THE Boutique Bass Cab Shootout

[murphy]

I'm in.....popcorn is popping

 

[Lowendtech]

I'm in.....popcorn is popping

Now I’m hungry,.....dammit.

 

[RandM]

True 3-way fEARful bass enclosures

I see that I'm Acronymically Deficient : )

DAMMIT. It's obviously been too long since I last saw that movie, I should have used Google.

Foolish of me

Just make sure of the Shrubbury and White Picket Fence to duck behind ........ can't
please all the people all the time ect ect : )

Cheers Maurie

 

[Roxbororob]

You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Damm the torpedoes, full steam ahead! We're with you MD.

Sorry to hear about your trip.

 

[monsterthompson]

You can please some of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

 

[ahc]

DAMMIT. It's obviously been too long since I last saw that movie, I should have used Google.

Foolish of me

Actually, it's in my "sig".

v
v
v

 

[MarkA]

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

My inclination, right or wrong, would be to post the clips (including the DI-ed "stems" -- though maybe a bit later) and maybe discuss for a bit before sharing your impressions. If I was feeling mischievous, I might even withhold the names of the cabs for a bit (calling them A, B, C, etc.), but that level of mischief might be more than TBers would readily tolerate. I guess I'd be upfront about what's what, but wait a bit before injecting my own impressions. I think waiting a bit gives this the best chance of being a good learning experience for you and for the people listening. If there's a second round, you can take whatever you learn from the first into that.

I don't know that there's a perfect methodology by which to accomplish what you're trying to do. The best you can do is be transparent (as you seem to have been). For the record, I am interested both in the clips and in your subjective impressions of playing through the different cabs.

Thanks and take care.

 

[pickles]

The biggest challenge is going to be loudeness. Louder travks sound deeper and brighter so you should note the SPL difference then adjust to a common level. But what frequency do you use to perform the leveling?

 

[MDBass]

My inclination, right or wrong, would be to post the clips (including the DI-ed "stems" -- though maybe a bit later) and maybe discuss for a bit before sharing your impressions. If I was feeling mischievous, I might even withhold the names of the cabs for a bit (calling them A, B, C, etc.), but that level of mischief might be more than TBers would readily tolerate. I guess I'd be upfront about what's what, but wait a bit before injecting my own impressions. I think waiting a bit gives this the best chance of being a good learning experience for you and for the people listening. If there's a second round, you can take whatever you learn from the first into that.

I don't know that there's a perfect methodology by which to accomplish what you're trying to do. The best you can do is be transparent (as you seem to have been). For the record, I am interested both in the clips and in your subjective impressions of playing through the different cabs.

Thanks and take care.

Your thoughts in the first paragraph were my initial plans for the same reasons, though I was always planning on posting the DI stems as the "control" part of the test.

I've only come across a handful of similar shootouts, and they always had a much more limited cab selection and/or a glaring flaw which rendered the recorded testing essentially useless: close micing the cabs with an Sm57 for instance.

Considering the price point of these products, as well as generally needing to purchase them without ever hearing them in person, it felt like to me like all of the builders deserved a better platform to showcase them, and the buying public deserved a better resource before purchasing.

This is all started last month with me searching for the ideal cab for myself and my work, but in the process snowballed into something bigger than that: hopefully the end result will be useful for both the builders of the cabs as well as other players in their search.

Getting to play through all of the cabs myself is certainly a solid bonus

 

[MDBass]

The biggest challenge is going to be loudeness. Louder travks sound deeper and brighter so you should note the SPL difference then adjust to a common level. But what frequency do you use to perform the leveling?

I'm not planning on pushing any of these cabs, as they're all loaners and max spl isn't particularly a concern for me.

There's not as much volume difference between the cabs with the Monique 700 at 9 o clock on the master as you might think, there is a much more significant difference in tone.

That being said, I was planning on noting the volume differences in the testing but printing the stems at the same volume, so as not to skew the listeners impressions for the reasons you mentioned.

 

[grimjim]

DNA Amps - David Nordschow Amplification - Bass Amps

 

[MDBass]

DNA Amps - David Nordschow Amplification - Bass Amps

Do you have personal experience with these cabs?

Judging the book by it's cover it seems like a more traditional/conventional cab design than what I'm looking for personally, but I'll say hi at NAMM and see if he's interested in sending a loaner my way

 

[pickles]

I'm not planning on pushing any of these cabs, as they're all loaners and max spl isn't particularly a concern for me.

There's not as much volume difference between the cabs with the Monique 700 at 9 o clock on the master as you might think, there is a much more significant difference in tone.

That being said, I was a planning on noting the volume differences in the testing but printing the stems at the same volume, as not to skew the listeners impressions for the reasons you mentioned.

Yeah max SPL is not what I meant. Its sensitivity. I did a lot of power amp testing that was totally pointless until I learned how to gain match.

 

[MDBass]

Yeah max SPL is not what I meant. Its sensitivity.

Right. There is definitely a difference, but much less than you might think.

Certainly less than I expected.

The tracks will all be rendered at the same level for listening purposes, and I'll leave notes on the dB changes made when rendering to make those levels equal in the notes

 

[grimjim]

Do you have personal experience with these cabs?

Judging the book by it's cover it seems like a more traditional/conventional cab design than what I'm looking for personally, but I'll say hi at NAMM and see if he's interested in sending a loaner my way

Some.lol
All components are custom built to his specs, from cabinet design to the speakers themselves. I am running the 1350 through a 4x10 and there's more headroom than my svt4 had through an 8x10 and it sounds just as big.
Jim Lenten - David Nordschow Amplification

 

[pickles]

To be fair that’s true of all of the good modern 4x10s. Everything post Eden D-410XLT.

That would be a fun wrinkle on this test, throw in some red herrings. A GS410, 410XLT, etc and see how many people shopping for a studio monitor flat cab are like “damn number 7 sounds killer!!”

 

[murphy]

To be fair that’s true of all of the good modern 4x10s. Everything post Eden D-410XLT.

That would be a fun wrinkle on this test, throw in some red herrings. A GS410, 410XLT, etc and see how many people shopping for a studio monitor flat cab are like “damn number 7 sounds killer!!”

My D-410XLT was killer.....and will always hold a special place in my heart

 

[murphy]

My EA CXL112 were about the best sounding cabs I had back in the day...but I would blow the driver every few weeks....gave up in the end

Bergantino HT115 ....Fantastic cab....heavy....wish I had kept it

 

[Lowendtech]

My D-410XLT was killer.....and I will always hold a special place in my heart for that cab

Had one of those too (98 lbs) :***: Also had a DNS 410 and it was even killererer (78 lbs). Much better from top to bottom and without the low-mid hump. But I won’t do 410’s anymore. (The only considered exception would be a BF Four10 due to its light weight, but I still wouldn’t. I’d just get another Two10 and Tall ‘em Up)

 

[MDBass]

To be fair that’s true of all of the good modern 4x10s. Everything post Eden D-410XLT.

That would be a fun wrinkle on this test, throw in some red herrings. A GS410, 410XLT, etc and see how many people shopping for a studio monitor flat cab are like “damn number 7 sounds killer!!”

If anyone has a cab like that, I'd be happy to add it.

I used a GS410 for a long time: great cab for what it does.