Markbass SD800

[Kongo]

I've been using this amp head for a few months now and I've plugged it into every cab I could (rehearsal cabs are always different, can't have dibs on them unlike the head ) and MAN! After getting used to dial EQ (I'm used to Graphic) I got a aquality sound that's consistant with many cabs so this head is awesome!
It's also lighter than my BOSS ME-50B so it feels...When I first carried it I almost threw it it was so ultra light.
Massive headroom too...It's got a clip light but it doesn't show until your about 3 o'clock (tested only, I don't need it that loud!!!) and seems to have almost infinite headroom.

It's a shame they cost so much as I've built my tone on it for a few months now and it's not mine so one day we shall have to part ways.
Has anyone else here tried or owned one?
I'm well impressed!

[dave_bass5]

I always wanted one but could never justify getting one. I started a thread a while ago about the SD1200. Now thats some power.
I found the tone to be tighter and a bit more sterile than my MB heads, with a very nice quick attack on the lower strings that my heads cant produce.
I "believe" the newer high powered heads (i wont say digital as i dont want to get in trouble with Alex ;-) use a different power stage and so are a bit warmer.
Nice head though and i would still like one but cant see me ever getting one now the LMIII800 is out.

[Kongo]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='494112' date='May 21 2009, 12:03 PM']I always wanted one but could never justify getting one. I started a thread a while ago about the SD1200. Now thats some power.
I found the tone to be tighter and a bit more sterile than my MB heads, with a very nice quick attack on the lower strings that my heads cant produce.
I "believe" the newer high powered heads (i wont say digital as i dont want to get in trouble with Alex ;-) use a different power stage and so are a bit warmer.
Nice head though and i would still like one but cant see me ever getting one now the LMIII800 is out.[/quote]

Whoa that's some rig man! (looking at Avatar)
It's a quality head but out of my price range...unfortunate cause I've found my perfect tone on it and tried it with many cabs so it would work with mine too.
I didn;t know at first...I got nothing but over sub, nasal or tinny sound but then I just messed with the mids a bit and all of a sudden I got the best tone I ever got!
Tried it yesterday in another cab AGAIN! This time a Warwick Ned Pro...not my choice of cab but...yup! the tone was still there!
Yoy get 450watts @ 8ohms too so even single cabs get power!

Is that 1200watt version a stereo head or do you really get that power?
Jeez that's aLOT if you do! and I bet it still weighs nothing.

Oh but I'm not too keen on thier cabs.
The 4x10 markbass cab with this looked like it was having trouble...But even the Warwick 4x10 last night didn't break up!
I decided not to use the 18" with it this time...the room just fills up with sub bass!
Hmmm maybe that warwick cab isn't so bad then but the markbass cabs don't seem as good as the heads.
Light? yes. good? yes but not great.

Edited May 21, 2009 by Kongo

[dave_bass5]

LOL, that pic was just my normal rig (with this band) with my LMII on top. i didn't have them both plugged in. I just wanted to compare them at a gig.
The SD1200 is mono so yes, 1200watts in to 4ohms.

Your SD800 is the same as my SA450 other than the power stage. I mainly keep the EQ flat other than a slight boost at 100hz (low mid, all the way to the left) and usually just play with the filters and this seems to work for me no matter what cab i use.
I also dont really like the MB cabs. I had a 151P traveller and hated it. Ive tried a few of the bigger cabs in shops but felt they sounded flat.

I love my Schroeder cabs. These cabs are loud and 4ohms so i really only need one to go with each head (one rig per band) and im good to go.

[far0n]

Got an SA450 myself and the only thing I'd swap it for is an SD800 or 1200. I know what you mean about the markbass cabs though, I thought mine were rubbish, no top end on them at all and if you like a bit of 'zing' forget it. Currently using a couple of Eden D210XLTs and it's never sounded better.

[Kongo]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='494492' date='May 21 2009, 05:27 PM']LOL, that pic was just my normal rig (with this band) with my LMII on top. i didn't have them both plugged in. I just wanted to compare them at a gig.
The SD1200 is mono so yes, 1200watts in to 4ohms.

Your SD800 is the same as my SA450 other than the power stage. I mainly keep the EQ flat other than a slight boost at 100hz (low mid, all the way to the left) and usually just play with the filters and this seems to work for me no matter what cab i use.
I also dont really like the MB cabs. I had a 151P traveller and hated it. Ive tried a few of the bigger cabs in shops but felt they sounded flat.

I love my Schroeder cabs. These cabs are loud and 4ohms so i really only need one to go with each head (one rig per band) and im good to go.[/quote]

OMG! What the HELL can take that? It's gotta cost £2500 surely!
Yeah I do like them filters too...note sure if what I did with them cancelled out or boosted things I may or may not have wanted but...an art not a science what I did let to the awesome tone I got from it!
Had to use an Ampeg head today though...through a 8x10 and just got a wall of sub! Uh-oh...

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the cabs are crap...so it wasn;t me.
I cut the bass when I uysed one cause they looked like they were about to launch out...The bass was flat until I cut it!
Are they sure they are "Bass" cabs not guitar?

[quote name='far0n' post='494503' date='May 21 2009, 05:37 PM']Got an SA450 myself and the only thing I'd swap it for is an SD800 or 1200. I know what you mean about the markbass cabs though, I thought mine were rubbish, no top end on them at all and if you like a bit of 'zing' forget it. Currently using a couple of Eden D210XLTs and it's never sounded better.[/quote]

The SD800 is kick ass once you get used to it and dial in the perfect tone...As I said, seems to have INFINITE headroom!
But even with one cab it's pumping 450watts out...that's more than enough!

