Two great dead silent heads

[agedhorse]

The fans themselves are quiet. Not the cooling; the air rushing through the intake, innards and slats. Same for the WalkAbout, which many have swapped the fans on, or any amp, actually. The noise is usually air whooshing through things and the cases themselves vibrating. Run the fan detached from the case, sitting on a bench, and it's extremely quiet.

The Subway was quieter than some amps, louder than others. I'm not suggesting a mic on the cab a couple feet away would pick it up and ruin a mix. I'm saying if If you're sitting next to it and tired of band volumes, fridge compressors in open floor plans, crappy YouTube / MP3 compression, engine noise, and laptop fans, and sitting next to your practice rig, then virtually anything is a nuisance.

No fan is a LOT quieter than *any* fan, especially if it keeps the peace in your head or home.

If you are looking for a silent amp, no amp with a fan will be silent. For folks that want a lot of power and can drive 2 ohms in a small, reliable package, a fan is going to be a practical reality.

 

[logdrum]

If you are looking for a silent amp, no amp with a fan will be silent. For folks that want a lot of power and can drive 2 ohms in a small, reliable package, a fan is going to be a practical reality.

My thought exactly. If gigging the hvac of the venue is louder than the cooling fans. And this is even silent acoustic gigs like Pat Metheny solo . For rock and specially in clubs -- moot point. get an Interbass for home practice.

 

[WRM]

I received my Ampeg PF-50T back this week. It had the common, very annoying, hum that I believe the older ones had. I purchased this used earlier this year, along with a PF-115LF cab. I found out from a TBer (I believe Deadhorse) that Ampeg would do the "humbuster" repair, off warranty, for free. The amp is now dead quiet.

Thanks to the advice on this site, I also have the silent Mesa D-350. I would highly recommend both of them.

The reason I like the silent heads is because I often practice at very low volume while watching TV with my wife.

Don't worry, plenty of time is spent with the amps cranked!
View attachment 5284338 View attachment 5284340

I read the title, and thought "Oh, NO", another thread about a pair of "broken" Amps ("dead silent").

What a relief!...

 

[Aloe]

careful, your strap locks are backwards and your bass will fall if one of pins fails. to prevent this, they should be backwards on a strap, so the cups will hold the strap buttons on their own

 

[WRM]

careful, your strap locks are backwards and your bass will fall if one of pins fails. to prevent this, they should be backwards on a strap, so the cups will hold the strap buttons on their own

Kudos - quote the astute observation!

 

[pglaser01]

We rely on him so much maybe we should switch Andy @agedhorse over to Beat A DeadHorse

 

[db59]

careful, your strap locks are backwards and your bass will fall if one of pins fails. to prevent this, they should be backwards on a strap, so the cups will hold the strap buttons on their own

Good eye!

 

[Jim C]

Yamaha....
I got mine in May. It's just a low 60 cycle hum I notice when I turn it on.
I didn't think it would bother me, but after a while, it started to - after all, my V4B & Traynor YBA are dead quiet.
Ampeg verified the new ones are not shipping with any mod, but they'll fix it at no charge - at a factory-authorized service center, which I don't have one nearby - so by the time I fool around with that, I'll just pay to have a local tech do it, when I get the time. They indicated that would not be an issue with future warranty coverage.

Are you saying that Yamaha is knowingly shipping (some) amps that hum, and if the owner complains, they will fix it under warranty?
That doesn't sound like the Yamaha I know.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ampeg-pf-50t-humbuster.1306043/page-19

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

Are you saying that Yamaha is knowingly shipping (some) amps that hum, and if the owner complains, they will fix it under warranty?
That doesn't sound like the Yamaha I know.

That's a Yamahum!

 

[Peter - Oregon]

careful, your strap locks are backwards and your bass will fall if one of pins fails. to prevent this, they should be backwards on a strap, so the cups will hold the strap buttons on their own

Thanks, I'll check that out.

