New Barefaced comparison video

[fretmeister]

26 minutes ago, chris_b said:

At the moment I'm playing with an old fashioned Chicago blues band and a jazz funk, soul and blues band. Smaller gigs with less volume involved, so I find the One10's work well. I use a P bass on some of these gigs. The Jazz is my go-to for everything else. So far the Super Compact is paired up with a Super Midget for the cover bands and for the even louder, foundation shaking, rock blues stuff I'm intending to put the BB2 and SM together.

That's interesting - not far off what I'm doing.

I play with an educational trust in several ensembles. The biggest is the 25 piece big band, but there are smaller ones with only 3 or 4 other players too.

It's in the big band that sometimes I would like a bit more cut than I'm getting. But as I play in at least 3 ensembles on the same day I wouldn't be carrying 2 different speaker rigs with me. Too much faffing!

[fretmeister]

26 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

The things that hit me immediately and observations are (just talke these as a whole, not individual points):
i) I didn't like the Two Ten (but...),
ii) I really wanted the Super Compact to 'win' this, but the Big Baby 2 sounded better when Alex switched to it, although as the BB2 pieces went on, I felt there was little to distinguish between the Super Compact and the BB2.  My feeling was that in a band context, the nuances that make the cabinets what they are would maybe be lost on the mix,
iii) I would have liked Alex to perhaps change the rotation of cabinets.  It's feasible that had he played through the Super Compact, then gone to the Two Ten, my ears would have registered what the cabinet was doing differently.

 

I've been swapping some emails with Alex.

Apparently the treble of the BB2 will sound just like the treble of the SC when the BB2 HF control is at Nil.

 

The 10 inch cones have a little more treble than the SC (6Khz -v- 4Khz) and the BB2 goes up much higher to 20Khz.

To my ears - in the video at least -  the 10s sound a little rolled off in the lows. Like a more gentle slope HPF starting at a higher freq than the others. Kind of smoother low end rather than a wallop right at the bottom.

 

No doubt everybody else's ears will hear it differently!  

 

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

I play with an educational trust in several ensembles. The biggest is the 25 piece big band, but there are smaller ones with only 3 or 4 other players too.

It's in the big band that sometimes I would like a bit more cut than I'm getting. But as I play in at least 3 ensembles on the same day I wouldn't be carrying 2 different speaker rigs with me. Too much faffing!

I wouldn't carry 2 rigs either. I'd bring one that would cover everything. There's a volume control on the amp for the smaller projects.

For the first 3 decades I used one rig for everything. That was tough when all I needed was a 112 and I had to bring the 215!!! Since 2007 (when I finally saw sense) I've used multiple small cabs, mostly 112's. I could easily do all my gigs with the BB2, even (at a push) the loud ones, but I own these other cabs because I like their sound so I'm mixing and matching to the requirements of the gig.

[Al Krow]

2 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I could easily do all my gigs with the BB2, even (at a push) the loud ones...

This ^^

 

[stewblack]

Unbelievable how much better the Super Compact sounds isn't it? I would never believe there could be such a dramatic difference. 

The others sounded like they had a blanket thrown over them in comparison. 

[Cuzzie]

4 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Unbelievable how much better the Super Compact sounds isn't it? I would never believe there could be such a dramatic difference. 

The others sounded like they had a blanket thrown over them in comparison. 

Spot on

[stewblack]

Just now, Cuzzie said:

Spot on

Just night and day isn't it? 

[machinehead]

It would be interesting to hear a Super Midget in the video.  Also, a demonstartion of how the SM and BB2 sound when the tweeter/horn is adjusted.

I have a pair of one10s, a Super Midget and a BB2 and enjoy them all.  However, if I could keep only one cab it would be the BB2.

Frank.

[fretmeister]

I’ve been adding up stuff to sell.

It seems I have about £1500 worth of pedals I don’t use! 😳

Time to get selling. 

[Cuzzie]

33 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Just night and day isn't it? 

Completely - clarity is immense - it sounds a bit more ‘nasal’ and less rounded because, that’s what a Ray sounds like!

[stevie]

On 20/06/2020 at 19:11, JohnDaBass said:

I would love to hear the New Basschat v3 FRFR Faital loaded cab compared to the BB2. Maybe possible at the South West Bass bash? 

If the event goes to plan, there'll be at least three Basschat 12" cabs at the Bash - probably more. I'd be interested in a comparison with the BB2, too. Last year, nobody brought one - so we couldn't compare, although we were able to compare it with a Fearless 3-way. That was very interesting. The previous year, we ran a head-to-head which included a tweeterless Barefaced 12 but, if memory serves, the consensus was that the horn on the Basschat cab gave it an unfair advantage.

