DHA VT5-400 Yes indeed a custom Bass amp. Intial Review / Pics added

[DHA]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='74740' date='Oct 15 2007, 07:24 PM']Dave - will you have one of these amps with you a Music Live?

I'd very much like to try one out.[/quote]

Sorry, we are not going to Music live.

Maybe next year.

Dave

[Sugden]

Loving the front dave thanks alot exactly what I was after. I'll have endless hours playing with all the configurations of controls.

Im pretty sure I know what all the other controls do except what does the colour section do?

Cheers

Sug

[Merton]

That looks awesome, can't wait to hear how it sounds!

[DHA]

[quote name='Sugden' post='75117' date='Oct 16 2007, 04:17 PM']Loving the front dave thanks alot exactly what I was after. I'll have endless hours playing with all the configurations of controls.

Im pretty sure I know what all the other controls do except what does the colour section do?

Cheers

Sug[/quote]

Hi Sug,

The colour control is a switch pot so it can be off or it switches in a negative feedback path via a pair of clipping diodes. This increases the gain distortion and compression and the amount is controlled with the pot. It's best heard when the gain on the pre-amp is set quite high.

There is a drop in output level but lots of increase in distortion, compression and sustain.

Colour is fitted on some of the pedals.

Dave

[Sugden]

Sounds like an intresting control should be fun.

Cheers

[TPJ]

[quote name='DHA' post='74678' date='Oct 15 2007, 05:24 PM']Latest.....

[attachment=2884:PICT0007.JPG]

The paint job is a custom one as requested by Sug.

The final production models will be silkscreened and have an input and output LED VU meter, all the other features will be the same. There will be a blue backlight showing one of the five valves via the vents. The footswitch controls the compressor and Fx blender off and on as well as the Tuner mute.

The colour of the LEDs matches the knobs which are different for different functions, i.e. pre-amp is red, blender yellow, etc.

Two of these are still available at the lower cost to BC members.

Dave[/quote]
woah, nice

[Alpha-Dave]

Hi Sugden,

[quote name='DHA' post='74678' date='Oct 15 2007, 05:24 PM'][attachment=2884:PICT0007.JPG]

The paint job is a custom one as requested by Sug.

The final production models will be silkscreened and have an input and output LED VU meter, all the other features will be the same. There will be a blue backlight showing one of the five valves via the vents. The footswitch controls the compressor and Fx blender off and on as well as the Tuner mute.

The colour of the LEDs matches the knobs which are different for different functions, i.e. pre-amp is red, blender yellow, etc.[/quote]



That looks nice I suppose, but to be honest it's not really my thing, what with having a VT-twin and valve compressor already in my rig ...













... which is why my VT?-400 will just have the basic by-passable tone controls, the valve power amp and the 400 watt output.

Hopefully it'll be ready for Dave to bring to Bassday so we don't have to pay shipping.

[DHA]

[quote name='Alpha-Dave' post='75626' date='Oct 17 2007, 03:47 PM']Hi Sugden,
That looks nice I suppose, but to be honest it's not really my thing, what with having a VT-twin and valve compressor already in my rig ...
... which is why my VT?-400 will just have the basic by-passable tone controls, the valve power amp and the 400 watt output.

Hopefully it'll be ready for Dave to bring to Bassday so we don't have to pay shipping. [/quote]

It will be a VT2-400-Bass as it's just an output stage and one driver valve. But add in your VT2-Twin and VT1 compressor and you are back up to 5 valves.

Dave

[Sugden]

I think you made the right move.

I'll be having far too much fun after bass day I'll have 4 amps to play through to write a nice review comparing them all. Markbass littlemark 2, Mesa boogie walkabout, and a trace elliot V6.

Also just ordered the wood to start building my omni 10.5 cross fires. I saw you were getting steve (thumper) to make yours?

[Alpha-Dave]

Hey Paul, do you currently have the amp? What do you think of it?

Did you manage to complete your Omni 10s?

[Sugden]

Hey nope Im picking up the amp at bass day so Im sure more than my self can see how it does.

The omni's are simply bits of wood at the moment ortho if I get all my work done tomorrow Im hoping to do all the 45degree angle cuts I need to do so I can begin construction next week. Some foolish mans letting me have a week off uni so I may have to hit the workshop. Plus of corse work on my other uni work too....

