ISP Technologies Bass Vector Pro active cabinets and BETA Preamplifier

[Dood]

Hi everyone!

It's not often that I am compelled to put pen to paper.. or indeed, finger to keyboard to review a piece of gear. However, I wanna talk about this kit as it isn't the run-of-the-mill clone sized bass guitar boxes we have been force fed and gotten used to over the years. The fresh thinking in the design to me is interesting and I want to share what I have learnt recently.

I've had quite a search and an enlightening experience over the last year or so and those who know 'Dood', know I am finicky, fanatical and a perfectionist when looking for the kind of kit that suits me and what I want musically, technically or otherwise. I don't think I am the only person striving for the same result and so, I have decided to put a little review together for my fellow bass playing bretheren in this fine community we call BassChat.

[u]The Journey[/u]
When it comes to looking for a new amp, effect or piece of gear, I am the sort of person who searches endlessly for every last tit-bit of information on the internet or in publications before I even get to touch the item in question. Only when I am sure that on paper at least said G.A.S attack fulfills my every need, do I start to look at where I can get my grubby hands on said items to give them a good test drive. This is certainly the case when I found the ISP website earlier this year - I even posted a thread asking if anyone knew about the company and their kit when I stumbled across them via good ole Google.

Once I found out about the Vector Pro Active cabinets (and on paper at least they seemed to make sense), I contacted ISP Technologies directly. More about them later, but I have to say both ISP Technologies and their UK distributors were very helpful indeed - no shop involved here at all!

Ok, so let's get down to business so you know what we are dealing with!

[u]ISP Technologies?[/u]
Well James Waller (aka "Buck") was the founder of the massive studio and guitar processor company Rocktron. After selling the company to GHS, he and Jon his brother, formed ISP Technologies.
Both brothers, as can clearly be seen on the ISP website have a deep knowledge of PA design and related technologies - so for me it was refreshing to see this valuable knowledge be directed at us Bass Players who deserve some serious 'bass able' kit! ;o)


[u]Enter the Bass Vector range of active, powered cabinets and Beta preamp to match.[/u]



As you can see, the units pictured are not for the feint hearted! If I were asked to describe the cabinet alone, I would say that it was more akin to touring 'Front of house' PA design than a more 'usual' bass cabinet. Indeed, the design brief was to do exactly that. Design a cabinet that could actually produce powerful clean low end and articulate tone all the way through the bass guitar range in the same way as pro PA.

The Vector Bass cabinets come in a set of different models to suit budget and requirements. Although the technical information is very clearly laid out on the ISP [url="http://www.isptechnologies.com"]website[/url], here's a quick break down at a glance.

[u]Bass Vector Pro:[/u]
Active cabinet featuring a high excursion 18 inch woofer and dual midrange speakers. The speakers are properly crossed over and fed by a special design 1KW internal amplifer using ISP's own D-Cat technology. More about that on their website.
The cabinets can be daisy chained and stacked as in the picture above.Each cabinet kicking out 1KW. Jon designed the cabinets with a line-array topology in mind so that when multiple cabinets are used, the 8" drivers remain in a vertical line for best horizontal dispersion of the upper frequencies.

[u]Bass Vector:[/u]
Essential the same active system, however featuring a 600W high excursion 18" cone in the cabinet. The main difference with this cabinet is that it features a 'speakon' output that enables you to stack a [u]passive[/u] Bass Vector cabinet on top and drive it with the internal amplifier of the active cabinet. The same 1KW amplifer is used in the Bass Vector and will drive the two cabinets with the full power of the amplifier.

[u]Bass Vector Pro (115)[/u]
Next along is the cabinet I am reviewing for you today. This is the Bass Vector Pro (115 version) This particualr unit is physically smaller than the 18" versions - but the 1KW D-Cat amplifer drives a single high excursion 15" woofer, a different but equally high quality crossover and the same 8" mid range drivers.
See below for some pictures!

[u]Bass Vector 115[/u]
Finally, in the range is a 600W version that can supply an external passive Bass Vector cabinet to make a powerful stack - this unit like the Bass Vector above also makes full use of the 1KW amplifer! Nice to know that finally a company doesnt scrimp on available amplifier muscle!

* Interestingly The Bass Vector 115 range was created after a Guitar World magazine review by none other than Tom Bowlus, Now Editor in Chief of the very excellent Bass Gear Magazine to which I happily subscribe! He fed back his thoughts about the 18" range and subsequently the smaller, but equally commanding 15" range was brought in to production. Tom liked the system enough he bought one! That for me is a great endorsement. If you have seem Tom's Blog on the internet and the depth that the reviews go to in Bass Gear magazine - then you'll probably appreciate what I am saying and have the same grin!

[u]Construction[/u]
All the cabinets are tour grade Baltic Birch Ply construction, dadoed joints, rubberised polyurethane finish, massive handle and removeable castors. (I have to say, I have been using a dolly with massive rubber wheels on - but any decent trolley will do if the wheels aren't available.) The BETA preamplifier is an all steel tour grade construction wrapped in a thick glossy black painted coat.

