Double Bass XLR Out and the Clarus

[Marc Piane]

So I have a question. I picked up a Clarus. Great little amp. My question is I also use a Fishman Platinum with DB and a Sansamp with EB. Both of these have XLR outs. The Clarus has a combo in.

Is there any benefit to going XLR out to the amp?

 

[Francois Blais]

You'll bypass the preamp layer of the Clarus I guess, so maybe a little less noise?

 

[Marc Piane]

Oh, it bypasses the pre? Hmmm.

I guess the other thing is the Sansamp can be powered by phantom power which the clarus provides.

 

[peterpalmieri]

You'll bypass the preamp layer of the Clarus I guess, so maybe a little less noise?

Is it correct that if you use the combo input jack (XLR) you'll bypass the preamp? or is that only if you use the effects loop?

 

[Marc Piane]

According to the AI site the pre is not bypassed when you use the XLR in on the combo jack.

The specs say the input impedance of the XLR in is 600 ohms balanced. How does that compare the the outputs on the Sansamp or Fishman?

Not that anything is wrong with the 1/4" in either. I'm just curious.

 

[robgrow]

The 3-pin XLR connector on the Clarus is simply a balanced input and does not bypass the preamp. If you have a preamp that has a balanced output, you can connect it to the Clarus using the balanced input, although you may also want to try using the unbalanced 1/4-inch phone plug connections to see which is the best level match and which sounds best.

 

[peterpalmieri]

According to the AI site the pre is not bypassed when you use the XLR in on the combo jack.

The specs say the input impedance of the XLR in is 600 ohms balanced. How does that compare the the outputs on the Sansamp or Fishman?

Not that anything is wrong with the 1/4" in either. I'm just curious.

Since I do not have the manual infront of me I didn't want to directly contradict the comment about bypassing the pre, but I figured that was the case. I have not found a place where Sansamp discusses output impedence you may want to shoot them an email.

The fishman manual states:
NOMINAL OUTPUT LEVELS AND IMPEDANCES
¼" Out -23 dBV + 3 dBV (1 kW )
Tuner / Send Out -.23 dBV + 3 dBV(1 kW )
XLR Out -32 dBV -6 dBV (600 W )

 

[bolo]

According to the AI site the pre is not bypassed when you use the XLR in on the combo jack.

The specs say the input impedance of the XLR in is 600 ohms balanced. How does that compare the the outputs on the Sansamp or Fishman?

I checked the Tech 21 website and my SansAmp BDDI owner's manual, and could not find the output impedance specs listed in either place. The manual just says the XLR out is a balanced low Z output, and the 1/4" is an unbalanced low Z output.

As an aside, it does state that the BDDI's 1/4" input is 1 megohm.

 

[bolo]

Is there any benefit to going XLR out to the amp?

At first I thought there might be some kind of one-size-fits-all academic or technical answer to Marc's original question. But the more I thought about it, I figured that each unit (e.g. Clarus, Platinum, SansAmp, other) is gonna be wired and configured somewhat differently. So possibly results will vary depending on the specific input and output devices involved.

 

[fdeck]

I suspect it makes little difference if the cables are not too long.

 

[greitzer]

So I have a question. I picked up a Clarus. Great little amp. My question is I also use a Fishman Platinum with DB and a Sansamp with EB. Both of these have XLR outs. The Clarus has a combo in.

Is there any benefit to going XLR out to the amp?

Marc -- I experimented on this with the Fishman Platinum on a different amp (a GK MB150 combo, as I recall), and I found the 1/4-inch Fishman output gave me a stronger sound than the XLR output did. Recently I also bought a Clarus, and I haven't yet redone the experiment, because I haven't needed the Fishman with the Clarus. As others have posted, it probably varies by amp.

 

[Marc Piane]

John - I'm having a similar experience. I use the Fishman EQ all the time with my little GK. I'm finding I like the Clarus better without it.