Includes footage of shows in Las Vegas, Hollywood, San Diego, and Universal City. Featuring clips of the new songs "Carrot and Stick", "Breathe You In", and "Hard Times".
Added: November 17, 2009 Runtime: 03:28 Plays: 13 Comments: 0
Includes footage of shows in Las Vegas, Hollywood, San Diego, and Universal City. Featuring clips of the new songs "Carrot and Stick", "Breathe You In", and "Hard Times".
FOLIO's Chris Willshire is an official Test Pilot for the new bass amp, the RH450, and cabinets, the RS210 and RS212, by TC Electronics. Watch and listen as he compares this new system with other bass amps and speakers.
Part 2--This video uses the RS210/212 configuration with the RH450, an Ampeg SVT-II head, and a Gallien Krueger 400RB III amp.
(for those of you who are non-musicians and non-gear-nerds, this might be a bit boring. But at least there are some funky grooves in the video!)
AMPLIFIERS (all tested w/ the TC Electronic RS210/212 configuration)--
1. Gallien Krueger 400 RB III vs RH450
To my ears, the GK is too thin and midrangey compared to the RH450. . The "Tubetone" and "Spectracomp" functions on the RH really make a difference in providing a fuller tone with more balls!
2. Ampeg SVT II vs RH450
Using all flat EQ, I like the Amgeg more as it has a slightly better low end response and more warmth overall. That would of course make sense for anyone who prefers a tube sound b/c the Ampeg is a tube amp and the RH450 is not. I'm sure similar models of tube amps would provide similar results. But then, that's without using the RH450 Tubetone feature. I did another test off camera (since the focus of the video is to compare
default amp settings) with my normal live setting on the RH450, which includes the Tubetone feature, and the results were very comparable, which is impressive considering that the RH450 is emulating a tube sound and isn't actually a tube amp. I'd say that this feature will definitely give you your tube fix when you're craving that warmth!
Add'l comments--
Unfortunately, I didn't have ability to plug a good mic into my camcorder, so all I have
on this video is the built-in camera mic. I think this comparison still serves it purpose, but
the differences I describe were much more noticeable to my ear when I was playing than
what ultimately comes across on the video. Hopefully these notes will help when the differences aren't as obvious when watching. There were definitely some very noticeable differences though when comparing some of these models!
I also use a Sansamp RBI by Tech21 as part of my setup. It is connected pre-RH450, so it
sweetens and fattens the tone before sending it to the RH. However, for test purposes, I did not use it for this video.
I hope this has been helpful. If you have any further questions or comments, drop me a note here on Myspace.
Cheers,
Chris
bassist, FOLIO
FOLIO's Chris Willshire is an official Test Pilot for the new bass amp, the RH450, and cabinets, the RS210 and RS212, by TC Electronics. Watch and listen as he compares this new system with other bass amps and speakers.
Part 1--the RH450 with the TC Electronics RS210 and 212, w/ 2 JBL 18s, and with an Ampeg SVT 410-HE.
(for those of you who are non-musicians and non-gear-heads, this will probably be a bit boring. But at least you can hear some funky grooves!)
SPEAKERS (all tested w/ the RH450 head)----------
1. RS210 w/ JBL218 vs RS210 w/ RS212
Plucked groove--
Pretty close overall. Mainly just the difference between the speaker sizes.
Adding the JBLs in place of the TC 2x12 is nice and punchy.
Slap groove--
No major difference, other than the obvious addition of extra low end w/ the
18s replacing the RS212s.
I would love to see TC Electronics create an RS218 to go with the RS210!
2. RS210 vs Ampeg SVT 410-HE
(I didn't use the TC 2x12 in this configuration--just kept it to the 10" cabs)
Ampeg SVT 410-HE --a bit more low end overall, but maybe due to having 4 10s vs only 2 10s.
Good overall natural EQ.
RS210- a bit more clarity on the slaps, but too midrangey for me on this default setting compared to the Ampeg.
I'm curious as to what 2 of the RS210 cabs sound like compared to the Ampeg 410, as
that would be a more even comparison. I'm sure that would compensate some for the overall midrangey-ness which I didn't like as much. If anyone is able to do this comparison, please let me know what you think.
3. RS210 AND RS212 vs Ampeg SVT 410-HE
(not on the video)
Adding the RS212 makes the comparison w/ this model of Ampeg much more close than the above test w/ only the RS210. These 2 setups are fairly comparable in this situation.
The low end response of the Ampeg still holds it's own though in this situation. This supports what I noticed above, that the Ampeg 4x10 has better bass response than the TC 2x10 by itself. Therefore, using 4 10s on the Ampeg is comparable to the RS210 and RS212.
Add'l comments--
Unfortunately, I didn't have ability to plug a good mic into my camcorder, so all I have
on this video is the built-in camera mic. I think this comparison still serves it purpose, but
the differences I describe were much more noticeable to my ear when I was playing than
what ultimately comes across on the video. Hopefully these notes will help when the differences aren't as obvious when watching. There were definitely some very noticeable differences though when comparing some of these models!
I also use a Sansamp RBI by Tech21 as part of my setup. It is connected pre-RH450, so it
sweetens and fattens the tone before sending it to the RH. However, for test purposes, I did not use it for this video.
I hope this has been helpful. If you have any further questions or comments, I can be reached here on Myspace.
Cheers,
Chris
FOLIO
I'll be reviewing the new RH 450 bass amp from TC Electronics over the next 3 months video video and text blogging. I'll be testing it on the road and in the rehearsal studio.