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11/03/2012

Line 6 Spider Valve HD100 Review

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(More customer reviews)This sucker sounds really great. And it's true what they say about tube amps. You aren't really hearing it unless you crank it. I cranked it, and it was the greatest thing I've ever heard (I played a metal chord, then turned it from super loud to very low, and I could progressively hear the tone go from amazingly thick and rich, to crackly and thin. so only buy this if you plan on playing it LOUD). Put it on the Metal or Insane settings, and it's just nuts. However, it broke the next day, so I had to send it off for repair to a "local" service center (where Line 6 made me pay 30 bucks to ship. thanks L6). It's been over a month and they finally got around to checking it out. They told me the tubes were faulty. So great. Now they say another 2 weeks to order new tubes and test to see if there are any other problems. Nice work, Line 6. BTW, my POD X3's headphone jack only outputs a MONO signal now. How great is that? Talk about quality! (the presets suck too btw. no one uses those. and you can't customize them like you can on the POD X3, but thankfully, you don't need them. the main channel knob has all you need!!)
Other than that, this amp sounds AMAZING. A shame about the faulty tubes in my unit, but I hope when I get it back, it will last longer than a few minutes of it cranked. And no, not crazy cranked, just normal cranked.
The matching cab sounds amazing btw.

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Spider Valve fuses the versatility of amp and effects modeling with the performance and feel of a world-class tube amplifier. Combining award-winning Line 6 modeling technology with a genuine tube amplifier designed by legendary amp designer Reinhold Bogner, Spider Valve delivers unmatched performance, responsiveness and tonal flexibility on the stage and in the studio.

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Maxon Vintage Series Analog Stereo Chorus Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought into the TC Electronic hype of their new line of pedals, but when I compared the Maxon CS-550 side-by-side with the TC Corona, the Maxon pedal was the clear winner. You can INSTANTLY tell which one was analog and which one was digital. This comparison pretty much put the final nail in the coffin on digital pedals for me. Worth the extra $100 when compared to the Corona.

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DENON DN-HC4500 DJ Mixer USB Controller Review

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(More customer reviews)Although the controls, buttons and display make for a "busy" looking layout, it performs to perfection! Easily configurable to PCDJ-Red Mobile (my software of choice at the present) and VERY responsive! For me, this was an upgrade from the PCDJ DAC-3 and I'm glad I made the switch as I have restored confidence in my mixing/transitions: when I press PLAY, it plays!! Worth every penny.

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Mackie ProFX8 Professional Compact Mixer Review

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(More customer reviews)If you intend to record via USB using the ProFX8, beware that USB recording introduces a low-level, high-pitch tone (1kHz + harmonics) on the monitor send, main out, and headphones. You and your audience will hear this buzz during quiet passages and between songs. After receiving mine in February, 2009, I called the support people at Loud Technologies (maker of Mackie) and talked with Tom M. who claimed Loud is aware of this issue and there is no fix. That's a shame because the ProFX8 is otherwise worth 5 Amazon Stars and is noticeably quieter than my Behringer Xenyx mixer.
The ProFX8 is currently out of production while Loud engages another manufacturer - the original manufacturer apparently went out of business. Tom from Loud hinted that the USB-induced noise may be fixed in the next production run, but he admitted it was pure speculation on his part. I'll be interested to hear from other Amazon reviewers who purchase a ProFX from this second production run. Chime in folks!
My ProFX8 arrived with a defective effects unit. Getting Tom to issue the paperwork for the repair was a little dicey because I bought my unit on Ebay (at the time, none were available anywhere else). Apparently, there is a black market for these Chinese-manufactured units, and Loud doesn't want to warranty any they didn't sell to an authorized dealer. Getting a receipt from the Ebay seller was the most uncertain step in this process. When I finally sent the ProFX8 in for repair, I also listed the USB noise issue on the paperwork. When the ProFX8 was returned, the effects unit was fixed and mentioned on the repair ticket, while the USB noise issue was ignored. The repair turnaround was a reasonable two or three weeks using ground shipping.
Some other facts/tips about the ProFX8:
-As soon as you connect the ProFX8 to a computer via the USB cable, you may notice some (other) digital noise in the mixer. Fix this by adding a ground-lift adapter to the end of the power plug of the ProFX8.
-The 1kHz tone does not enter the USB recording itself unless the USB Thru feature is used. The noise is obviously coming from the USB playback path (again, only while recording via USB).
-The USB Thru feature can be used to achieve zero-latency multi-track recordings. This is done by engaging the feature for a second or so before performing a new track and recording a bit of the playback (like a test click). Afterwards, line up the playback audio with the portion that was recorded with the USB Thru.
Update (April 17, 2009):
I sold the ProFX8 via the Mackie forum (and this review) to a professional musician with a decent breadth of mixer experience. He had this to say about my ProFX8:
"The basic reverbs are noticeably better than in most other compact mixers (Behringer, Yamaha) at this price point. Not the equal of Soundcraft, Allen Heath or Dynacord mixers, but still as you commented, it is amazing how much Mackie put in this thing for $200. I'm curious to see how it holds up over time. Hopefully their re-release model will take care of the USB noise issues."

