escholl

Rockwool will only trap bass frequencies if installed in certain ways, and simply wrapping it and sticking it on the wall is not going to work -- in fact, over use of it in this manner can actually make the problems worse by excessively damping higher frequencies. It is a great solution for a general treatment of acoustics however, in taming things such as early reflections and flutter echo. In certain applications, the correct installation of rockwool can control lower frequencies. However other, commercial, bass corner traps do work very well, provided they are installed correctly and of an appropriate size.

I would second the notion that finding a second-hand pair of A7's is a good idea, they are certainly very usable. It's a shame they couldn't have paired that lovely tweeter with a sealed box, really. Don't worry if you can't afford them though, the A5's and the Tannoy's are good too. Getting the mixes to translate is as much about understanding your monitors as it is about having decent monitors, so whatever you buy, take the time to learn their nuances.

[quote name='Rosh' post='752109' date='Feb 20 2010, 07:40 PM']Yamaha HS80M -- As far as I know, these are the monitors (all I remember is black and white yamaha monitors) that I was taught: If you can make the mix sound good on these, it'll sound good anywhere! They are in a lot of studios too, so can't be that bad! [/quote] You are likely thinking of the NS10's -- the only thing the two share in common are white coloured driver cones...and that's about it.

I personally use teflon tubes filled with liquid mercury as my cables, anything less and you are just strangling the tone out of your bass...

[url="http://www.lessloss.com/blackbody-p-200.html"]Psychoacoustics is a powerful thing.[/url] If you're spending more than about 25-30 quid on a cable, sorry, but the only difference is in your head.

Yes, I think there's a point to more powerful amps. I use two large, fairly efficient 1x15 cabs, and a fairly flat eq, so I don't need anything more than the 250 watt amp I have. But if I was using one of the tiny cabs that have become popular these days, and are less sensitive in the lows, I might need to EQ in an extra 3db in the lower frequencies just to get the same response I might otherwise get out of a larger, more efficient cab. An if I like a bassier, more scooped tone, I might like to add another 3db on top of that. And that combined 6db increase means a roughly 4x increase in the power required, at least for the EQ'd section of the frequency range. And so, instead of 250 watts, I might need a 1kw amp. Hence the need for a big, powerful amp.

[quote name='Sonic_Groove' post='750789' date='Feb 19 2010, 12:38 PM']Sorry to hijack donutman's thread but is there an Idiots guide to making sound panels anywhere or can you expand here or in another thread? Brendan[/quote] [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Recording-Studio-Construction-Build/dp/1598630342/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266593305&sr=1-3"]This book[/url] is very good, and explains all the basics of the panels, along with many other aspects of home studio design. The simplest kind, known as broadband absorbers, are basically as simple as a 2x4 foot panel of rockwool, in a timber frame and with some fabric stretched taught over and around it, then the whole panel spaced out an inch or two from the wall. It's tough to sort of generalize a homemade acoustic solution but that is a good place to start, a couple of them will at least cut down reflections in the room.

[quote name='Rimskidog' post='748971' date='Feb 17 2010, 09:21 PM']The tannoys are probably the best of the bunch you mention. But for just a little more you could get Adam A7s or Dynaudio BM5a which are a BIG step up from the ones you mention. As mentioned above dont leave room treatment out of the equation. You can buy a big bag of rockwool from Wickes and make some DIY panels for about £50. (believe me, it'll be the best 50 you ever spend.)[/quote] +1 to all that, those panels are really easy to build as well.

I used to work for Akai, and while I don't know the answer to why they stopped making it, I can tell you that as of a year and a half ago, when I was laid off, they were scaling back massively and really throwing their weight behind the Numark and Alesis brands, and their own MIDI controllers and drum machines -- and were really cutting back their studio equipment, instruments, and signal processing lines. They also binned a load of programmers, QA, and their entire Akai Digital division. Personally, I'd love to see this pedal and their others come back, and the Alesis Ion too, but I don't think either of those is likely.

[quote name='Rimskidog' post='745246' date='Feb 14 2010, 08:38 PM']The fridge is built into one of the lower cupboards and the microwave into one of the higher ones. I've still got some tiling to do and lights to fit under the high cupboards but, as you can see, at this point while it's compact it's pretty slick all the same.[/quote] lol, the fittings in that temporary kitchen look nicer than the ones in my house. every time I visit this thread I get really envious, must mean you're doing something right!

good castors on a heavy cab is the route I went, works fine as long as there's no stairs or something silly like a field to get across. then again, my cabs are smaller than that 410 and only about 30-35 kilos each, and my back is mostly okay so it's not a problem for me to lift them if I have to -- up to you if you want to take the chance. what about 2 peavey 210's, would that work for you?