I didn't get as great a tone when plugged into the cabs though.
The 4x10 or the 4x10 with the 1x15...Well I did get a nice enough sound with 2 cabs and a nice amount of volume but...Hmmm they look better then they sound.

I sometimes wonder what running one of these though a Trace Elliot cab would be like but I cannot afford to buy the SD800...I'm lucky I (almost) always get dibs on it cause the guys know how much I like it.
I was the first to try it at the studio and after giving a rave review I guess they give it me to keep me quiet LOL!
Still...a Trace head does completely different things than the Markbass, no pre-shape for example.
I may look into getting one for myself one day though...maybe a second hand one will come up!

EDIT:

OMG!!! That SD1200 puts out 750watts @ 8 ohms!
BLOODY HELL!!!
Still...recently I have really felt what "headroom" really is...The SD800 is so clear loud as it is quiet...This must be even CLEARER!!!

Edited May 22, 2009 by Kongo

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='Kongo' post='494825' date='May 22 2009, 01:08 AM']OMG!!! That SD1200 puts out 750watts @ 8 ohms!
BLOODY HELL!!!
Still...recently I have really felt what "headroom" really is...The SD800 is so clear loud as it is quiet...This must be even CLEARER!!![/quote]

Yeah, i cant see me ever more than 500watts but it would be nice for the headroom.
As i said there was a thread about this head (SD1200) a while ago and Alex C. more or less said it wasn't going to sound as loud as the specs indicate but i was thinking it would be nice for the extra headroom alone.

Funny enough i was rehearsing last week and at first used an Ampeg combo and i hated it. It seemed like it was all low end. I must admit i didnt spend too long with tweaking it but after I switched to using my SA450 with the cab and it was much better. Guess i just like/used to the MB sound.

From what ive read some of the bigger MB cabs work well but more in a gig environment rather soloed or in a rehearsal. They say the same about the Schroeder cabs and i ll agree with tht so maybe it is the same with the MB ones.

[Kongo]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='494877' date='May 22 2009, 08:51 AM']Yeah, i cant see me ever more than 500watts but it would be nice for the headroom.
As i said there was a thread about this head (SD1200) a while ago and Alex C. more or less said it wasn't going to sound as loud as the specs indicate but i was thinking it would be nice for the extra headroom alone.

Funny enough i was rehearsing last week and at first used an Ampeg combo and i hated it. It seemed like it was all low end. I must admit i didnt spend too long with tweaking it but after I switched to using my SA450 with the cab and it was much better. Guess i just like/used to the MB sound.

From what ive read some of the bigger MB cabs work well but more in a gig environment rather soloed or in a rehearsal. They say the same about the Schroeder cabs and i ll agree with tht so maybe it is the same with the MB ones.[/quote]

Alex is right. Wattage alone doesn't make for a big volume difference.
A guy told me this on another bass forum, he also builds amps:

[i]Dont forget this: Doubling your wattage only increases your sound level by 3 db.

So, into an 85 spl speaker:
1 watt = 85 db
2 = 88
4 = 91
8 = 94
16 = 97
32 = 100
64 = 103
128 = 106
256 = 109
512 = 112
1024 watts = 115db[/i]

So we see that Wattage doesn;t increase volume.
It is for headroom. I'm still confused a bit about it but that's the way I read it.

Man I HATE ampeg combo's!
They are closed cabs with weedy wattage, I've had to use one a few times in rehearsal...just farts out about half way.

When I put the SD800 with ANY cab the sound seems to be the same. Well any 4x10 anyways, obviously an 18" wouldn't sound the same.
Through one cab it's 450 watts so for folks like me that can't fit another cab into their house / transport it gives alot of headroom with one cab alone.
It says it's 800 watt but some specs say @ 4ohms it's 750watts...either way that's still some SERIOUS power!
And from having 4 months experience with it...it's flawless in headroom!
Also, I dunno if this is just my ears but it can keep up with me too. Every note of a really fast lick comes out better than others...It seems faster, if heads can be fast?
I'd say it's myself but if I use any other head, including my current Laney which I use at home for now, it's not so fast at replicating notes.

I too don't see a reason for the SD1200 personally but for guys playing in big outdoor gigs who like thier amp to do alot of work on stage for monitoring might well like it.

I've done some thinking and although I was gonna get a Trace head, I might save up for a MB SD800...I've used one for so long and got great tone, infinite headroom and absolutely NO tonal breakup...I'd be a fool to try doing the same with another head.
I prefere TE for cabs anyways, I don't use the Pre-shape. Though I love the EQ on TE heads I already know my settings and sound with an SD800.
That said, the MB SD800 has it's own Pre-Shaping wth the VPF setting...having a look it seems I do use it on this...guess that's cause I can choose what it does,
Plus I can use the ears and put it in a case like at the studio and still have no weight to worry about.
So no damage either, and room for my rack compressor too!

It's not cheap though, £1200 avg. online but worth it...I'll only buy one...Ever!

EDIT:

Decided to go for it...I'll have to save a few months (if I still have my job) but when I get the dosh it's well worth it.
Will look for secondhand too, if anyone ever sells these...You'd be pretty foolish to!
It's the exact sound, note replication and headroom a bassist like me needs!
Modern head with a Modern sounding cab...Yep, I'm certainly cutting through the mix!
Can't wait to test it with my new TE 4x10 Cab next week.
Then I'll defo know what it'll be like and if it works, which it will, I will get one 100%.

Markbass SD800 = the hand of Midas for bass!

Edited May 23, 2009 by Kongo