[u]Set Up[/u]
Dead easy! The preamp has an external mains adaptor. I would have preferred an internal one - but Buck says that he wanted to ensure that mains borne hum could be kept to a minimum. Next either a balanced XLR or unbalanced 1/4" jack connects the preamp to the active cabinet input. The cabinet features an input gain trim pot to ensure it is compatible with other preamps too - or for balancing output volumes when multiple cabinets are stacked. The Cabinet receives a standard IEC power lead, taking note of the fuse requirements. No, this baby will NOT start with a 3 amp fuse in the plug - a reminder that the power amplifier is designed for a bit more than bedroom practice!!!

[u]Power Up![/u]
Oh I am a geek! ;o) Straight away I am greeted with a bright blue LED on the preamp AND one slap bang in between the cones on the cabinet to tell me the system is very much alive! he he he!!

My basic routine for testing gear is (read the manual first! then) to set all the tone controls to 12 O'clock, turn off any bells and whistles and get the gain controls set up properly. I then experiment with each section to see what differences they make, then use my findings to dial up the tone I want. Ok, so - I wont go in to too much detail - but there is an LED for 'signal sensed' and another for 'peak' to let you know when the preamp is picking up a bit of over cooking anywhere in the signal chain. Easy to back the gain control off a little and the tone still remains clear and true. Wide ranging, the gain control was very happy with my active basses - my passive basses - oh and later on, sending in a line signal from some other outboard gear as well! nice touch - I could reign in a really hot signal safely!

The EQ appears basic at first - there's not much to see really.. but - I think this is testament to a designer who knows you should be listening with your ears and not your eyes!! Bass control on the left - Sensitive and with the cabinet producing such an awesome bottom end with my basses.. i'm yet to have to move the Bass control passed unity gain - zero! The mids are two parametric controls with a button for a wide or narrow Q. Works subtely, but surprisingly effectively too The first covering the 60Hz to 1Khz range with +/- 15dB of cut and boost. The same level control for the second mid - but covering the range 200hz to 6Khz again with the Q switch. Finally for the EQ a treble control and a bright switch. Again, the treble is musical and useable. I found, if any boost at all, it was probably about 1-2dB to get what I needed from the system.

The next three controls I have decided should be on every preamp! - Especially when they are this good in my opinion. I can't begin to explain how the exciter works - maybe the next time I talk to Buck Waller I will ask. His replies are always detailed and very helpful. Sweeping the control back and forth you can hear the audio response curve changing as a note is played and it doesnt take long to find a pleasing sweet spot where the bass is fat and the treble is sweet. As I understand it there are some phase changes going on as the control is swept - but again, I'm listening with my ears and it sounds pleasing. The EQ and Exciter interact with each other and I found it was easy to make things sound ugly with extreme settings! Next along - the Decimator, a patented design that is a vast improvement on the Waller's original Rocktron HUSH design. It works a treat and I found that it didn't interfere with my bass tone or the decay of my notes. Buck had explained to me that the control part of the gate is taken from the guitar input (source), whereas the actual gating doesnt happen until prior to the effects loop to ensure the highest quality signal. Next along! The compressor! Now, I'll admit. I am not a fan of 'one knob' compressors. Only because I have never found one that could do what I wanted with so few controls. Now, I'm not including using compression as an effect here - as I do in my rig - but for taming the signal - this one is very effective.Maxed out, it will do squishy, but for a transparent tone and controlling some different playing styles, it is very good. I tested the preamp out in my studio too; For recording I upped the threshold a bit and found that my bass sat in a mix with very little tweaking. Dood likes an easy life!!! To the far right - a volume control. Be warned though it goes up.. and loud.. and up.. and louder, without any signs of breaking in to a sweat.

[u]It sounds like???[/u]
When it comes to describing what the system sounds like - well, I don't really think it is possible - but it delivers in truck loads. I would say ' a faithful reproduction of what my bass SHOULD sound like'. It's defintely the most uncoloured cabinet I have played through yet.. and I have played through lots of boxes that the manufacturers would suggest were..ehem.. 'flat response'!!!
I dialled in far too much bass for an earth shaking sub-dub sound and the cab didn't fart out once. I dialled in a toppy riccie twang that could tear the top of my head off - but noticed none of that evil tweeter scream. - This leads me on to a subject that I was totally cynical about. I don't mind admitting that I discussed my cynicism over the lack of a tweeter with Alex Claber reference his 'Big One' design. I have now been proved otherwise that a midrange *can* produce the top end that someone such as myself, using an ERB requires. I feel this is down to the design of the Beta preamp's treble control, mainly as it is able to extend the smooth and natural roll off of the midrange from 4Khz up towards the 10Khz region of the audio spectrum. (as it has been described to me.) Indeed, I noticed plugging my bass directly in to the cabinet, I had to boost the treble on my bass more - though the preamp's treble control shows off it's musicality in comparison!! You can hear the crisp highs in the video below.