as mentioned, it's just part of the tweeter protection and is nothing to worry about. you amp is fine. :]

wow, you've been busy since i last checked in -- looking good

[quote name='alexclaber' post='568181' date='Aug 13 2009, 05:17 PM']with the demanding SPLs, huge dynamic range and big bottom that is expected from bass guitar cabs there's no doubt in my mind that ported cabs are the way to go.[/quote] i don't think anyone would disagree with you there. i suppose i didn't really elaborate enough on what i meant earlier, and may have given the wrong impression -- i was only referring to frequencies below about 100 Hz, and delays of about 5-15ms. for the record, i don't think group delay is something to worry about when buying a bass cab -- nothing in audio or electronics can be summed up in one figure anyways (like how "fast" the bass response is), as we all (should) know its a combination of many factors.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='567010' date='Aug 12 2009, 05:29 PM']All the evidence suggests that the group delay of a well designed ported cab is inaudible. Bear in mind that the group delay of a typical highpass filter will be much greater than that of a good ported cab, yet I would still always recommend using such a filter when available because the advantages are clearly audible whilst the disadvantages aren't. Alex[/quote] i'm not sure where you've gotten your evidence, but all the research and analysis suggests contrarily. group delay is just as important to the time-domain accuracy as any other factor -- i think you are under-estimating it. i'm not saying ported designs don't have their merits, i'm simply saying the group delay of a ported cab is always going to be longer than that of a sealed one. there will be an audible difference. an electronic filter will have it's own group delay, yes, however it depends entirely on the filter design. it is likely to be less than that of any speaker, however.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='565637' date='Aug 11 2009, 08:22 AM']But a well designed ported cab will be just as quick as a sealed cab[/quote] aren't you forgetting group delay? always several times higher in ported cabs than sealed, by their design.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='532699' date='Jul 5 2009, 12:08 AM'][/quote] EPIC WIN!!

+1 to keeping the head. pair it with a Compact, maybe?

dunlop tortex standard 1.14 (the purple ones) for guitar i prefer something much thinner though, like a .5 or .6

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='531841' date='Jul 3 2009, 05:04 PM']It's very clear and powerful for a 15 incher, but sounds even better with a 2x10 on top (preferably 4 ohm, which boosts the amps power from 300 to 350 watts. A 2 ohm cab would boost it to 400.) I like it with the tweeter set to -6db.[/quote] Er, not sure about that. From the manual: Power Ratings (minimum) 350 Watts @ 4 ohms (internal cabinet) 400 Watts @ 2.6 ohms (with 8 ohms extension cabinet) 450 Watts @ 2 ohms (with 4 ohm extension cabinet) A 2 ohm external cab would take the load below 2 ohms -- 4 ohms is the minimum for an external cab.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='531460' date='Jul 3 2009, 10:30 AM']Question - I'm lacking low end in a big way on my mixing rig. I have a pair of studio spares NS10s and they are OK but the low end is almost entirely missing. I have no master EQ, and I think that might be a bad idea? So i'm wondering if it would be easy enough to add a passive sub to my system? If so can you recommend one? Can I plug it into both speaker outputs on my amp?[/quote] In line with what Alex has said, I would say don't bother with a passive sub. And no, you can't bridge the amp output like that unless it's designed to be bridged, and is dedicated just to powering a sub. What sort of amount were you looking to spend?

[quote name='MuseMatt' post='531225' date='Jul 2 2009, 11:11 PM']Well... in my experience the powersupply on stages are not always very good... but I think I messed up with my English vs Dutch here; I think it's called a power distributor in English... at least: unit that guarantees a constant electric current to your amp ... does that make any sense?[/quote] yes, haha, i know what you mean now.

[quote name='molan' post='506650' date='Jun 5 2009, 09:37 PM']Well - first I discovered they wern't matching sets. The single knobs are domed, push fit with a paler gold colour. The stacked ones are flat topped, allen key locked & darker. Then when I looked closer at the stacked sets I noticed both of the upper knobs were tarnished where the gold finish hasn't taken properly! Neither are awful but I don't know whether this is a sing of dodgy workmanship & will mean that if I get replacements then they will tarnish easily. Plus I now have to put the bloody original knobs back on again, grrr. So - just wondered if anyone has had problems with fit & finish of parts, especially gold, from Allparts in the past?[/quote] Yup, pretty much the same story with me -- ordered two sets of wooden knobs at the same time, when they arrived they were noticeably different, and one of them was cracked. That on it's own is not so bad, however the they proceeded to completely ignore the two emails i sent them explaining the situation -- basically, i'm never using them again. t*ssers.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='529876' date='Jul 1 2009, 07:24 PM']I'd like one of those 24x5 fridges, not sure if they are Doom though.[/quote] they are if you get 5 of them. and get them out of a skip. after being in an industrial fire. and left in a swamp. etc, etc...

[quote name='umph' post='528979' date='Jun 30 2009, 06:55 PM']rms should be clean power[/quote] but at what THD? and with what bandwidth? into what kind of load? peak power is important too, as it tends to reveal other aspects of the amp -- and these are the things manufacturer's play with to get the results they want, hence why some manufacturer's "watts" seem to go a lot farther than other's "watts". these are the things that annoy me! hehe sorry, said i wouldn't rant, keeping it to myself now.... [quote name='MuseMatt' post='529120' date='Jun 30 2009, 09:40 PM']Peaks can be prevented by using a power amp which provides you with a constant output; something that's not always guaranteed when hooking up your cab to a power socket.[/quote] so many things there don't make sense - what did you mean?