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TC Electronics RebelHead 450 - Rebel with a Cause

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#81
I don't know if you guys saw this, but you can sign up to be a "Test Pilot" and try it out at home, in the studio, and at shows, for 3 months, completely on their dime (including shipping both ways) in exchange for a thorough review.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

YouTube video of product manager discussing the program:

 
#82
Jumbotron said:
Did I see wrong, or is there only one speaker out? Does that mean you have to daisy-chain cabs if you want more than one? That's kind of a drag.

Also, are SPDIF outs usually XLR? That seems like a weird one to me.

Otherwise, it looks cool. I bet it sounds dang good.
Click to expand...

If you buy the head and atleast one of their speakers, it won't be an issue. At least that's the rationale I came up with. The majority of cabs I own are able to daisy chain.
 
#83
Aram said:
I already have two 4ohm cabinets that I use separately. I'd like to be able to use both in the (admittedly rare) occasion that I'd need them. If AI, EA and now apparently Carvin can pull off a 2 ohm impedance in an integrated bass head, not sure why other companies have such an issue (except to say that they're using the same ICE unit which isn't designed that way).

By the way, on what evidence are you basing the comment that "most amps get pretty ragged sounding" at 2 ohms?
Click to expand...

my old Eden even sounded quite different at 4 ohms, and it was definitely 'happier' and sweeter at 8 ohms; 8 ohms is the 'standard' for a reason (I just KNOW I'll get flamed for that, but it IS). 2 ohms will produce a LOT of heat in an amp - not sure if it's the same in the switching power supply amps, but it probably is.

You might not hear the difference.

Cheers,
Cameron
 
#84
fokof said:
Yeah you're right , the Carvin being the Bugati :smug:


I always find that funny ; people make assumption on equipement without hearing. I haven't heard the two , have you ?
Then , how can you compare the products ?

I'm not in the "name droping" category. I use stuff that sounds good. I don't care what's the name tag on it. Finished ranting......:scowl:
Click to expand...

I know generally where Carvin markets they're products (very very cheap, but great value) and where tc electronic does (moderate to stratospheric price wise).

Cheers,
Cameron
 
#85
They will likely have very wide distribution - I bet the prices will drop.
TC Electronics has for a long time made high end recording audio gear - they have the experience to pull off a head like this.
The multiband compressor looks ideal.
It may not be that expensive if you actually use all the features.
 
#86
I like what I'm seeing. Looks like a very well thought out head. The light ring indicator lights seem like a perfect way to deal with a dark stage, it'll be interesting to see if they wash out on a bright one. The tuner is what a tuner should be... simple. The amount of control given in such a small form factor is very slick IMO. The Spectracomp compressor seems like for once an amp would have an actual usable one built in. I really don't see anything I don't like so far.

From my experience with my Bag End and Nahas cabs I don't foresee rear porting to be an issue.
 
#88
Brad Johnson said:
I like what I'm seeing. Looks like a very well thought out head. The light ring indicator lights seem like a perfect way to deal with a dark stage, it'll be interesting to see if they wash out on a bright one. The tuner is what a tuner should be... simple. The amount of control given in such a small form factor is very slick IMO. The Spectracomp compressor seems like for once an amp would have an actual usable one built in. I really don't see anything I don't like so far.
Click to expand...

Well said, Brad. My experience with two-band compression is that it is far more transparent than single-band. Three-band compression should be more transparent still... and knowing TC quality, I'm sure it is.



Brad Johnson said:
From my experience with my Bag End and Nahas cabs I don't foresee rear porting to be an issue.
Click to expand...

To continue some comments made early in the thread: I believe it has been established here (by Bill Fitzmaurice and many others) that bass frequencies are omnidirectional, therefore rear-porting is only a problem if the bass cab is pushed flat up against a wall so that the port is blocked... this assumes that the port(s) are properly placed, and again, I'm confident that TC will get that detail right.
 
#89
Fuzzbass said:
To continue some comments made early in the thread: I believe it has been established here (by Bill Fitzmaurice and many others) that bass frequencies are omnidirectional, therefore rear-porting is only a problem if the bass cab is pushed flat up against a wall so that the port is blocked... this assumes that the port(s) are properly placed, and again, I'm confident that TC will get that detail right.
Click to expand...

Rear porting can be an issue if the cabinet is not lined with damping internally, so frequencies greater than 100hz exit the port and contribute to perceived differences in front or rear port designs. Some designs, e.g. the Goliath II had the port lined directly behind the drivers, which effectively has the whole back of the driver blowing low mid freqs. out the back port, viz. frequencies > 100hz are directly coming out. If a port is out of the alignment with the driver mounting positions, there is less chance of this happening.

It is true though that if you back up a rear ported cab against a wall you could block it.
 
#90
So the key is a well designed rear ported cab. No surprise there. I'm betting TC E spent some design time on theirs.
:D

I mainly gig with rear ported cabs, indoors and out, big and small venues, quiet and loud, with no ill effects.
 
#91
I checked out the sound samples and it sounds like the tube simulator goes into overdrive. Not really my thing, but some may go for this, .... though I imagine those who do may want the look of a heftier set up on stage. You could probably use this as a guitar amp since the EQ can be shifted and it overdrives with tube power amp simulation.
 
