bongomania
Commercial User
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[sfx] user appreciation society
- Thread starter bassbrad
- Start date
Yeah, that would just be like..you know...many levels of ....oh, wait, integrate a thumpinator as well -- um, where was I?
Hi sfx-lovers: I'm looking for advice on one of two sfx headphone amp products
H1 -- [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Micro H -- [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Can anyone offer experience with these products? Is there any functional difference aside from size? How do they compare to other higher-end headphone amps, such as Walter Cafe? I'd mainly be using this with a Rob Allen Deep 4 acoustic bass guitar with a piezo pickup.
FWIW, I'm using Audio-Technica ATH-D40fs enhanced bass precision studiophones, which have an impedance of 66 ohms.
I've never used an sfx product and only know the company by reputation on TalkBass. Thank you.
H1 -- [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Micro H -- [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Can anyone offer experience with these products? Is there any functional difference aside from size? How do they compare to other higher-end headphone amps, such as Walter Cafe? I'd mainly be using this with a Rob Allen Deep 4 acoustic bass guitar with a piezo pickup.
FWIW, I'm using Audio-Technica ATH-D40fs enhanced bass precision studiophones, which have an impedance of 66 ohms.
I've never used an sfx product and only know the company by reputation on TalkBass. Thank you.
The H1 appears to offer a stereo input (2 lines). Perhaps that supports 2 instruments? That's not a big driver for me. I'm wondering about other functions. For example, will both cleanly support the Rob Allen's piezo pickup? Is the main intention of the micro-H for pedal boards? The website has few details, such as size, weight, user manuals, etc. I expect sales collateral for "high performance" gear to provide all relevant specifications; the manufacturer needs to beef up that section of the website.
Thanks - I suspect he might check in but I'm especially interested in user feedback from bass players. A google search failed to find an reviews of either headphone amp so they may not have a wide user base, such as with the Thumpinator product.
the Thumpinator sounds like it could be useful. the thing that concerns me is that I use an env. filter, micro synth, Whammy II, and play very bass heavy dub style subharmonic content. it's all on a 4 string, I live for that low end you don't hear, but feel. it would be nice to be able to have a footswitch on the Thumpinator so I could turn it off when you do want some "thump".
Silent Fly
Commercial User
Micro-H vs H1
Essentially the micro-H is a cut-down version of the H1.
The main difference is that the H1 has a stereo instrument input, the micro-H a mono input.
The H1 has also a more sophisticated input stage for the aux in but it is doesnt make any substantial difference sound-wise.
I run the tests with Sennheiser HD600 (300 ohm), Sennheiser PX100, Shure E4 and a few others and they all sound great. I can't see any reason why the ATH-D40fs shouldn't sound as good as the other headphones I tried.
Essentially the micro-H is a cut-down version of the H1.
The main difference is that the H1 has a stereo instrument input, the micro-H a mono input.
The H1 has also a more sophisticated input stage for the aux in but it is doesnt make any substantial difference sound-wise.
Unfortunately, I cannot help you with this.
I havent tried the H1 or micro-H with the devices you mentioned but I dont see any compatibility problem.
I run the tests with Sennheiser HD600 (300 ohm), Sennheiser PX100, Shure E4 and a few others and they all sound great. I can't see any reason why the ATH-D40fs shouldn't sound as good as the other headphones I tried.
You can check the user testimonials page on the web site. There should be a comment about the H1.
Silent Fly
Commercial User
I quickly checked Rob Allen's web site (beautiful basses BTW) and I can't find any spec of the on-board electronics of his basses. If is a little bit tricky comment about the compatibility with Rob Allen's basses without any detailed information about them.
Having said that, if the on board electronics is what I think it is, it should work without any problem. If want to be 100% sure I can contact Rob Allen and ask if you want - it is not a problem.
I hope the above helps. If you need more information, please feel free to contact me. The email is in my signature.
Silent Fly
Commercial User
If what you want to hear is the thump of the dead notes and the low frequency attack, they will pass through the micro-Thumpinator untouched.
I play some funk bass lines with my band and of dead notes are very much part of my style. I have the micro-Thumpinator on all the time and I don't feel the need of switching it off. Moreover, I play 5 string bass and even when I play the low-B everything sounds as it should.
So I am reading about the Thumpinator after doing 2 gigs this weekend where I took my smaller rig which was unfortunately a little underpowered for the gigs I walked into.
I run a compressor in my rack (dbx163x) in the fx loop of my Eden WT400+.
My rig was only just clipping - but it was indeed clipping on some notes.
So to quote from the Thumpinator page: "Subsonic frequencies cannot be reproduced by standard bass cabinets but they often make amplifiers clip especially when they are set to boost the lower frequencies."
So having a thumpinator in my signal path despite already having a compressor it could be the difference between clipping and not clipping if the wattage is marginal?
To think I was almost gas free....
I run a compressor in my rack (dbx163x) in the fx loop of my Eden WT400+.
My rig was only just clipping - but it was indeed clipping on some notes.
So to quote from the Thumpinator page: "Subsonic frequencies cannot be reproduced by standard bass cabinets but they often make amplifiers clip especially when they are set to boost the lower frequencies."
So having a thumpinator in my signal path despite already having a compressor it could be the difference between clipping and not clipping if the wattage is marginal?
To think I was almost gas free....
Thanks for all your responses! I'm checking with Rob and with the RA enthusiasts on TalkBass to learn more on this point. I'll report results on this thread.
Update: the answer from Rob Allen (which seemingly would apply to any acoustic bass/w piezo and an onboard preamp):
I'm eagerly awaiting news of that one too. There are alternatives coming up, but given the positive responses to Max's prototype (including Bongo's) I think the SFX one is going to be worth the wait.
Andy
