NAD: Baby Sumo

[NancyJohnson]

Wife got me a GSS Baby Sumo for my birthday.  It's tiny!  It's loud!  Comes in a lovely little metal flight case.  It's barely the size of two paperback books.

 

Just gave it a brief test with my Hamer Cruisebass into a GED2112-DI.  (We live in a detached house, neighbours away.  Chortle!)  Man alive, the clarity is incredible. 

 

I've jacked the Ged into a variety of amps and effects returns thereof over the years and it's never sounded like this... it's almost been a disappointment at times.  It sounds like when I've just gone straight into a mixing desk.

 

Lovely!

[NancyJohnson]

It's very obvious the power here is fairly transparent; there seems little or no colouration, which is what I've been after for a long, long time.

 

I know as bassplayers we tweak things constantly in search for a perfect tone (cue angels singing), but realistically we need to realise that 99% of the listening audience care not about how we sound and anything we route our outboard gear through will change things, but this is near as dammit as close to stomp>desk>headphones.

 

The amp's response to changes in bass/treble/mids don't result in these huge swings/spikes where everything starts shaking; it's just huge, delicious amplification of my choice of pre-stages.

 

Honestly, I don't know how they've achieved this, but I'm genuinely stunned.

[BillyBass]

I've read, more than once, that users have found the output from the Baby Sumo when paired with pre amp pedals was lower than they expected and the amps would run out of steam earlier than you would expect with the stated power output.  It would appear you haven't had this experience then?

[three]

I’d concur with the OP. Very transparent but highly capable and solid - the best of the class D amps I’ve tried. I’ve paired with a Monique and Warwick Hellborg pre with no problems at all in terms of power and headroom. 

[NancyJohnson]

13 hours ago, BillyBass said:

I've read, more than once, that users have found the output from the Baby Sumo when paired with pre amp pedals was lower than they expected and the amps would run out of steam earlier than you would expect with the stated power output.  It would appear you haven't had this experience then?

 

I'm not entirely certain whether the Sansamps are hotter than anything else (in all probability, no) or, for that matter, if my basses have a particularly high output. 

 

After years in the game, I know what I want tonally and I tend to know how to get the most out of my gear without the sound not turning to mush!

[RobD]

I've got the twin Sumo, which I believe is essentially two of these in one case that I use for a stereo setup. I agree, it's a lovely transparent and clear sound, I can't say I've ever struggled for volume with it when running preamp pedals into it, yes you have to turn the volume dial up quite a way, but it just gets louder and louder towards the end of the range, which I find a lot of other amps don't seem to do.

 

The first time I used it for a theatre gig the guitarist in the pit was blown away by how massive the sound was into a pair of barefaced one10s. It's made transporting the rig so much easier and sounds massively better. 

[NancyJohnson]

On 18/12/2024 at 18:56, RobD said:

I've got the twin Sumo, which I believe is essentially two of these in one case that I use for a stereo setup. I agree, it's a lovely transparent and clear sound, I can't say I've ever struggled for volume with it when running preamp pedals into it, yes you have to turn the volume dial up quite a way, but it just gets louder and louder towards the end of the range, which I find a lot of other amps don't seem to do.

 

The first time I used it for a theatre gig the guitarist in the pit was blown away by how massive the sound was into a pair of barefaced one10s. It's made transporting the rig so much easier and sounds massively better. 

 

The reduced size of kit you need to carry now is insane.  There's absolutely no need for 6x10s or 2x15s and a 40lb head.  Should have bought a smaller car.

[ratman]

I’ve been using a Baby Sumo for a few years now with my Berg HD112s. My board is built around an HX Stomp and I’ve not been wanting in volume.
Tonally, it’s the best rig I’ve ever had. 

[kuetsum]

Do you have a pic when the cover removed and see what's module inside?

[Hellzero]

2 hours ago, kuetsum said:

Do you have a pic when the cover removed and see what's module inside?

It's a GSS proprietary module.

 

I owned one and Didier went nuts when I said it looked like a Pascal module.

[Dan Dare]

17 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Didier went nuts when I said it looked like a Pascal module.

 

Sounds as if you may have hit the nail on the head. Amp builders buy in the modules they use. It wouldn't be cost effective to make their own, even if (and it's a big "if") they are capable of doing so.

[Chienmortbb]

On 12/01/2025 at 07:25, Dan Dare said:

 

Sounds as if you may have hit the nail on the head. Amp builders buy in the modules they use. It wouldn't be cost effective to make their own, even if (and it's a big "if") they are capable of doing so.

I would be wary of designs their own class D module. Ampeg fell foul of this with the PF500.

[RobD]

I imagine some of that has to do with them trying to hit a price point with it, so QC might not have been the highest priority

[Dan Dare]

On 13/01/2025 at 11:03, Chienmortbb said:

I would be wary of designs their own class D module. Ampeg fell foul of this with the PF500.

 

Absolutely. Given that B&O/IcePower, Hypex, Pascal and others all offer proven, reliable off the shelf modules, it makes no sense for amp manufacturers to try to re-invent the wheel.