TC Electronic RH450, RS210, RS212 Review Thread

[poptart]

Yup, that would be too much in my opinion!!

Haha, looks like I'll just stay content with acquiring the RH450!

In plain old Brushed Aluminium.

Yeah - standard finish is very good, but the RED is very COOL!

M

 

[MG Bass]

Hey Poptart,

Have you had a chance to try the RH450 with the Bergantino AE410s and AE112s.

Can you share some observations and thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[Eublet]

I'm gone for a day, and look at all this activity! Glad to hear it as I think this amp deserves a lot more buzz than it has gotten lately.

The Rocco model is interesting, and a good move on TC's part to me. Very little overhead to make more money. Folks will buy it, and that's just smart business. I think more programmable stuff is surely down the road for them. It is TC afterall.

I like the little 112 cab. I'll probably pick one up just for the fun of it. It would just look cool at a jazz gig with the RH450 sitting on top of it. Sold.

 

[poptart]

Hey Poptart,

Have you had a chance to try the RH450 with the Bergantino AE410s and AE112s.

Can you share some observations and thoughts.

Thanks.

MG

We just teamed up a classic 450 with a pair of AE112s and copped a pretty convincing SVT tone by turning up the low and low mid about 3 or 4 clicks and turning own the top about 3 clicks, added some tubetone about 6 clicks and added some spctracomp to tighted in up - nice

I have yet to try this with the AE410 but the mids seem to come through well with TC heads.

Mark

 

[markorbit]

So we're thinking that this is just a normal 450 with the conventional parameters tweaked for a new default voicing? That doesn't make much sense to me. What happens when you overwrite presets - does it become a normal 450 after that? The blurb from the TC website seems to imply there was more going on than this. Wasn't it being developed over a 5 month period or something? I will need to find out for sure as I think I prefer the look of the original model. Wouldn't surprise me if they've tweaked the spectracomp or tubetone circuits along with eq curves or whatever. I really can't see the point otherwise. It is not being marketed as a limited edition so something is pushing the price up.

 

[R Baer]

I thought Rocco was working with Eden on a rig? See what happens when you don't keep up!

 

[TimothyGroovy]

Luckily, I love stuff in black....

 

[Eublet]

What happens when you overwrite presets - does it become a normal 450 after that?

No, because going back to flat would be different than flat on a regular model. Likewise, boosting or cutting from that flat setting is still different from the regular model. I'm with you, unless there's something pretty different in how the Spectracomp and/or Tubetone works, there's no reason to have Rocco's model. But since everything that the amp does to shape the tone occurs in digital processing, there's no telling what could be happening. There could be a lot more "modeling" going on in there than you might think.

Whatever it is, I'm totally cool with it. Glad to see Rocco getting on board with this. I think it does tend to showcase that kind of heft this little amp is capable of. It is a very capable performer.

 

[poptart]

It would appear that TC have heavily tweeked the Spectracomp ( I assume they have changed the parameters on the board as you cannot alter the slope, sensitivity etc) and tubetone settings (again I assume the attack, tone ect) and have altered the way the eq reacts (presumably by altering the Q factor). All in all it seems to be quite different to the regular RH450. This is all programmed in so there is no way of erasing it.

When you start to create your own sounds you start with the Rocco sound and work with that - I boosted up some mids, cut some lows and highs and started to get a more flat eq, the same with the comp/tube. You can get close to the Rocco sound with the regular RH450 but definitely not the same.

You need to hear the Staccato amp to decide if it for you, I really like what it does but it is personally not for me, however I can see this working for lots of players.

Yeah the Red is very cool, however you need to dig the tone first and foremost IMO.

Mark

 

[MIJ-VI]

I hope that tc's next Signature amp will bear the name and sound preferences of a player who is happy with the RH450's stock dry tones, but likes to use stereo effects.

A '450 which can take user-installable DSP cards would be nice.

--------

EDIT: On second thought expansion cards may be too expensive to implement.

Instead - assuming that Bass Amp 2.0's signal path resides primarily in the digital domain - how about effects in software form which could be downloaded by customers and authorised dealers, transfered to USB keys, then loaded via a USB port into a new effects-capable version of the RH450's EPROM, with the results being controlled by an expansion of the amp's pre-sets function augmented with a new, optional foot-switch which has additional switches & indicators plus a volume/expression pedal?

Separate mono dry and stereo wet outputs with DI and other connectors appropriate for pro studio and live use could be housed in an optional splitter box fed by the RH450's AES/EBU out. The '450's current DI out would send a user blend-able dry + mono wet signal.

Having the amp's RCA inputs do double duty as an analogue stereo wet-only effect out would be nice for home recording enthusiasts on a budget. The headphone out would yield a dry + stereo wet blend.

My technical experience is very limited and dated so I don't know how much of this blather is practical. (The RH450 manual's APPENDIX – SIGNAL FLOW indicates that the '450's pre-amp would have to be re-designed to accommodate the inclusion of a built-in effects capability.)

However, an RH450 with a user load-able, say.., bass-shy, bright, stereo plate reverb (for a metallic sheen without muddying up the bottom), a delay, a stereo chorus, a stereo flanger, a tremolo effect, and an octaver (to simulate the sound of a rhythm guitar doubling a bass part during a lead player's screeching solo in a three piece rock band) might be attractive to some effects-using bassists who would appreciate the patch cord, wall wart, and stage clutter-free portable convenience of having a micro amp loaded with their choice of tc electronic's studio-quality effects.

Given that tc has the Classic450 for plug 'n' play players, and the RH450 for those who prefer to finesse their tone, an effects-laden '450 would seem to be next in line--in Shoreline Gold of course...

Thoughts..?

--------

BTW. Does anyone here know what the RH450 puts out @ 8 Ω?