[andyonbass]

I collected an O10 from Steve at the weekend and tried it out at a rehearsal on Sunday evening, (with the recurve through a LM2 and VT-1 purist) and bloody hell, was I impressed or what!! It is so clear and cuts through easily as well as my schroeder did, but without the pronounced mid range. I have a gig tomorrow night , if the place isn't too big, I'll use it without PA reinforcement, and see how it goes, should be interesting!!

[Sugden]

They sound fantastic don't they. Can wait to get my project off the floor tbh I need to sell all these excess amps before I can really get going lol. I played through a set at steves, he's a great guy and had a good day the cabs really left an impression on me.

[Sugden]

Bit of a massive intial review/update going to be added bellow enjoy:

Testing set-up

Edited December 1, 2007 by Sugden

[Sugden]

[b]Initial Thoughts:[/b]

Well why go for something completely new, think I was just seeing what I could get. I’ve used Dave’s pedals in the past and thought they were great. I spent awhile going through things looking for what I wanted. The amp I have held onto through out everything is a Mark bass Littlemark II which to be honest for weight to cost and performance I don’t think it can be beaten. But then again you can’t get the rich valve tone which is on the fallen in love with list by so many bassists. So that’s what I was after valve tone without the weight of a normal valve head.

The main comparisons in this review will be between the LMII, a trace V6, and the DHA offering. Now I have all the amps on top of each other so quick side by side comparisons where easy to make. I have just spent a good few hours playing around.

For those who don’t know what the DHA amp is about in simpletons terms its two amps in one; an all tube 5w amp which has its output taken down to line level and literally amplified by a 400w solid state. The aim is to get the valve tone with no need for 6+ power tubes and a heap of weight.

But the main thing to remember here through out is that it is a proto-type and as such has a few niggles but they are being addressed by Dave. He has been very helpful through-out and is upgrading/sorting any problems that arise through out testing. This was just all theory and small test runs before it become this proto-type.

I’ll include all follow up’s as a result of speaking to Dave about the problems I’ve had. I had offered to leave off posting this till everything was sorted but he was insistent that even with the problem I should post it.

[b]The amp:[/b]

The amps build quality looks great, and as a product I think looks stunning beats the hell out of the other amps I was comparing it too.

I asked for the silly blue finish so that’s personal preference I think the production models will be all black and screen printed. But I like the custom look of Dave’s products. Plus it looks lovely next to my blue Harlot (if you hadn’t guessed I like Blue)

When you open it up the thought that’s gone into the amp is very apparent. There are some lovely 3 tier circuit boards with some nice soldering on. The thought is shown in an interesting way in regards to the dummy load which you can select between (I’m not exactly sure what it all does and why but from what I’ve been told sounds like a stunning plan) an actually speaker and a resistor load. The idea is the speaker reacts differently to different frequencies/peaks where as the diode has a flat response. The result of which is when you use the speaker dummy load the tone is much smoother.

[b]The Knobs:[/b]

Well there are tones of knobs on the DHA amp and nearly all of them affect each other in some way Id hate to think of all the combinations. Dave hasn’t finished the manual yet but I got a brief overview from him at BassDay and the rest I’m figuring out on my own.

There’s the DHA I/P level control handy for going from passive to active. There are Gain and drive controls from the pre amp section and separate valve drive for the valve amp as well. Normal Bass Mid and Treble along with another Colour control which to be honest I don’t think I’ll ever touch as it puts everything into a crunchy distortion sound, pretty nice but not my cup of tea. There’s a bright switch and fat switch which do exactly what they say on the tin. A switch between the two dummy loads to just fine tune things a little. Plus a mute switch for the tuner out, there’s a tuner out on the back and the front. O also a clipping switch which as of yet I haven’t worked out what it does except lower the volume.

In the amp there is also one of Dave’s compression sections and a bob the blender FX loop which are also fully valve.

With a plus I get to have a three switch start up sequence one for the main power to heat everything up etc like a normal valve amp. The next for the valve amp standby and then another for the solid state. The reason for three is because you can use the initial valve amp without the solid-state for recording and a low level practise amp.

[b]So the sound plus good and bad bits:[/b]

The other two amps being compared with it too the LMII is pretty much where it’s at for me for solid-state heads pretty level response might be missing a touch top end and has a lot of clarity.
The V6 is full of warmth I mean a tone of it. It’s rich and full of valve loveliness. It can lack clarity and some mid to for my tastes, and also be a bit heavy on the bass but a lot of people who are after the valve clean tone would agree with me again this is where it’s at for valve tone.

