Heads that don't need a speaker load

[Tee]

Can anyone think of/recommend decent heads that can be used without a speaker load i.e. so as to use the DI out (if it has one) to go straight into desk or DAW? I know Eden heads can do this. Any others of note? Can the Aguilar TH500 do this?

[Woodinblack]

the TC Electronic RH's. Has DI and digital out.

[Roland Rock]

Pretty much any amp without a valve power section will be OK without a load.
There are few SS amps with an output transformer (eg Warwick Jonas Helborg) which would need a load too.

[Twigman]

TecAmp Pumas don't need a speaker load.

[Truckstop]

I think anything without valves would work wouldn't it?

I know I've used my Gallien-Krueger RB400 and Ampeg PF500 in this way.

[Tee]

Although the Orange TB doesn't have output tubes, yet it still requires a load.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Tee

[BassBunny]

Anything with a headphone jack?

[Tee]

I'm guessing its anything without an output transformer.

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='Tee' timestamp='1456176618' post='2986370']
Although the Orange TB doesn't have output tubes, yet it still requires a load.
[/quote]

Says who?

[Thunderpaws]

My Streamliner rocks at this, as do many heads of similar type.

New Ampeg PF20 and 50t are all valve and have a DI you can run with no speaker. The DI comes off the output transformer too. Same with that Mesa head, 488 or something.

[sunburstjazz1967]

I use a Genz head as a di box.

[obbm]

[quote name='Tee' timestamp='1456175549' post='2986345']
Can the Aguilar TH500 do this?
[/quote]

TH500 is fine without a load.

[colgraff]

Vanderkley works without load.

[stevebasshead]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1456177916' post='2986395']


Says who?
[/quote]It's a bit odd, I grant you, but the manual states the following when talking about the DI output:

"IMPORTANT: A speaker cabinet of suitable impedance and power handling must be connected to the amplifier’s speaker outputs even when the DI Output is in use."

So it's implied rather than stated directly the way I read it.

[dannybuoy]

Yeah, just read that too! Had this amp for years and never knew that, assumed it was like most other micros and could be used unplugged from the cab if I wanted to.

[RandomBass]

[quote name='stevebasshead' timestamp='1456185445' post='2986497']
It's a bit odd, I grant you, but the manual states the following when talking about the DI output:

"IMPORTANT: A speaker cabinet of suitable impedance and power handling must be connected to the amplifier’s speaker outputs even when the DI Output is in use."

So it's implied rather than stated directly the way I read it.
[/quote]
Well I'll go to the foot of our stairs.

[Phil Starr]

In the early days of solid state amps a few designs would go into oscillation (like feedback/howlround but electronically, inside the electronics)
If no load was connected they'd overheat and break in this state. My Exposure hi fi amp warns about this. I haven't seen that for a long time but I wonder if Orange are simply being careful, a bit like the 'may contain traces of nuts' warnings.

[RandomBass]

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1456214863' post='2986579']
In the early days of solid state amps a few designs would go into oscillation (like feedback/howlround but electronically, inside the electronics)
If no load was connected they'd overheat and break in this state. My Exposure hi fi amp warns about this. I haven't seen that for a long time but I wonder if Orange are simply being careful, a bit like the 'may contain traces of nuts' warnings.
[/quote]
Well, the TB certainly contains some balls.

Edited February 23, 2016 by RandomBass

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='stevebasshead' timestamp='1456185445' post='2986497']
It's a bit odd, I grant you, but the manual states the following when talking about the DI output:

"IMPORTANT: A speaker cabinet of suitable impedance and power handling must be connected to the amplifier's speaker outputs even when the DI Output is in use."

So it's implied rather than stated directly the way I read it.
[/quote]

I'm guessing that they made the DI so utterly unusable for this very reason ... it discourages people who never read the manual ( ) from trying to use the amp as a DI-only source.

[Happy Jack]

Incidentally, when I started this thread ( http://basschat.co.uk/topic/134869-re-valving-an-orange-bass-terror/page__hl__otb%20valve ) I ran my OTB500 from the DI into a mixer, took a feed from the mixer into my Zoom H2, and monitored using headphones.

Not a speaker cabinet of suitable impedance in sight.

I suspect that, as others have said, this warning is of the "may contain traces of nuts" variety.

[Bigwan]

I think perhaps that has been copied and pasted from one of the Orange valve amp manuals. I've yet to see a modern solid state (or hybrid) amp that couldn't be run without a load.

[Happy Jack]

Good call.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1456223958' post='2986704']
I think perhaps that has been copied and pasted from one of the Orange valve amp manuals. I've yet to see a modern solid state (or hybrid) amp that couldn't be run without a load.
[/quote]+1. Here's why: With valves signal always passes through the output valves, because their load is the primary winding of the output transformer. If there's no load on the secondary winding of the output transformer bad things can ensue. With SS if there's no load no current passes through the output transistors, so there are no worries.
Once upon a time first generation SS amps used output transformers, but I haven't seen that done since the late 1960s.

[Merton]

It's all about them pesky Robots In Disguise, isn't it?

[krispn]

Markbass tte500 is another which can be used without a cab connected.