I can't find this info on tc's web site or in the '450's manual.

The 8 Ω RS112 looks interesting (although there doesn't seem to be any provision for tilting it back).

Thank you.

 

[poptart]

Hey Poptart,

Have you had a chance to try the RH450 with the Bergantino AE410s and AE112s.

Can you share some observations and thoughts.

Thanks.

MG

I have spent 30 minutes with the Staccato and an AE410.....WOW! The Staccato has some serious low end that through 12s was almost overpowering but through 10s really worked! At 1/2 way up on the master volume it was getting scary loud, the AE410 was pushing out unbelievable low end but the drivers were hardly moving. On nice tight
Rocco style bass lines it was incredible, just as the guy in the youtube says, masses of low end but no nasty rumble, very clean high end and just enough mid punch to keep the balance.

The AE410 is a 4Ω cab so it gets virtually all the power form the head and at full volume on the master it was still nice and funky and loud enough for any (normal)* stage application - no need for any subs as the lows are earth shaking and I reckon even on a large stage this would keep most of us very happy. I would happily use this rig more so than with the 12s but it would depend on your bass, and seems perfect with a 4 banger as it gets almost subsonic with a 5.

The RH450 works just as well and dumps its full load cleanly into the AE410 and has a warm, dare I say it, tubey tone and seems to move away from the more clinical class D tones from elsewhere.

I am still a huge fan of the LMIII which will do most of this and shifts just as much air, but the TC amps have a different vibe when cranked that you cannot tell in a shop or in a low output situation.

Mark

* For a stadium gig I would run a pair of these ;-)

 

[Agent00Soul]

But since everything that the amp does to shape the tone occurs in digital processing, there's no telling what could be happening. There could be a lot more "modeling" going on in there than you might think.

Eublet -

Is the RH450 then considered to be an amp like the Line 6? I didn't realize that so much of the tone shaping was done in the digital realm.

 

[Eublet]

Eublet -

Is the RH450 then considered to be an amp like the Line 6? I didn't realize that so much of the tone shaping was done in the digital realm.

I don't think so personally. It's not really trying to "model" a bunch of different amp sounds. But the EQ is being applied digitally, as is the spectracomp and Tubetone. That doesn't really mean it's a modeling amp in the way we use the term. Afterall, most any recording today is done using digital software, and EQ, compression, warmth, etc is often added later in digital format. Mastering is done in digital format. We don't consider those things "modeling." No difference here IMO.

I don't want to slam the Line 6 stuff. I think some of the models sound pretty good. But rather than try and do a bunch of things, the RH450 does one thing really well. Totally different approach I think.

 

[Agent00Soul]

Thanks! I had no ideal it had digital tone processing at all, although it totally makes sense now that I think about it. I have no problem with that sort of thing anyway -- I'm an effectsaholic so it would be pretty hypocritical.

 

[KJung]

MG


The RH450 works just as well and dumps its full load cleanly into the AE410 and has a warm, dare I say it, tubey tone and seems to move away from the more clinical class D tones from elsewhere.

I am still a huge fan of the LMIII which will do most of this and shifts just as much air, but the TC amps have a different vibe when cranked that you cannot tell in a shop or in a low output situation.

+1 So far, I'm a BIG fan of the RH450 and AE410. I will have that rig on a 'loud gig' with no front of house next Saturday, and look forward to hearing what it will do in the 'real world'. In the basement, it is stunning if you dig it fat, warm, but still very punchy and articulate... kind of like a Thunderfunk550 on sterioids!

 

[seamonkey]

One nice thing out of these amps is to have TC Electronics in the bass gear business.
It looks to be the right timing also. They could have just a easy ignored the whole bass market and still been successful with their other products.

Maybe a few other technology leaders will see opportunity in the bass gear market now.
We're not all looking for re-issued old gear.

 

[Eublet]

I am still a huge fan of the LMIII which will do most of this and shifts just as much air, but the TC amps have a different vibe when cranked that you cannot tell in a shop or in a low output situation.

I tried to make each amp sound like the other. IMHO, the RH450 does a better job of sounding like the LMII than the other way around. The LMII is stays punchy, and there is no way to remove it. The RH450 isn't quite as punchy as the LMII, but it gets close. So the RH450, to me, has much more variance in how it feels and reacts to a player's technique. You can't soften up the LMII to make it give the vintage feel that the RH450 can cop.

Tonally speaking I think the LMII can get close to the RH450, but the VLE to me is just a passive tone control. It does help tame some of the high end of the LMII and get it sounding a bit darker, but it's not the same kind of "dark" as the RH450 which sounds a bit more open and grindy. On the flip side, adding high end sizzle on the RH450 isn't quite the same as the LMII, but it does get most of the way there. I think it's a toss up as to which can sound the most like the other given these two trade-offs.

I like both amps as well, very much so. At the price point, the LMII/III has got to be the best bang for the buck on the market for JUST a head. If you want flexibility, tube control, a compressor, and a tuner, then I don't know that any single unit can compete with the RH450, So it gives the best bang for someone who needs/wants those features.

 

[Soundq22]

I used my RH450 and RS 2x10 ( the other 2X10 is in a brown truck somewhere between california and New Jersey) and it rocked. I have used a SWR rig for the past year and I am just blown away with this amp and speakers. My girlfriend who has no musical knowledge at all commented, Why do you sound so much clearer tonight? Made it worth the money I spent.

 

[Smallequestrian]

FYI, It looks like the RS112 is going to sell for $400 and they won't ship until December.

I think I am going to order at least one, to keep in the house and if I like the tone, I'll get another one.

 

[clarksouter]

I am selling my RC4 footswitch for the RH450 new in box for $100.
Cheers


Clark