That’s why I kept hold of both for the comparison as the way things are they are my favourite of both. Those were my views on the amps before trying the DHA.

So the DHA well I have to say at the moment I’m pretty won over by the amp it has a bit of a problem with a slight lack of bass response. People who love their huge bass tone might be a bit disappointed its there alright just you will find it hard to knock someone into the ground with it. Plus with the fact it’s got such a level treble and mid response it hides the bass more than normal this is defiantly a clean response head.

I think this is mainly down to the EQ. It really doesn’t do much at all but then because I’m used to having an active EQ on my amps, and as this is a passive one I wasn’t expecting much. (There is an EQ by-pass on back so a more powerful EQ can be used that takes the one on the amp out completely). But then again I would have certainly expected more. I’d go as far to say that it wouldn’t make any difference if it wasn’t there. The treble does a bit but then that adds some noise to the amp. I was more than happy with that idea because I do most of my tone shaping on the bass. But having to add another unit to a rack may annoy people just so you can simply add a very basic level of EQ.

[b]Follow up: [/b]After talking to Dave he is upgrading the EQ to an active all tube circuit that will give a level in the middle setting and plus and minus around 15db plus and minus. So we’ll see how this goes when I get the amp back. But it should address a slight lack of bass response it quite a level amp but with more mid and treble. This is because some of the pots have bright caps on them which he is changing so they are only engaged by the bright switch so its personal choice.

The amp has the valve edge of distortion down to a fine art and you can dial in as much as you want. You don’t have to drive it anywhere near as hard or as loud as the trace to get that stunning clean valve tone. The valve harmonics are rich and exactly what I’m after. It’s got quite a warm tone not buckets of it but it is lovely.

But with those things it lacks it has an absolute whack of clarity. I haven’t heard an amp that is clearer then this maybe down to missing a little bit of the bass and such a level response on mid and treble but when you turn on the mark bass and the V6 they sound really muddy in comparison. It has got some warmth but not in the same league as the V6. People who buy epifani and mark bass for the clarity are defiantly looking in the wrong place. But then again it’s far from Hi-Fi. Plus this thing has the harmonics and the valve drive that those amps miss.

One major downside is there is quite a lot of line noise coming from the amp (you know the low hum you get at high volumes). It’s not that bad but when you compare it to the other amps it’s pretty loud. The little mark doesn’t have any until your right up the top of it volume and gain levels, and the V6 has its fan but line noise again not much till higher levels. The treble control on My ACG’s seemed to make it worse a bit and with the compressor on it goes up quite a bit as well in fact a lot.

[b]Follow up:[/b] I have spoken to Dave and I understand Alpha Dave is having some problems with hum on his amp as well. Dave has decided it’s down to mains hum and is going to isolate and shield the mains part of the amp more thoroughly and hopefully go a long way to get rid of the hum. Of course it will always slightly be there as that’s the nature of valve driven sound.

I’d have to say I wouldn’t like to record with the amp through a cab with the compressor on it is certainly a live tool only, as playing at any real volume you would have to gate the sound to get rid of the hum/hiss. Plus when the compressor is on you got even more hum when you engage the mute and FX loop. It’s kind of like an extra level of noise rather than getting louder as it sounds slightly different.

[b]Follow up: [/b]Dave has improved his compressor design and thinks he can solve this quite a bit. But thinks he is going to take the compressor out of the head. Make it foot pedal only.

Well I spent the day recording my friend’s band and a stupidly long day it was too. The DI appeared not to be working and had a very weak signal not quite sure why this was something may have been damaged in transit something loose or maybe a dodgy DI etc not sure. But when the new EQ is being fitted Dave’s going to look into this and make the out put a bit hotter too. Anyone happen to know an optimum DI level for a bass head, nothing that’s going to go any where near frying a desk but a hot enough level for a good strong signal?
So we took the line out on the back into a DI and set it up through my Mark bass cab and away we went. My ACG sounded lovely through it all when sound checking. But my friend was using his first bass always dos for recording it’s his thing cheap musicman copy, and loves a punk driven sound. So when I get around to uploading some sound clips form today those are what I’ll be able to show you, and clean will have to wait for my next personal recording session. Getting through 6 songs in a day and 12 hours behind a desk was quite enough for one day.