[JohnDaBass]

13 minutes ago, stevie said:

If the event goes to plan, there'll be at least three Basschat 12" cabs at the Bash - probably more. I'd be interested in a comparison with the BB2,too.

Is Paddy Power or Coral offering odds?

If so I'll have £1 each way on the Basschat v3 Faital. 😂

[Merton]

13 hours ago, stewblack said:

Unbelievable how much better the Super Compact sounds isn't it? I would never believe there could be such a dramatic difference. 

The others sounded like they had a blanket thrown over them in comparison. 

Even the BB2 with horn full on? (I haven't watched this yet, so finding it interesting reading the comparisons to completely colour my opinion when I do get around to wathcing and listening with good headphones!)

[fretmeister]

13 hours ago, stewblack said:

Unbelievable how much better the Super Compact sounds isn't it? I would never believe there could be such a dramatic difference. 

The others sounded like they had a blanket thrown over them in comparison. 

Interesting.

I thought the BB2 was far clearer than the SC.

[Al Krow]

8 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Interesting.

I thought the BB2 was far clearer than the SC.

Yup weird how we're hearing different things from the YT clip!

I think 3 of us, so far, on this thread have both the BB2 and SC and have been able to A/B them "in the flesh" over a period of time (and not just in a store) which has gotta be the best test? 

The vote from this particular subset of BF owners seems overall to be firmly in favour of the BB2 over the SC if we had to keep just one of them for solo use.

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

Interesting.

I thought the BB2 was far clearer than the SC.

That's bizarre. The other two literally sound like they were in a different room. With the door shut. And a duvet thrown over them.

I actually wondered if the mic placement was causing it being right in front of the SC

Edited June 23, 2020 by stewblack

[wateroftyne]

On 21/06/2020 at 13:10, Geddys nose said:

Pity no one was playing the drum kit to show what frequencies would disappear from the mix.

I imaging that'll have a bit to do with it. I was surprised how lo-tech the video was for a stickler like Alex.

And, despite what's mentioned earlier in the thread, all that counts it how it sounds with the band.

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, Merton said:

Even the BB2 with horn full on? (I haven't watched this yet, so finding it interesting reading the comparisons to completely colour my opinion when I do get around to wathcing and listening with good headphones!)

I can pick out the SC even in a blind test. Every time. With someone else stop starting the video at different places. It sounds like it's going through a preamp while the others are not 

[stewblack]

2 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

And, despite what's mentioned earlier in the thread, all that counts it how it sounds with the band.

I hate to disagree with a Green Name, knowing how tetchy they get, but that should say bands. My set up has to sound great in all the bands so versatility would be the most important consideration. 

Anyway, it's an utterly pointless debate, if a bunch of bass nerds can't agree on what sounds best then it really doesn't matter in the context of a band. No one listens or cares about us unless we're too loud. 

[wateroftyne]

Just now, stewblack said:

I hate to disagree with a Green Name, knowing how tetchy they get, but that should say bands. My set up has to sound great in all the bands so versatility would be the most important consideration. 

Anyway, it's an utterly pointless debate, if a bunch of bass nerds can't agree on what sounds best then it really doesn't matter in the context of a band. No one listens or cares about us unless we're too loud. 

A bit of an unfair comment - you can disagree with me all you like - all the green name means is I was daft enough to volunteer 😄

[stewblack]

Just now, wateroftyne said:

A bit of an unfair comment - you can disagree with me all you like - all the green name means is I was daft enough to volunteer 😄

It was a joke, you fool. 

(leaves the room backwards, bowing and scraping) 

[wateroftyne]

I HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOUR DAMMIT

[fretmeister]

15 minutes ago, stewblack said:

That's bizarre. The other two literally sound like they were in a different room. With the door shut. And a duvet thrown over them.

I actually wondered if the mic placement was causing it being right in front of the SC

What were you listening with? I'm curious.

I've listened twice - once on studio monitors (Yamaha HS7 pair) and once with some Grado headphones.

I thought the low end and mids of the SC and BB2 were very similar, but the BB2 had a crisper top end.

[stewblack]

4 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

What were you listening with? I'm curious.

I've listened twice - once on studio monitors (Yamaha HS7 pair) and once with some Grado headphones.

I thought the low end and mids of the SC and BB2 were very similar, but the BB2 had a crisper top end.

Either via the amp attached to my pc which is a TCE 250 208 or on my phone through my studio headphones 

But you raise a very good point. 

Edited June 23, 2020 by stewblack

[fretmeister]

Would be good if Alex released some hi quality WAV files with identical mic placement to remove any placement and youtube process issues.

Ideally with the BB2 tweeter control at nil, 50% and 100%.

If the BB2 sounds like the SC with the high end at nil, then that would really be perfect for me.