Alien Audio Compact Poweramp Prototype review

[s_u_y_*]

Okay... well 7 months ago, I posted this thread ( [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=15213&view=findpost&p=156415"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=156415[/url] ) asking about compact poweramps to accompany my EBS MicroBass II as I couldn't find one, and thought it would really help me as I take public transport to gigs. Andy (Alien) then offered to build one for me and a quite a few of you followed the progress in this thread ( [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=20284"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=20284[/url] ).

Now after two gigs, I feel finally ready to give my verdict.

Firstly here are some stats:
400W @ 4 ohms / 240W @ 8 ohms
220mmx180mmx55mm
1.6kg/3.5lbs
Speakon speaker output
Neutrix XLR/jack input




First time this was run, it was done through an 8 ohm 4x10 cabinet. In order to be heard over a full band (drums, two guitars and keyboards), I was running the poweramp at max, with the preamp running at slightly more than half.

Now I've always saw this poweramp to be for the typical gigging bassist around city via public transport, with the assumption those gigs would have PA support. But with the first gig I used this with, this wasn't possible. So I basically put everything to close to max going into my EBS Neo 110 and 112. The comments I heard was that the bass could be heard most of the time. But the second gig, (into a 4x10 Hartke cab) has PA support. I had to slightly turn down the poweramp as not to drown the stage. The soundguy said it only needed a slight boost.

In terms of ease of transport, it fits very well in my rusksack with my preamp DI and my tuner along with my leads and at 1.6kg it won't break your back! The cooling system works very well. After 4 hours of being pushed, I could barely detect any heat. Also, it is less noisy than a lot of amps I've played in terms of fan noise volume.

So im summary, if you need a complete standalone amp for a small to medium venue, you may be able to get away with it this but it isn't ideal. My idea was to have a complementary poweramp for preamp DIs (such as the EBS MicroBass II and the Tech 21 Sansamp) with PA support for the gigging bassist who travels via public transport and this fufills this need perfectly and would be happy to recommend it to anyone.

If anyone wants a close up look, I'll be bringing it down to the SE Bass Bash on the 27th September.

Edited September 22, 2008 by s_u_y_*

[The Funk]

Thanks for the review! Very interesting. I wouldn't mind hearing the MicrobassII through the Alien Compact into a Barefaced Compact.

[Matty]

Hi there Froilan, sorry to bump this up so much...

Just wondering if you find the unit load enough to rehearse with?
Cheers
Matt

[HankStone]

Now this is amazing! I was looking for something like this but only found a bunch of crapy 1u that are crap.

**this may get interesting***
I do alot of overseas gigin and flying in and out- is there any way to make this unit 110-240 switchable?