stevie

Bought a set of lightweight tuners from Alex. They arrived much more quickly than I expected and were in perfect condition. Recommended.

Yeah!!!😀

On the other hand, there are plenty of reviews saying it's fantastic. There was a video on YouTube about setting levels to minimise the noise but I can't find it any more. It could be that some units are noisier than others.

There are an awful lot of complaints on internet forums about noisy Flyrig V2s.

If I were in the OP's position, I'd concentrate initially of sorting out the cab. At the amp shootout at the last SW Bass Bash, we tested and compared a range of low powered mini-heads through an LFSys Monaco. At one point, one of the amps was driven into clipping to see how loud it would go. There's no doubt that they all produced an SPL that was more than enough for your average pub/club gig. So I wouldn't worry too much about the amp at this stage, although it's always nice to have more power on tap. "The sound is very muddy and lacks definition (and that's when I'm able to hear myself in the mix)." I'm afraid that's what cheap cabs sound like. To get to a low price point, manufacturers specify drivers with small magnets and small voice coils, which distort easily and tend to produce a one-note bass. If you buy a second one, you'll still have a muddy, undefined sound - but louder. You might be able to hear your self a bit better by virtue of the fact that the second cab is closer to your ears. As @Dan Dare advises, you need to try out some more cabs. Don't rely on forum recommendations. If money's tight, go for a used 15" cab made by a decent brand. Fifteens have fallen out of favour nowadays and can be picked up for very little money. A decent fifteen will do the job for you. As far as hearing yourself is concerned, try turning the midrange control up on your amp, or tilt the cab so that it's directed towards you.

For me, hi-fi is a sound that reproduces the bass accurately and without colouration. As @Dood says, it's probably easier to define it by what it isn't than what it is. Most bass heads can do hi-fi well or reasonably well. I've used Markbass, TC Electronics, Ashdown, Behringer Veyron, Aguilar Tonehammer, various Trace Elliot - even a cheapo Behringer Ultra BX4500, as well as power amps and preamps. They all did hi-fi. The weak link in the hi-fi chain, whether you're talking home hi-fi or hi-fi bass, is always the speakers.

For those still wishing to take part, I can reveal that I didn't do very well with my guessing. So, don't let it put you off. You're likely to do better than me.

Your follow-up post makes the naming clear, at least to Windows users.

Yes, that's how I'm reading it. The files are actually named, but the names are hidden.

I see nobody's put their head above the parapet yet.😁 I'm fairly sure the differences between these cabs would be more evident in person or if an ominidirectional mic had been used. The sound from directly in front of a cab is only a small part of the story. Anyway, here goes nothing. Bear in mind I don't think I've ever heard any of these cabs in person before. The numbering of the actual sound files is hidden. On my PC, they go from top left to right, with C2 and C1 from left to right underneath. C5. Upper mid and higher frequencies absent. Uneven in the lower registers, with some notes louder than others. Some boom. My least favourite. I'm guessing this is the TKS. C4. Good definition. Balanced frequency response but lacking some top end. Lows well controlled, although slight tendency to boom. A good quality cab. Guessing Genz Benz. C3. Mids and HF present. Balanced with well controlled low end. I think I'm hearing plastic cab colouration here. So I'm guessing this is the QSC. No obvious shortcomings otherwise, and nice top end. C2. Uneven, with some notes louder than others. Nice mids but let down by the lower end, which is a bit uncontrolled. On the positive side, it's got a punchy sound with good HF extension. It's a sound I'm sure lots of players will like. Guessing TC RS210. C1. Balanced sound, warm and powerful with good mids and highs. Slight bloom on some notes but lower frequencies well controlled. This was my favourite. I'd guess this is the Aguilar.

Well, I've listened and made notes. Well done, @warwickhunt - nice job.

Question for you: would you be happy to let one of the open night punters play through that rig?

Very nice review, I had the opportunity to hear @Merton's Trace at the SE Bass Bash. It was very impressive from a sound quality point of view. It's difficult to be categorical about these things when there are so many variables in play, but I would definitely be looking more closely at this amp - if it weren't for the price. As the TE1200 is basically a Peavey in Trace Elliot livery (or am I being unfair?), @Chienmortbb's question is an interesting one, because similar bass amps with a Peavey badge on the front are are available for half the price.

Yes, that's a nice bit of lateral thinking. It assumes that @warwickhunt is familiar with the software. If not, I'm sure someone from the forum would be happy to do the conversion.

Don't overthink this, @warwickhunt A proper, scientifically acceptable comparison requires a much more stringent approach than anything suggested so far. Unless you have a degree in acoustics and an in-depth knowledge of statistics, just make recordings that are as close to what you would expect to hear as a player. Otherwise, there will always be some smart Alec quick to point out the failings in your procedure. If I were doing this, I'd record each cab in the same position in the room - not too far from the back wall. I'd raise the mic to ear level, i.e. not directly in front of the speakers. I wouldn't bother with close mic'ing at all (but that's up to you), as it's not going to tell you anything useful. If you're using a recording as your source, a hi-fi amp, if you have one, would likely be a better choice than a bass amp. Probably a step too far, but a high quality full-range recording makes it much easier to discern differences/shortcomings in speakers than bass guitar on its own. Ignore the complications of multiple drivers and different impedances. Just provide the information with each recording at let us, the listeners, deal with it. Keep it simple. Remember what Voltaire said about getting your knickers in a twist.

Nearfield recording isn't a great idea because you won't fully capture the contribution of the port and the tweeter. I'd suggest putting the mic about two metres away. Bill's suggestion of placing the test object in the same place in the room is sensible. Recording at ear height could be interesting, as could recording with the cabs turned facing 45 degrees from the mic - but let's not overcomplicated what sounds like a fun project. In a perfect testing scenario, amplifier power would be adjusted to account for the different cab impedances. But there again, a 2x12 is going to sound louder than a 1x12 even if the impedance is the same. I'm looking forward to this. It's just a shame you don'f have an LFSys cab in the line up. 😁

Outdoors in the North East in January? Good luck with that. However, I don't think @warwickhuntsaid anything about measuring - only recording.

I just replaced the barrel jack on my Ibanez with a new one from Ebay UK. They say it's Neutrik but there's no branding on it, although it works fine. However, the connections are not physically identical to the original and it's not obvious how it should be wired. So make sure you have a cheap meter to test for continuity. Look for item no. 190816570970. They cost £3.69 plus postage. The Switchcraft 151 is mono and you need a stereo jack for battery switching.

There's no mention of Neutrik anywhere, which means the sockets are probably Chinese replicas. So YMMV, as they say.

So what's the difference? The Warmans are surprisingly inexpensive.

Nice review, by the way. As @stewblack suspected, the noise is unusual. I checked out a few detailed reviews of the amp on German websites (where they are more likely to call a spade a spade) and they specifically say the background noise is very low. This was most likely an outlier.

@Merton is one of the few people on here with one of these. No doubt he'll be along to advise soon.

As it happens, I have a pair of 8-ohm Celestion BN10-300X drivers here, with measurements saved on my PC. Having run these through a crossover simulation program, I'd recommend that you do not use a low pass filter because the driver rolls off naturally quite early anyway and you don't want to run the risk of dropping the impedance too much below 4 ohms. Just run the driver full range. I see you've already bought the components - so try it with and without and see which you prefer.

There will be more LFSys models next year - both bigger and smaller. A 2x10 is certainly a possibility, but there may be an even better way of skinning the cat. You can always build a 2x10 from two Monzas. The corners interlock to aid stacking - and you get the option of using one or two cabs depending on the size of venue.