[u]It has wheels on and feet?[/u]
I noticed differences in the cabinet tonal output depending on it's orientation too! Tom Bowlus, in his original review found that popping the cab on it's side, with the 8" cones at the top was most pleasing for him - and I found for testing with a single cab, the same. Though I'd take his advice in stacking them as per the pictures above for multiple cabinets.

[u]Jeez, get to the conclusion!![/u]
So, to sum up - and if you grew bored of my writings, The Preamp looks simple, but sounds fantastic. No hiss or extraneous noise - and I preferred using the Exciter instead of the tone controls. No bass boost required, it sounds naturally deep enough! The Vector Pro cabinet - I think Tom mentioned 'concussive lows' - they are deep and authoritive, never muddy . The midrange drivers also sound clear without any harshness expected with cheapy horn tweeters - well.. even some expensive, badly crossed tweeters for that matter.

[u]Yeah, but what was wrong? They can't be perfect![/u]
Negative points? Hmmm.. well I mentioned the AC adaptor on the preamp. I would prefer to have just an IEC lead in the back of my rack and not another AC adaptor. Some would say that the cabinet is rather heavy. Well, for that size box, in comparison to other bass cabinets of a similar size - yes it is. However, when you compare its overall ability against say, an 8x10, then you soon forget about any weight issues - it's lighter, despite carrying a massively powerful amplifer as well. What else? Well... right now, you aren't going to see many of these in the UK. (I had mine personally delivered to my front door on a 3 day trial by ISP's UK distributor [url="http://www.gotoguitars.com/"]http://www.gotoguitars.com/[/url] who were nothing short of amazing with calling me up and arranging a meet. They came all the way from Manchester to Norfolk with the rig!). Finally, the price. I believe that the addage 'you get what you pay for' in this case is very true. When you compare this rig against the likes of Bergantino, Forge Bass or indeed the other active PA type solutions out there from HK, Martin and Meyer - it's priced in the market well - but I think with the addition of the preamp and current availability, it pips the others at the post. You are getting a complete system package - but can still purchase the preamp and cabinets seperately.

Links:

[b]VIDEO![/b] Harmony Central NAMM 2007, (Courtesy of Harmony Central)
[url="http://www.isptechnologies.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=161&Itemid=91"]http://www.isptechnologies.com/index.php?o...1&Itemid=91[/url]

ISP Technologies website,
[url="http://www.isptechnologies.com/index.php"]http://www.isptechnologies.com/index.php[/url] - Follow the products links to the Vector Cabinets and Beta Preamp.

Tom Bowlus' review,
[url="http://www.guitarworld.com/article/isp_technologies_bass_vector_and_bass_vector_pro_cabinets_with_beta_bass_processor_preamp"]http://www.guitarworld.com/article/isp_tec...rocessor_preamp[/url]

GotoGuitars, UK distributor,
[url="http://www.gotoguitars.com/"]http://www.gotoguitars.com/[/url]

[u]Pictures![/u]


The BETA Preamplifier
[attachment=32427:DSC_0040.JPG]

Stack this way for a line array topology!
[attachment=32428:DSC_0042.JPG]

Handles the low F# of 'Doodle' my Shuker 7 string with easy and authority
[attachment=32429:DSC_0056.JPG]


Finally, thanks I have to send to Tom Bowlus for his advice, GotoGuitars for running around for me, The guys at Bass Merchant who let me sit all day and long in to after closing trying out every last peice of gear in the search for a tone in my head and finally to Buck Waller personally for listening to my thoughts and answering questions.

[peted]

That looks like the dogs preverbials. The spec on paper is also pretty impressive. Considering you've been pursuing light-weight cabs for quite a while now these must be hugely impressive to make you about-turn.

Are you using this rig with your covers band? Will have to try to coincide my next Norwich visit with one of your gig dates.

[Dood]

[quote name='peted' post='594483' date='Sep 10 2009, 06:59 AM']That looks like the dogs preverbials. The spec on paper is also pretty impressive. Considering you've been pursuing light-weight cabs for quite a while now these must be hugely impressive to make you about-turn.

Are you using this rig with your covers band? Will have to try to coincide my next Norwich visit with one of your gig dates.[/quote]


Hi ya! - Yeah, I'm very pleased with the rig now I have started adding my other gear to the signal chain. I think, considering the power of this rig, it's not really that heavy in comparison to cabs that would have to be much bigger and heavier to compete with it I guess.

- Noooo, I left the covers band ages ago to concentrate on Within The Void, so it's unlikely at the moment the rig will play 'locally' - or at least, not until the Void are touring!

[Dood]

WOW! Does this look familiar???

[url="http://www.surefunk.com/sureforum/bass-players/17824-isp-technologies-bass-vector-pro-active.html"]http://www.surefunk.com/sureforum/bass-pla...pro-active.html[/url]

[JMT3781]

if anyone wants this rig, its for sale in the forum, for only 650 you get the cab and the pre and a custom cover, and two sets of wheels!!!!