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THE Boutique Bass Cab Shootout

#182
groovaholic said:
...this is YOUR experiment -- so it should reflect what YOU are hearing out of the cabs.
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I agree. I'm actually much more interested just to hear your personal thoughts on the perceived relative differences of each cab just from what you're hearing than in any of the recordings.

The recordings you're making, I probably won't really listen to them, but the fact that you're making them, I respect that. ;)
 
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#183
blubass said:
I think this will be really interesting. However, you've said yourself the point of testing is to be as accurate as possible. Mic'ing several cabs requires measurements to be taken to ensure mic placement is spot on each time. Using your ears isn't necessarily what's best when trying to do an objective test, when sound is a very subjective thing. Your adjustments may not be someone else's preferred adjustments. You have to make sure that what "makes sense" is a universally accepted concept for your audience and not just your opinion, if you're trying to do "definitive" testing as your title suggests.

When bold claims are made, the critiques and judgement will be equally as bold, whether warranted or not.

Also, not directly toward you, but in general for the most accurate testing:

I'd have apprehension to using your pedal boards at all. The best way for consistent and repeatable testing would be to eliminate any chance for variables. Bass ( or prerecorded loops)>amp>cab>mic>interface is about as clean and streamlined as you can get. The only variable in that, should be the cabinet. If one cabinet can't perform as well as another with/without the pedal board, that's useful information.

Mic placement should also be equal amongst all cabs so as not to disadvantage any particular design.

All cabs mic'd at 1 ft, centered on cab
All cabs mic'd at 1 ft, centered on speaker
All cabs mic'd at 1 ft, off-center of speaker cone
All cabs mic'd at xx feet, etc.

That way, when a single speaker cab is mic'd, it's only disadvantage may be mic placement for that test round, not necessarily the entire shootout. Naturally, it exponentially increases the amount of time needed to accurately portray all of these cabs so that they have equal representation.

I was a part of testing new and experimental equipment with my unit in the US Army. There's so many variables that people wanted to look over, or claimed "it doesn't really matter" but in the end, the evidence must support the claims equally and unbiased.

That being said, as long as you are completely consistent and transparent with disclosure there may be some merit to this.
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Reamping, as I'm doing here, always uses pre-recorded material: I specifically removed the performance variable so that the only variable WILL be the cabinet, which is why consistent mic placement is important :thumbsup:

While I appeciate the enthusiasm, since I'm not being paid to do this and the test is already going to involve 96 minutes of straight work (12 samples x (7 cabs + 1 DI reference)), on top of the time I spent to actually record the samples, and without factoring in swapping cabs, cables and mic placement, quadrupling that workload just isn't in the cards.
 
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#187
MDBass said:
Reamping always uses pre-recorded material: the only variable WILL be the cabinet :thumbsup:

While I appeciate the enthusiasm, since I'm not being aid to do this and the test is already going to involve 96 minutes of straight work (12 samples x (7 cabs + 1 DI reference)), on top of the time I spent to actually record the samples, and without factoring in swapping cabs, cables and mic placement, quadrupling that workload just isn't in the cards.
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You walked right where I was leading you.... :thumbsup:;)

You're doing a general shootout (as your title now suggests!), that WILL inevitably contain variables you didn't account for, such as the exponential time it takes to actually do the proper testing to be as fair and unbiased as possible. I understand the amount of time involved, which is why it is such a bold claim to do this shootout to begin with.

I appreciate your transparency thus far though. Good luck! :bassist:
 
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#188
blubass said:
You walked right where I was leading you.... :thumbsup:;)

You're doing a general shootout (as your title now suggests!), that WILL inevitably contain variables you didn't account for, such as the exponential time it takes to actually do the proper testing to be as fair and unbiased as possible. I understand the amount of time involved, which is why it is such a bold claim to do this shootout to begin with.

I appreciate your transparency thus far though. Good luck! :bassist:
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I'd literally just updated the thread title yesterday to get more eyes, and ears, on these builders cabs since the direction of the thread had changed: evidently it worked.

The initial SoundCloud playlist should go up on Monday or Tuesday, after I'm back from the funeral in Chicago.
 
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#190
Lowendtech said:
I’m looking forward to your impressions as much the clips.
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That's interesting to me in and of itself after just being taken to task for the thread title ;)

I was intentionally withholding my personal impressions so as not to influence anyone prior to listening for themselves.

I'm more than happy to give my own impressions in advance of the sound clips if that's what the thread prefers, or I can PM folks directly :thumbsup:
 
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#191
MDBass said:
I'm more than happy to give my own impressions in advance of the sound clips if that's what the thread prefers, or I can PM folks directly :thumbsup:
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One way or another I'd absolutely love to hear them. I'll leave the way you do it up to you, though feel free to PM me either individually or via group PM if you chose to go that route!
 
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#194
i-just-want-to-tell-you-good-luck-were-all-counting-on-you.jpg
 
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#195
MDBass said:
That's interesting to me in and of itself after just being taken to task for the thread title ;)

I was intentionally withholding my personal impressions so as not to influence anyone prior to listening for themselves.

I'm more than happy to give my own impressions in advance of the sound clips if that's what the thread prefers, or I can PM folks directly :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I want my flying car yesterday, dammit.
 
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#196
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#200
ahc said:
According to John Cleese "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries." See? Flack already! :)
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DAMMIT. It's obviously been too long since I last saw that movie, I should have used Google.

Foolish of me ;)
 
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