 

[Brich]

I'd like a D350, but my markbass LMII is still kicking. Next thing on the gas list.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I received my Ampeg PF-50T back this week. It had the common, very annoying, hum that I believe the older ones had. I purchased this used earlier this year, along with a PF-115LF cab. I found out from a TBer (I believe Deadhorse) that Ampeg would do the "humbuster" repair, off warranty, for free. The amp is now dead quiet.

Thanks to the advice on this site, I also have the silent Mesa D-350. I would highly recommend both of them.

The reason I like the silent heads is because I often practice at very low volume while watching TV with my wife.

Don't worry, plenty of time is spent with the amps cranked!
View attachment 5284338 View attachment 5284340

I have two "dead silent" class D amps. For a low powered amp specifically for small venues such as brew pubs, I have an Eden TN226 (225-watts). Has a very versatile EQ section including semi-parametric controls, one for low-mids and one for high-mids. Also has a really nice auto-compressor. If I see my power-clipping light come on when we get too loud, I engage the auto compressor and turn up the gain. The gain control acts as a threshold control when the compressor is engaged. It's very musical and not harsh at all. I then convince everyone that we are too loud; we turn down; and I disengage the compressor. Amp is dead quiet because it has no fan and it weighs 4.7-lbs.

My second amp is a much more versatile amp. It's the DNA-800 that puts out 800-watts rms into either 4Ω or 2Ω, weighs just 4.8-lbs. and is also dead quiet because it has no fan either. It has a simple EQ section: Bass (35Hz), Low-mids (500Hz), high mids (2KHz), and treble (everything above 2KHz). Very easy to dial in a good sound with it. It also has an onboard compressor with threshold and ratio controls. Just a great and very versatile amp.

 

[Katoosie]

Hey, so what is the deal with these being loud or "humming"?

Is it due to a fan being loud or are we talking about something else here?

Rock it, OP

 

[Peter - Oregon]

Hey, so what is the deal with these being loud or "humming"?

Is it due to a fan being loud or are we talking about something else here?

Rock it, OP

It is a hum generated by the electronics in the unit. I don't know technically what it is. The details are likely discussed in that link earlier.

 

[joe vegas]

great discussion. i've been using the tiny TC BAM200, which has zero noise internal or external as well. great lil' brute for studio or live.

 

[MCF]

Sweet lamp!

And wow, I just now found out the D350 has no fan!!

That's such a compelling feature it should be the #1 marketing point, right in the name MESA NF (no fan) 350.

Love the brand, but their loud cooling has always been non-starters for me in a quiet environment.

The fans in the four Subway 800 models are all very quiet.

 

[MCF]

The fans themselves are quiet. Not the cooling; the air rushing through the intake, innards and slats. Same for the WalkAbout, which many have swapped the fans on, or any amp, actually. The noise is usually air whooshing through things and the cases themselves vibrating. Run the fan detached from the case, sitting on a bench, and it's extremely quiet.

The Subway was quieter than some amps, louder than others. I'm not suggesting a mic on the cab a couple feet away would pick it up and ruin a mix. I'm saying if If you're sitting next to it and tired of band volumes, fridge compressors in open floor plans, crappy YouTube / MP3 compression, engine noise, and laptop fans, and sitting next to your practice rig, then virtually anything is a nuisance.

No fan is a LOT quieter than *any* fan, especially if it keeps the peace in your head or home.

I wish I had your hearing. Mine must be a lot worse than I realize.

 

[Boneless]

800 watts is barely louder than 350. Most couldn't tell a difference. You'll have more headroom, other parts of the design being equal, but if you can't do the gig with 350 watts it's virtually certain the same amp with 800 watts won't make a difference.

It takes 10x the power to double the perceived volume, all else equal. Double the power adds 3 dB, which is the smallest change in volume people can typically perceive, so in the end whatever advantage there is will not be audible volume.

Actually the smallest change in volume that people can perceive is 0.6dB. Also it's not that easy: are we talking peak or integrated? Power will give you cleaner peaks, but if you use a compressor, have the same perceived volume with 350W with compression as 800W without (simplifying things a bit).

 

[coyote1]

My dad always wished my amps to be dead silent. Alas, they were very very loud