Darkglass M900

[Al Krow]

The DG M900 has been out for a couple of years now and remains the goto amp for a number of BCers. I have relatively recently got mine and here’s a short review based on what I’ve found so far:

Clean channel

The clean channel is awesome and provides all the headroom (and that 'heft' folk refer to) you are ever likely to need, delivering up to 900W, and will cater for pretty much all venues that don't have an in-house sound system.

The EQ section is perhaps the best available on any D class amp at a similar (or cheaper) price point on the market today, with very usable and versatile EQ centre points: 

Bass - 80Hz

Low mids - toggle switch optionality centring at 250, 500 or 750 Hz

High mids - 750Hz, 1.5kHz and 3kHz

Treble - 5kHz

If I was to find any room for improvement in the above it would be to have a toggle switch for the Bass to also give the option of centring at 60Hz; but hey really starting to split hairs, right? DG have pretty much nailed the EQ.

This clean channel alone IMO makes the amp worth getting for the price (particularly if you can get a mint condition one second hand - which I was lucky enough to do; there were several that came up in the latter part of last year and seem to have all been snapped up).

Drive channel - B3K/VMT

I'm not in a metal band which is the caricature of M900 owners that is often assumed. I’m actually playing in two covers bands, but Like many of us I’ve been on the lookout for that elusive dirt pedal.

The amp allows you to select between two overdrive voicings: B3K mode delivers a more ‘aggressive’, percussive sound while the VMT will bring up the mids for a warmer, more neutral character.

I initially found the DG dirt to have too much top end fizz (which was not massively dissimilar to the Channel B dirt on my Two Notes Le Bass), however this was partly down to bright / aggressive Nord pups (which I love) on my Ibby SR combining with a very articulate and responsive VK 210 which has a tweeter. The DG dirt has a 'Tone' control which is essentially an LPF and allows you to cut out the top end fizz, and that combined with adjusting the tweeter crossover on the VK cab got me 85% of the way there, and has allowed me to move on several dirt pedals including my 2Notes, One Control HGBM, TC Mojomojo and SA OFD, all of which I’d regard as being very decent pedals (taking their relative price into consideration).

What I've found interesting is that for cabs with a warmer tone e.g. my Markbass 1x12 which has a tendency to roll off the high-end or with a P-bass rather than a J bass, the high-end fizz disappears entirely and actually the high-end presence of the DG dirt comes into its own and becomes a plus rather than a minus.

The drive channel (which is not a standalone but feeds in seamlessly to the clean channel and clean EQ) also has a clean blend to allow you keep as much 'clean' bass in the signal as you wish which is very helpful in maintaining the low end.

So having come to the amp as someone pretty sceptical about the DG dirt sound (but convinced that it had one of the best clean power-amps and EQs on the market today), I find myself being pleasantly surprised by the dirt channel (which is effectively £400 worth of DG pedals) too - always nice when that happens!

(For completeness, I should mention that I have currently settled on the very versatile SA Aftershock to complement the DG dirt options in the amp).

Passive/Active switch

Allows you to switch from passive to active mode bass.

Intelligent foot-switch

Really handy to be able to engage dirt or mute via a compact stomp box foot-switch which is included in the price.

I personally also like the fact that (IMO!) it's been beautifully designed.

 

Edited March 11, 2018 by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

Just a couple of further observations after 10 months of use...

Paired with a decent cab this head works just great. I've paired with a BF SC for rehearsals and pub gigs and used at a couple of weddings paired with my VK 210LNT where it totally rocked  

Although I probably currently use it more on clean than I do with dirt engaged, it's nice to have the option of both. In particular, the microtubes engine seems to be used most commonly:

a) either to provide you with a full on drive; or

b) with the drive set low (2 to 3 /10) it adds complex tonal harmonics to make the sound less "clean" and has a similar effect to a valve pre-amp. A number of DG M900 owners have their amps set with "low dirt" as their always-on option.

 

[zelak999]

Great review, i am just contemplating the M900 V2 to go with my new pair of VK 210s.

I doubt if i will use much dirt other than for messing around but i like the idea of having a small amout of the VMT dialled in for a warmer sound.

Glad to hear that it makes for an excellent clean bass amp.