[b]Initial Verdict:[/b]

I’m very won over by the amp I’d get involved in doing this proto-type again for sure. Even with the few problems it’s a heck of an amp especially for a first prototype. I’d like to see the new EQ in it which will be some time after x-mas I think. Dave’s busy and I’m in no rush. The noise reduced or eliminated would be great. I know Dave wants it to be a full all valve amp which it is and sounds at this stage fantastic but there’s scope for improvement, and Dave seems set on getting this up to a very high level. If the compressor noise can’t be sorted it’s pretty useless in my opinion, but it’s got the potential for sure. Anywhere from people after clean and clarity of tone to those who like to drive their sound this thing will be it. It’s not the lightest amp in the world but it’s certainly no feather weight. Looks great in my rack though.

Sorry about the wordy entry but it’s a full initial review with a final one after the problems have been ironed out.

Hope you all enjoy the update.

As a side note both the markbass and the V6 are for sale now.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Sugden

[SisterAbdullahX]

[quote name='DHA' post='66843' date='Sep 28 2007, 11:32 AM']Please check out the special offers section for an offer to BC members on this amp.

Dave[/quote]

Hi Dave,
I mentioned this to Sugden, so I might as well ask you upfront, any plans to build custom bass cabs to go with the amps?

[DHA]

[quote name='SisterAbdullahX' post='115858' date='Jan 7 2008, 10:19 PM']Hi Dave,
I mentioned this to Sugden, so I might as well ask you upfront, any plans to build custom bass cabs to go with the amps?[/quote]

Hi,

Not at present as we are so busy building amps and pedals. But, it's possible sometime in the future and its most likely I would hook up with someone that's already offering cabs. There are others on this forum which already make custom cabs and they would be good guys to talk to.

Dave

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Sugden' post='97464' date='Dec 1 2007, 11:42 PM'][/quote]

haha maybe you should think about some speakers next

[otis_spunkmeyer]

I just thought I'd reseerect this topic by adding a little review of this amp:

Construction:

This amp feels very solid and well put together. It’s not just the fact it’s in a metal casing but the overall feel of the various knobs and switches which do not feel at all loose in the way that many cheap products do. Add to this the fact that this is meant to be rack mounted and the level of protection should be enough for even the most active gaggers.

Ease of use:

There’s no manual for this as of yet but I believe Dave is in the process of writing one and he emailed me when the amp was shipped with a nice guide to getting started. Overall it’s fairly simple to get the amp up and running- you just need to work out which direction is on or off for the various switches (it’s generally up) as they are not labelled. However, once you get used to it I particularly like the fact that the start up sequence is more reminiscent of a pilot starting up a plain than a muso firing up his amp.

The only complicated thing about this amp is the way in which the various features interact with each other. For example the distortion switch that flips between Si Ge and off, has a noticeable affect on the volume depending on which you choose as does the fat boost. This is not a big problem as these are not designed to be switched on the fly, but it does mean you find yourself having to tinker with the levels a lot more when trying out a new sound.

Features:

The amp has all the basics you need to get a vintage tone. Usefully it features a bendable valve driven fx loop which allows you to control the ratio of wet to dry signals. I haven’t personally used this too much as yet, but it’s a really good idea and seemed to work well even when I tested it using a borrowed cheapo mutlifx. There is also a built in compressor, however as meantioned in other reviews this proved far too noisy to be of much use. It might be possible to get a usable sound from it by cutting levels elsewhere such as the gain and eq sections, but the way I have tended to set up the amp makes using the compressor a big no no.

Sound:

Definitely the best part of this amp is the sound. I haven’t yet succeeded in getting an entirely clean sound out of it, but then if that’s the tone you want you’ll probably be better off with a solid state amp anyways. Nonetheless, the sounds you can get out of the amp are extremely versatile; it does every form of distortion you’re likely to use except for hi gain fuzz. However for these sounds its probably bets to use some form of pedal and on a similar note I have to say the amp does sound very nice when I run my Tech 21 XXL in front. As you would effect from an (almost) all valve amp the sound is pretty vintage. I’m no expert on the all valve sounds of ampeg etc but to my ears it definitely sounds much more like an all valve than a hybrid amp. Even it you can tell the difference when using the solid state power amp, keep in mind that this probably won’t show through in a live context and in the studio you can use the 3 watt output and have an all valve sound anyway. My version also has the new valve driven eq circuit. Apparently the previous passive design didn’t have much effect on the tone. I’m happy to report that I found the current system very usable. Although its all variations on a theme it was certainly possible to tweak my sound to add a bit more bass and treble when I needed to (the amp naturally has a very clear mids which is a definite plus when sitting in the mix).

