come from- I'm pretty sure nobody puts the front of their cabs directly against the wall. I personally prefer front-ported cabs, but that's mainly a looks preference.

 

[bobalu]

Thanks for the response guy's. I think I have a good idea now. I don't mean to start a sound engineering design debate here, just lookin' for some basic feedback!

 

[riffraff]

Indoors = super, outdoors with no back wall for reflection = caca. There are lots of people here who know much more than I about ports, low frequencies, the physics of sound, and such. So I give them their due. My limited understanding is that ports push/enable/boost low frequencies without the need for massive cab size. Hence the small subs for home theatre rigs and the woofy bass you get. If you have a back wall for the bass cab's port to bounce soundwaves off of, no problem. But if you are outdoors with nothing but air behind, you will hear something much thinner. That's been my experience. Used to have a wonderful rear ported Peavey 4x10 cab. Indoors it was sweet, and all drummers worshipped it. Plenty of lows bouncing around the stage. But play it on an open air stage outdoors and what the hey? That port was sending it to the parking lot, not the audience. Why do you think so few cabs are rear ported nowadays? That's just my experience. Assuming you play a rear ported cab indoors most of the time, no problem.

 

[emblymouse]

It gives the drummer an earful. Depending on the drummer, that can be good or bad.

 

[Kindness]

Indoors = super, outdoors with no back wall for reflection = caca. There are lots of people here who know much more than I about ports, low frequencies, the physics of sound, and such. So I give them their due. My limited understanding is that ports push/enable/boost low frequencies without the need for massive cab size. Hence the small subs for home theatre rigs and the woofy bass you get. If you have a back wall for the bass cab's port to bounce soundwaves off of, no problem. But if you are outdoors with nothing but air behind, you will hear something much thinner. That's been my experience. Used to have a wonderful rear ported Peavey 4x10 cab. Indoors it was sweet, and all drummers worshipped it. Plenty of lows bouncing around the stage. But play it on an open air stage outdoors and what the hey? That port was sending it to the parking lot, not the audience. Why do you think so few cabs are rear ported nowadays? That's just my experience. Assuming you play a rear ported cab indoors most of the time, no problem.

The same exact thing happens with front ported cabs and sealed cabs. Remember, the port direction has nothing to do with the sound direction. The radiation at port frequencies is omnidirectional.

 

[Crockettnj]

If we are talking preferences now, I prefer that the ports be integral with the cabinet as opposed to using a plastic or cardboard port tube. I think it adds to the structural integrity of the cab, and speaks to the care and forthought that the designer put into the product while on the drawing board.

Certainly this isnt true in all cases, but it gives me an impressive and that adds to the overall fuzzy feeling about stuff.

Anyway, this post is based in sound theory (pun!) to the same extent that 50% of the "this port is better than that port" posts.

 

[GabeN]

I've got a back ported 1x15 and it seems like it's a bit more mid-high oriented in the front and low-mid and bass oriented in the back. I'd think that having ports in the front would make it a little bassier and probably a little more balanced.

Sound from a reflex port is NOT omni-directional. I can tell you this from experience. You can tell a definite difference walking around a rear ported cabinet in the sound.

 

[Kindness]

I've got a back ported 1x15 and it seems like it's a bit more mid-high oriented in the front and low-mid and bass oriented in the back. I'd think that having ports in the front would make it a little bassier and probably a little more balanced.

The higher frequencies coming from the front of your cabinet are directional. Thus, when you walk to the back of the cabinet, it sounds more low mid and bass oriented. This would happen whether or not you had ports in the back of the cabinet.

 

[GabeN]

Exactly. The point isn't that the speaker sound isn't directional, it's that the port sound IS NOT omni directional.

 

[swpyne]

I like rear ported cabs particularly for smaller indoor shows. The reflected sound from the back of the cab can be more easily heard on stage. I own two of the now discontinued Eden 410T cabs.

Outdoors I use a combination of both and it works quite well (an Eden 410T and an Eden 210XLT). The front ported 210XLT really throws the lows out in front of the stage while the 410T gives me plenty of sound onstage for my drummer to hear.

They are both 8 ohm cabs so I get a nice 4 ohm load that works great with my Eden Navigator/QSC PLX 2402 head.

 

[Kindness]

the port sound IS NOT omni directional.

In order for that to be the case, the port frequency must be higher than that used in a traditional bass cabinet, the size of the cabinet must be enormous or there must be midrange frequencies escaping through the port.

 

[murphy]

Front port.....all the way

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Exactly. The point isn't that the speaker sound isn't directional, it's that the port sound IS NOT omni directional.

Port radiation becomes directional when either the port or the panel it's mounted in is at least one wavelength across. At the frequencies radiated by a port that's at least twelve feet.

 

[mrkreuzschlitz]

Well, you could aways go to Guitar Center and ask to play the cab in the parking lot...

 

[Curtybob]

Bill F's knowledge of sound aside, if the cheaper Hartke's are in your budget, then take a peek at the Peavey TVX's. They are a lot heavier, but they do sound a little better than the low end Hartke line, IMO. Win-win if you ask me. Front ported for looks and they sound better. If you're set on the Hartke's, look for some used XL cabs. Lots better than the VX's, but just a touch brighter.

I had an old Peavey 410TX cab that sounded thin away from the wall, but the closer you got, the deeper it sounded. Best placement for that one was in the corner, about 2 feet away from each wall. I don't have the knowledge to even attempt that explanation, all I can tell you is how it sounded... which was suprisingly good for how cheap I picked that cab up.

 

[James Hart]

I've used rear ported cab on and off for the last 17 years.... indoor and out and I've NEVER had an issue with fulling a room and or field.