Lol. It’s a classic case of using words that one does not know the meaning of, trying to explain something that one does not understand.
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Why is mixing cab sizes a bad idea?
- Thread starter Jared Houseman
- Start date
Lol. It’s a classic case of using words that one does not know the meaning of, trying to explain something that one does not understand.
So 7 pages, which I haven't read, sorry, and you probably know the answer to your questions.
My 2p. . . some cabs don't work well together and some do. I ran Mesa 210 and 115 EV cabs together and separately for 8 years and that combination sounded great. Then there is the misconception that 15's go lower or have more bass than 10's. This hasn't been a thing for 25 years or more and the sound of a cab totally depends on the driver and cab designs not the size of the driver.
Not even close. No, I was not referring to you, just what has been a constant here for going on twenty years.
When you drill down on a lot of what passes for conventional wisdom, they're oversimplifications with lots of exceptions. I just participated in a mixing cabs thread that didn't instantly turn confrontational so maybe there's hope.
Informing others of potential pitfalls is not the problem... telling people to flat out not try or do things that have clearly worked for "outliers" is. I'd only be playing a fretless with flats through amplification they liked if I believed the experts.
I hate to be one of those not read all pages guys but.......I haven’t!
But for my pennies worth, if a Bi-amp dirty type sound is what you really want, then this can be achieved with a single amp and a single good cab of choice.
Look at the Tech21 dUg Ultrabass 1000, Wounded Paw, EBS Fafner, Tech21 Landmark 300/600.
Pedal wise you have things like the Tech21 DP3X, wounded Paw do a pedal, Darkglass X7, or use the KMA Audio Machines The Tyler frequency splitter/Double FX loop pedal.
Loads of options to recreate the similar sound in a smaller package
But for my pennies worth, if a Bi-amp dirty type sound is what you really want, then this can be achieved with a single amp and a single good cab of choice.
Look at the Tech21 dUg Ultrabass 1000, Wounded Paw, EBS Fafner, Tech21 Landmark 300/600.
Pedal wise you have things like the Tech21 DP3X, wounded Paw do a pedal, Darkglass X7, or use the KMA Audio Machines The Tyler frequency splitter/Double FX loop pedal.
Loads of options to recreate the similar sound in a smaller package
You may have noticed I did not say you did.
I know lots of bassists who got great results from the Guild/Hartke setup back then. It wasn't all FOH. It worked well for Daryl's style of play, better than the other offerings of the day. IME it sounded like a nice biamp rig (blending two different sounds) without the need to biamp.
That hatred is a great example of mind think. And loads of people believe that that stack is bad based on principle alone. The day when I'd rely on the ears of others (or worse, thoughts) for my audio decisions would be a sad one.
It can depend on the cabs. I once used a Hartke 1x15 with an SWR Working man 2x10. I pushed them with an Ampeg B1RE. It sounded great.
Results are what matter. Who cares how you get great results? BTW great is in the ear of the beholder. And if you as a player hear great...
True, but then so did 5 other bass players who used my rig at an outdoor event with no FOH support. My band ws the host and we back lined out gear. They had the option to use their own or use mine. My band opened, and every bass player opted to use mine. It could have been because it sounded that good or because they were too lazy to load in their own gear.Results are what matter. Who cares how you get great results? BTW great is in the ear of the beholder. And if you as a player hear great...
True, but then so did 5 other bass players who used my rig at an outdoor event with no FOH support. My band ws the host and we back lined out gear. They had the option to use their own or use mine. My band opened, and every bass player opted to use mine. It could have been because it sounded that good or because they were too lazy to load in their own gear.
I'm agreeing with you.
dawind99
Commercial User
- Mar 30, 2012
- 609
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- Owner: Revsound
Respectfully it is not that simple no matter what company's gear you are using.
The main problem with a lot of the ''I love my 410 over 115, mixing can be great'' crowd is they don't realize the insignificance of the 115 out front, their satisfaction being derived from a full body shot of 410. So long as they don't blow their 115 all is well enough.
Except that the 15" is at the audience head height, and it's the 15" that is mic'd for FOH.
For the Deltalite II modelling I did above this would mean that the 2510 drivers were at least damaged if the 2515 driver was blown up due to abuse.
As you can notice with the plots above the power handling headroom (and SPL headroom) for the 410 just to not damage anything is quite small
That assumes the 15 will be insignificant compared to the 410. The problem with that assumption should be obvious. A lot of them aren't.
I have a small Yorkville 115 cab that I loaded with a Mesa EVM Black Shadow driver. I have yet to find any cab efficient enough to come close to hanging with it on a one channel rig. The only way to use it for me was with two channels where it got less power than the second cab.
May be but, they never did ask any question if the 10" drivers might be simulatneously damaged.
The tricky thing with (already) damaged drivers is the fact that the sound might be still "good" to the ears.
Even for trained ears its sometimes hard to detect a damaged driver but, once a driver was damaged the total fail is (almost always) certainly.
I think TB forum is full of threats where players ask questions for a good substitude of (any else) blown 10" drivers
Cause in reality aside from few exceptions. A 15" speaker and 10" speaker pretty much cover the same bandwidth and Extend to 3 to 4k.
The 10s don't offer any mystical magical more high-end than a good well designed 15"
Likewise the frequency response of every speaker is slightly different and can cause wierd response peaks or dips.
Pretty much no benefit.
Like a well tuned balanced engine. All equal well balanced pistons driving away equally to a crank
Balanced well tuned and matched speakers all driving away equally to air.
Make for a much more predictable and consistent sound. Not wasting power creating a unpredictable response full of peaks and valleys.
Chef
In Memoriam
"If it sounds good, it is good."
Mixing cabs may, or, may not sound good.
Might sound good to you, and same combo sound bad to someone else; which is fine...sounds good is pretty subjective.
The main "real concern" is the power handling mis-match between the mixed cabs, and, if that's enough to be significant and problematic.
If you find mixing cabs works for you, and you like it: have at it man. Bueno.
Mixing cabs may, or, may not sound good.
Might sound good to you, and same combo sound bad to someone else; which is fine...sounds good is pretty subjective.
The main "real concern" is the power handling mis-match between the mixed cabs, and, if that's enough to be significant and problematic.
If you find mixing cabs works for you, and you like it: have at it man. Bueno.
