Balanced TRS DI Out into Mono Bass Amp Input OK?

[agedhorse]

12 hours ago, Obrienp said:

OK. In the case of the Ashdown Little Stubby the balanced out requires a TRS jack (no XLR out), so would that require a cable with TRS one end wired unbalanced and TS 1/4” the other? 

Yes, that would work as long as the ring is tied to the sleeve at the TS end. The TS-TS cable does that for you automatically. This applies specifically to transformer driven (floating) balanced outputs into an unbalanced input. 

The Rane notes contain good information, but you really need to understand that a transformer output is fundamentally different from an active driven balanced output. The necessary conditions are different.

[Obrienp]

In case anybody is interested, I ran this question by Ashdown technical support and got this answer:

”To work a slave amplifier, use a stereo to twin mono jack lead , plug the sterio jack into the di out and use either of the mono outputs into the slave amp. Note that one will be out of phase and one in phase, use the one that gives the best results. “

It is pretty much what some of you have said already but I guess we can call it the definitive answer, as far as the Little Stubby is concerned.

Thanks to everybody who has advised and commented on this.

[agedhorse]

15 hours ago, Obrienp said:

In case anybody is interested, I ran this question by Ashdown technical support and got this answer:

”To work a slave amplifier, use a stereo to twin mono jack lead , plug the sterio jack into the di out and use either of the mono outputs into the slave amp. Note that one will be out of phase and one in phase, use the one that gives the best results. “

It is pretty much what some of you have said already but I guess we can call it the definitive answer, as far as the Little Stubby is concerned.

Thanks to everybody who has advised and commented on this.

Yes, this will work fine, the TS plug will ground reference the transformer driven output. Be sure the other plug can not come in contact with anything.

[Obrienp]

Hi Folks,

I thought I would give an update on this, now that I have the advice from you all and Ashdown.

I got a stereo to twin TS jack cable as advised and tried it out running my Little Stubby into an Ashdown RM 112 Evo II and the balanced output into a Warwick Gnome (with EQ set to unity) powering 2 X Barefaced One10s. Well it worked after a fashion. The problem is the line output from the Little Stubby varies depending on the setting on the amp, so I have to adjust the input gain on the slave amp every time I change the settings on the Little Stubby: e.g. put on more drive, increase the bass, etc. It is also quite noisy, even with the correct phase TS jack. I think part of the problem is that I am running the line output into an amp with a preamp.

I can't see this being a very practical gigging rig because of the need to change settings on the slave amp every time I tweak the main amp. I think I need something more plug and play. I am now considering buying a cheap PA power amp, something like a Behringer NX1000 and using that as the slave, at least it would remove the extra pre-amp from the mix. Bridged it would give a reasonable power boost to my rig for those bigger/outside gigs, or am I just chasing something I will never be satisfied with? Would I be better off accepting that I need a more powerful bass amp for the bigger gigs and leave the Little Stubby at home? 

The trouble is I am now hooked on the valve sound and I am not sure my TCE 550 is going to give me what I want. I don't want the weight cost and size of a bigger valve amp: are hybrid valve/solid state amps going to give me the kind of tones the Little Stubby provides: something like an Orange Little Terror 500? What do you folks think?

[Downunderwonder]

You should get a tech to examine the signal before assuming the noise is coming from the slave amp.

If I was you I would break off the engagement to the Little Stubbie before this gets crazy.

[Obrienp]

25 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

You should get a tech to examine the signal before assuming the noise is coming from the slave amp.

If I was you I would break off the engagement to the Little Stubbie before this gets crazy.

I think you might have a point. I love the tones that it can produce but I am going to have to accept that it is only suitable for rehearsals and small gigs. I think I am going to have to stick to my TCE BH 550, or shell out for an affordable hybrid but which one?

[jimbobothy]

…. the older Genz Benz Streamliner series are hybrids with a valve driven Class A front end into a Class D Power Amplifier. They seem to have a good rep.

Edited June 30, 2021 by jimbobothy