A/B euphonics audio cab and BF cab

[essexbasscat]

Hi there, curious about something really. Has anyone ever done A/B testing with a Euphonic Audio iAMP, a Euphonic Audio cab and a Barefaced cab ?

Just curious as to how EA and BF cabs compare.

Thanks for any replies folks

Cheers

T

[essexbasscat]

OK, I guess there aren't many of us that have A/B'd Barefaced and EA cabs with an iAMP. Has anyone out there A/B'd EA and BF cabs with any other amps ?

Thanks all

[BassBod]

Oh yes....Barefaced Compact (briefly), Barefaced Midget and Euphonic CXL 112 and CXL110's. Used to have an iAmp 500, now have the Micro. Also used AI head..the simpler Clarus version.

The Euphonics (older versions, not the current Wizzy types) were very slightly better sounding, but only if clean and clear is your thing. They weighed a hell of a lot more than BF stuff, but did feel nice and solid.

The Barefaced (non tweet) cabs both have a hint of old-school roundness to them, but mixed with great clarity - no mid scoop thing. I don't need extended treble, so both the Compact and Midget sound fine to me. That makes them a great match with "flat" amps like the iAmp and Clarus - they are a bit more forgiving. Also the background hiss doesn't get reproduced so clearly. The light weight is fantastic.

So...my conclusion was very close on sound, BF weight wins it easily for my needs. I currently use the EA Micro/BF Midget combo very happily for almost everything (from "acoustic" upright to noisy Blooze bass guitar).

[essexbasscat]

Thanks Bassbod, that's the sort of thing I was looking for Hope you don't mind if I ask a bit further.

- You mention great clarity with the BF cabs, while the EA cabs are clean and clear. Does one sound 'thicker' than the other ? or 'fuller' ? I hope it's clear (!) what I mean there.

- Was there a mid scoop present on the EA's that wasn't noticable with the BF's ?

- Did the BF's voice the iAMP's ability to expose subtle changes made with the bass guitar controls ? (as is often the case with EA cabs)

Thanks again BB much appreciated

[BassBod]

Obviously, these are just my thoughts..nothing scientific. Its also worth noting that the current EA Wizzy cabs are more voiced and lighter than the CXL series I used.

Both can do "thick" as well as each other, but the EA's had a less forgiving midrange - I guess that would be "flatter" in most people's language. I could smooth it out easily with eq, but it was there.

Neither has a mid scoop in my experience - more traditional cabs from Eden/SWR/Trace etc seem to have a significant hole in the mids, I guess to make them sound attractive to bass players and make them appear to have a good "bass response". EA and BF both have real low end, and less of this scoop. Both are also very responsive to minor eq changes...you can hear it when you tweak. And you can hear the voicing of amps/preamps - that can be good and bad!

I've got three gigs this Saturday, posh functions and a noisy Blues job. The 44lb EA cab would do all very well, and so could the 20lb BF Midget. I traded the CXL last week because if its weight, not because of its sound.

Try and hear them...its the only way. But don't forget to lift them as well.

[essexbasscat]

Thanks BB Appreciate your comments on the Wizzy, one of those is incoming thanks to Clarky !

Also agree with you when you say that the only way to do it is to hear them (so why ask like this I hear others ask ?) - conversations like this are a good way to start though. Part of the problem may be the difficulty in describing subtle differences in sound, as with 'one sound is thicker, or denser, than another'.

I'm going to start using an iAMP quite soon and I'm sizing up the speakers that work well with them. Having heard iAMPs through an EA VL208 and a wizzy, I was really amazed with the way the EA rig exposed even minimal changes to alterations with the tone controls on the bass itself, even with a passive bass.

Before then, I thought that sort of thing only came with active controls. I hope to take an iAMP to a bass bash and try it through a BF cab. Once I've done some testing, I'll report back.

Thanks again BB

Edited July 12, 2012 by essexbasscat