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Thumpinator vs. Micro Thumpinator: what's the diff?
- Thread starter kurosawa
- Start date
bongomania
Commercial User
The larger one also converts the signal from unbalanced to balanced, and can be run either way with no switching needed. I use mine to balance the output of rack preamps that only have unbalanced jacks, or I could use it as a DI otherwise.
The Micro one is unbalanced only.
The Micro one is unbalanced only.
OK, now has anyone compared fdeck's unit with the Thumpinator/Mini?
One part of me says the Thumpinator is best because it eliminates everything below low B, which is the harmful component of the signal, and it does nothing else.
Another says fdeck's idea of providing an adjustable threshold is best, because it takes into account that not all speaker systems are equal in their ability to handle (or reproduce) a low B (or even a low E, judging by the specs). So his box can cut out whatever the cab can't handle (or reproduce), wherever that limit might be. (If it can't handle it, the HPF protects the gear. If it can't reproduce it, it saves power. I had a couple of SWR Baby Blue combos, and they were great except when they farted out due to lack of a HPF.)
Now we are used to doing without the fundamental. Our ears extrapolate the fundamental from the harmonics. That's what I did as a kid, listening to Jamerson on my tinny clock radio, and later to Fielder's magnificent work through the 6x9" speaker tied to my AM car radio.
So there is nothing wrong with the 50Hz-4kHz Bag End S15-B (presumably the 50Hz reported by BE is at least 3dB down if not 6). Years ago, I played a 70s P through a stacked pair in a NY basement shop. GONZO. I never noticed I wasn't getting a full dose of low E. What I *did* notice was the sound was ultra-tight.
I guess this is the BBE concept, to augment a note with harmonics that *would* have existed had the fundamental been an octave lower, thereby taking advantage of the capability of the brain's aural circuitry to extrapolate a fundamental it doesn't hear. I had a Pioneer car sub that worked the same way.
Here, illusion is better than reality on at a few counts, beginning with reduced power consumption for perceived SPL, and not polluting the acoustic environment with lows rolling all over the room like war elephants.
Yeah, that was a long digression. Anyway, there is much promise in fdeck's premise. It fixes more stuff, ya know?
However, the apparent dual HPFs in his 3rd gen box have me scratching my head. The lower the freqs go, the more the lowest are attenuated, right? So I don't see a point in having that lower one, unless he provides separate outputs, one for the fixed freq and the other for the adjustable, say because the house can handle lower freqs than the stage rig. And if he wrapped it in a righteous DI, he might have a really cool boutique niche product on his hands.
Or he could go the other way. How about a really small onboard unit, a 5-string unit that cuts off at 31Hz, and a 4-string unit that cuts off at 37Hz (to account for dropped-D)? If the bass already has actives, it's already got a battery box.
Also it seems he lacks a product with the Mini-Thumpinator's simiplicity.
Do you know why his rolloff point is 35Hz and not 31?
One part of me says the Thumpinator is best because it eliminates everything below low B, which is the harmful component of the signal, and it does nothing else.
Another says fdeck's idea of providing an adjustable threshold is best, because it takes into account that not all speaker systems are equal in their ability to handle (or reproduce) a low B (or even a low E, judging by the specs). So his box can cut out whatever the cab can't handle (or reproduce), wherever that limit might be. (If it can't handle it, the HPF protects the gear. If it can't reproduce it, it saves power. I had a couple of SWR Baby Blue combos, and they were great except when they farted out due to lack of a HPF.)
Now we are used to doing without the fundamental. Our ears extrapolate the fundamental from the harmonics. That's what I did as a kid, listening to Jamerson on my tinny clock radio, and later to Fielder's magnificent work through the 6x9" speaker tied to my AM car radio.
So there is nothing wrong with the 50Hz-4kHz Bag End S15-B (presumably the 50Hz reported by BE is at least 3dB down if not 6). Years ago, I played a 70s P through a stacked pair in a NY basement shop. GONZO. I never noticed I wasn't getting a full dose of low E. What I *did* notice was the sound was ultra-tight.
I guess this is the BBE concept, to augment a note with harmonics that *would* have existed had the fundamental been an octave lower, thereby taking advantage of the capability of the brain's aural circuitry to extrapolate a fundamental it doesn't hear. I had a Pioneer car sub that worked the same way.
Here, illusion is better than reality on at a few counts, beginning with reduced power consumption for perceived SPL, and not polluting the acoustic environment with lows rolling all over the room like war elephants.
Yeah, that was a long digression. Anyway, there is much promise in fdeck's premise. It fixes more stuff, ya know?
However, the apparent dual HPFs in his 3rd gen box have me scratching my head. The lower the freqs go, the more the lowest are attenuated, right? So I don't see a point in having that lower one, unless he provides separate outputs, one for the fixed freq and the other for the adjustable, say because the house can handle lower freqs than the stage rig. And if he wrapped it in a righteous DI, he might have a really cool boutique niche product on his hands.
Or he could go the other way. How about a really small onboard unit, a 5-string unit that cuts off at 31Hz, and a 4-string unit that cuts off at 37Hz (to account for dropped-D)? If the bass already has actives, it's already got a battery box.
Also it seems he lacks a product with the Mini-Thumpinator's simiplicity.
Do you know why his rolloff point is 35Hz and not 31?
The Micro-Thump is fixed at 30Hz. The Fdeck Series 1 and 2 begin at 35Hz and adjust up to 140Hz. So, if you want a knob to fiddle with and to go higher, maybe the Fdeck unit is your better option. The mThump offers a smaller, simpler package that you can hide in the underside of your effects board as your first input, maybe as a buffer.
Either way, you will end up with good results. Both are good pedals.
Either way, you will end up with good results. Both are good pedals.
Has anyone plotted attenuation curves on both, or do we have only anecdotal reports? Any other differences?
I was checking out the 3 kinds of HPFs and the drawbacks of each, and it had my head spinning.
I was checking out the 3 kinds of HPFs and the drawbacks of each, and it had my head spinning.
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
Sorry, I was wondering about their basic designs:
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"Butterworth is optimized for flat frequency response in the pass band. Chebyshev sacrifices flatness for a steeper roll off in the stop band. This version has 0.1 dB of passband ripple. Bessel filters sacrifice both flatness and roll off for linear phase in the pass band."
I saw those graphs. Looks like someone was playing an open E for those snapshots.
Invalid Link Removed
"Butterworth is optimized for flat frequency response in the pass band. Chebyshev sacrifices flatness for a steeper roll off in the stop band. This version has 0.1 dB of passband ripple. Bessel filters sacrifice both flatness and roll off for linear phase in the pass band."
I saw those graphs. Looks like someone was playing an open E for those snapshots.
That might be because unless you are thumping a Low E, your A will is too high above the high-pass filter to matter.
Yeah, was just wondering how it did on a B. Machts nichts, I just ordered the 1st gen fdeck and plan to order a mini-T not too far down the pike.
A Low B is about 31Hz. At that point, you are triggering the HPF on all of the units. Since the cut-off is a slope, it isn't removing your Low B outright, but it is possibly cleaning it up since many a bass amp speaker cannot even reproduce 31Hz.
Yeah. I'm going to limit myself to the E string dropped to D (37Hz), dial the fdeck to 35 and forget it. I never had a use for anything below D anyway. Maybe I should fully regroove to a DGCF tuning instead of detuning and retuning the E string.
If you really want that low B, there are PA system subwoofers that can handle it. You hear them at nightclubs playing techno and dubstep. But, to be honest, in watching a lot of pro bassists, they all seem to be playing around the 7th fret and up, not a whole lot of open string playing.