#92
lindseyp said:
That's the same thing I was thinking. Since I still have my BBT500H, the TC will be relegated to the nice-to-have list.
Click to expand...

I thought that it looked more yamaha'ish than markbass, shuttle or GK micro. I auditioned the Yamaha rig with 4X10s and went away thinking it did not get as loud as I thought it could have for 500W. I have the same suspicion looking at the TC rebelhead. Hope I'm wrong.
 
#94
Fuzzbass said:
Well said, Brad. My experience with two-band compression is that it is far more transparent than single-band. Three-band compression should be more transparent still... and knowing TC quality, I'm sure it is.





To continue some comments made early in the thread: I believe it has been established here (by Bill Fitzmaurice and many others) that bass frequencies are omnidirectional, therefore rear-porting is only a problem if the bass cab is pushed flat up against a wall so that the port is blocked... this assumes that the port(s) are properly placed, and again, I'm confident that TC will get that detail right.
Click to expand...

This is true if the port is designed correctly, per the post a few posts above this. If you have a design like the little Bag End 115 cab, with a big hole cut right behind the driver, bad things can happen, since so much 'directional' sound comes out of that hole (almost like an open back guitar cab).

However, +1, in a well designed cab, the port placement makes no difference.

I too always thought rear ports were a problem, but my only experience with them was that poorly designed Bag End S15D or whatever it's called. It's a great little cab, but it sounds almost the same standing behind it as standing in front of it:D

I have a feeling this line of cabs will not have a problem. These guys seem like pro's in speaker design.
 
#95
Per my comments on the NAMM thread, the head looks cool, but I just never got using a compressor live. And, since I personally look for my amp to be just a relatively transparent platform for amplifying my bass tone, I can't remember the last time I touched a knob once the first tune started on a gig.

I guess all these programs, and compressors and bells and whistles are cool for some. I'd rather have an additional 100 watts or so than all the fancy lights and internal tuners, etc.

Just IMO.... really just IMO here. I'm sure some people will really dig all this stuff. That's what makes the bass gear world go round:)
 
#96
I'm really interested in this amp.
The features are incredible for such a small package and the sound was very good on the videos.

Let's see what pricing finally comes to.
Given the quality of other TC products, I have no doubt that the amp will live up to its name and be another addition to the TC Electronic line.
 
#97
KJung said:
Per my comments on the NAMM thread, the head looks cool, but I just never got using a compressor live. And, since I personally look for my amp to be just a relatively transparent platform for amplifying my bass tone, I can't remember the last time I touched a knob once the first tune started on a gig.

I guess all these programs, and compressors and bells and whistles are cool for some. I'd rather have an additional 100 watts or so than all the fancy lights and internal tuners, etc.

Just IMO.... really just IMO here. I'm sure some people will really dig all this stuff. That's what makes the bass gear world go round:)
Click to expand...


Understood... I'm pretty much the same way. I don't tweak on gigs and I don't use compression. But if I had an amp that sounded great set flat, with a compressor that sounded musical and could store a couple of usable tweaks that worked well with some of my basses... see where I'm going here?
;)

I wouldn't complain about it. That would be gravy. Plugging in my tuner isn't currently a hardship but if I didn't have to... cool. One less thing to do. And one less battery to buy every four or five years:smug:

I like the lights, while I'm not under any hardship with my current gear it admittedly could make things easier on a darker stage.

My point is, put features on something that doesn't depend solely on features to be of use and I'm cool with that. The other approach, a bells and whistles head that is lacking tonally is a complete waste of time for me. I'm looking forward to checking this out.
 
#99
KJung said:
This is true if the port is designed correctly, per the post a few posts above this. If you have a design like the little Bag End 115 cab, with a big hole cut right behind the driver, bad things can happen, since so much 'directional' sound comes out of that hole (almost like an open back guitar cab).

However, +1, in a well designed cab, the port placement makes no difference.

I too always thought rear ports were a problem, but my only experience with them was that poorly designed Bag End S15D or whatever it's called. It's a great little cab, but it sounds almost the same standing behind it as standing in front of it:D

I have a feeling this line of cabs will not have a problem. These guys seem like pro's in speaker design.
Click to expand...

I don't use an S15-D by itself and I'd be surprised if you liked one by itself knowing your tonal requirements (there's no HF driver). Not sure why sound coming out the back would be a problem. More sound comes out of the front. Sound comes out of both sides of drums too.
:D

I guess I'd suggest simply keeping an open mind about it... something that didn't happen with the MB line and look at how that turned out.
;)
 
#100
The cabs are sexy. I wonder what like 8 of them high would do? Probably fall like dominos. That picture of three high was pretty cool looking. I'm not a micro head fan to me it is just a preamp. BUt I suppose stacking up a bunch of them each driving a couple cabs would be OK.

I thought about signing up as a test pilot, but it would distract me from accomplishing my projects.

It's always nice to see another company enter the marketplace with a well packaged system. It would look nice in the corner of the living room. How nice it will look after 100 gigs is another. BOB
 
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