Overall impression:

I’ve had this amp for just over a month now and its definitely not going anywhere soon. I’m still getting used to the whole valve thing, having previously only owned a trace hybrid amp. I still love my trace but currently find myself torn between its ultra clean solid state sound and the warmth of the DHA, but I guess that sums up the debate between valve and solid state which has been raging in the bass world for many years.

I would definitely recommend at least trying this amp out to anyone looking to break into the valve amp route. Lets not forget that for an all valve jobby this amp is actually at the budget end of the price bracket- not bad for something which sounds amazing and is built like a nuclear submarine!

[DHA]

[quote name='otis_spunkmeyer' post='136593' date='Feb 8 2008, 02:40 PM']I just thought I'd reseerect this topic by adding a little review of this amp:

Construction:

This amp feels very solid and well put together. It’s not just the fact it’s in a metal casing but the overall feel of the various knobs and switches which do not feel at all loose in the way that many cheap products do. Add to this the fact that this is meant to be rack mounted and the level of protection should be enough for even the most active gaggers.

Ease of use:

There’s no manual for this as of yet but I believe Dave is in the process of writing one and he emailed me when the amp was shipped with a nice guide to getting started. Overall it’s fairly simple to get the amp up and running- you just need to work out which direction is on or off for the various switches (it’s generally up) as they are not labelled. However, once you get used to it I particularly like the fact that the start up sequence is more reminiscent of a pilot starting up a plain than a muso firing up his amp.

The only complicated thing about this amp is the way in which the various features interact with each other. For example the distortion switch that flips between Si Ge and off, has a noticeable affect on the volume depending on which you choose as does the fat boost. This is not a big problem as these are not designed to be switched on the fly, but it does mean you find yourself having to tinker with the levels a lot more when trying out a new sound.

Features:

The amp has all the basics you need to get a vintage tone. Usefully it features a bendable valve driven fx loop which allows you to control the ratio of wet to dry signals. I haven’t personally used this too much as yet, but it’s a really good idea and seemed to work well even when I tested it using a borrowed cheapo mutlifx. There is also a built in compressor, however as meantioned in other reviews this proved far too noisy to be of much use. It might be possible to get a usable sound from it by cutting levels elsewhere such as the gain and eq sections, but the way I have tended to set up the amp makes using the compressor a big no no.

Sound:

Definitely the best part of this amp is the sound. I haven’t yet succeeded in getting an entirely clean sound out of it, but then if that’s the tone you want you’ll probably be better off with a solid state amp anyways. Nonetheless, the sounds you can get out of the amp are extremely versatile; it does every form of distortion you’re likely to use except for hi gain fuzz. However for these sounds its probably bets to use some form of pedal and on a similar note I have to say the amp does sound very nice when I run my Tech 21 XXL in front. As you would effect from an (almost) all valve amp the sound is pretty vintage. I’m no expert on the all valve sounds of ampeg etc but to my ears it definitely sounds much more like an all valve than a hybrid amp. Even it you can tell the difference when using the solid state power amp, keep in mind that this probably won’t show through in a live context and in the studio you can use the 3 watt output and have an all valve sound anyway. My version also has the new valve driven eq circuit. Apparently the previous passive design didn’t have much effect on the tone. I’m happy to report that I found the current system very usable. Although its all variations on a theme it was certainly possible to tweak my sound to add a bit more bass and treble when I needed to (the amp naturally has a very clear mids which is a definite plus when sitting in the mix).

Overall impression:

I’ve had this amp for just over a month now and its definitely not going anywhere soon. I’m still getting used to the whole valve thing, having previously only owned a trace hybrid amp. I still love my trace but currently find myself torn between its ultra clean solid state sound and the warmth of the DHA, but I guess that sums up the debate between valve and solid state which has been raging in the bass world for many years.

I would definitely recommend at least trying this amp out to anyone looking to break into the valve amp route. Lets not forget that for an all valve jobby this amp is actually at the budget end of the price bracket- not bad for something which sounds amazing and is built like a nuclear submarine![/quote]


Thanks for the review.

The production versions of this amp are now available and I have changed a few things on them after the comments from the first few owners.

The gain and overdrive switching has changed, same tone and drive but the new design makes it easier to dial in a cleaner tone. The production version has an switchable overdrive channel instead of the 1+2.

The DI and Line out signals now both have level controls.

The compressor is removed.

There are different power stage options available.

Dave