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11/02/2012

Behringer K3000FX 300-Watt 4-Channel PA System Review

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(More customer reviews)I have used this amp as a PA for a solo acoustic show, a monitor for a full band, with my electronic drums, my keyboard and as an amp for my POD X3 Live and it works very well. Great sound, nice features and a great price. I would not consider it anywhere near a 300 watt system though. However, the amps it competes with are not 300 watts either. Definitely check it out.

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Eden WP-100 Navigator Bass Preamp Review

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(More customer reviews)After using many different preamps, I needed to get one that had a built in crossover. My previous one that had this feature was an F1X, but I already have an F2B and an SMS Classic, the latter being the pinnacle of that particular design, so I wanted to try something different. The Navigator is a great addition to my collection and does a lot of really different tones and integrates really well with the other pres, so I can use the tonal shaping I'm used to and love on the SMS with the advanced features and more surgical EQ of the Navigator. I like the enhance knob, but like all the other controls, a little bit goes a long way. Some might find the extremes of the range of controls useful, but I doubt I'll be doing much more than a few notches in either direction.
Overall, the tone is very clear and clean. It seems to allow the sound of the bass come through without imprinting too much of its personality like some amps and pres do. While that can be a good thing, it can lock you into a certain tone. For instance, the Ampeg tone is a great classic sound, but it does one thing really well and can make other sounds hard to create. The Navigator can do warm and wooly, but it can also do a lot of other sounds as well. I also like the fact that it gives a great stage sound that translates really well to a recording. Having the various outputs also makes it easy to get the signal where it needs to go, and it seems to be quite noise free.
The build quality is not as solid feeling as some other products, but seems like with decent care it should last quite some time. I haven't popped the lid yet, but Eden has a reputation that has been getting better over the last few years after some reliability issues. My musical endeavors involve traveling, so I expect my gear to be able to withstand rattling around in trailers, the occasional airplane flight and daily loading in and out of venues with crews who may or may not treat things delicately. I don't foresee any problems.
Overall, I'd recommend this pre for everyone except those looking for the most thick, distorted tones. Of course, stomp boxes would probably get you there with the Navigator. If it were lost or stolen, I'd get another.

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The exciting Eden WP-100 Navigator Bass Preamp features a tube input stage, compressor with variable threshold and rate controls, tube character control, enhance control, and Eden's famous semi-parametric EQ. The WP-100 Bass Preamp also features D.I. output control on the front of the unit, a mono pre-EQ loop, stereo post-EQ, side-chain loop with front panel blend pot, variable crossover, stereo LED ouptut meters, tuner out, stereo and mono XLR ouptuts, and a defeatable limiter. Eden duplicates front-panel controls for compressor defeat, enhance, mute-to-tune, and turbo boost on a footswitch with lighted indicators that you connect to the WP-100 Navigator Bass Preamp via a standard MIDI cable.

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Crown XLS802D Power Amplifier Review

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(More customer reviews)Bought the item to power 2 JBL JRX125 speakers through a Mackie mixer. I was running these speakers with a 50 watt amp, so with this 800 watt amp I was expecting quite a bit more volume. It gives me what I need for a medium size gig, but not a bunch extra like I was hoping for - but it's still a very nice product. Guess I need to up the wattage if I want to blow eardrums.

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