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I dont' know if it is a good one, but I was wondering how it would work if I tok a Crate power block, but it on my pedal board, run it direct to the house. Then I would have a little all in one setup that I would ony have to run to the board, no amp. Does anybody have any idea if this woudl be any good?
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That's just like adding any other preamp. It'll have the same drawbacks, no power amp and no speaker will make a rather harsh, dry, unpleasant sound. Especially since the PowerBlock is SS.
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Yeah, unless it has a "recording out" with cab / speaker modeling (which I dont' think it does) it will sound no better than going direct from a stompbox or something.
-Nick
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I just looked at the specs on Crates website - the line level out has a cab simulator on it.
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Then you're getting a lot better than direct, not as good as mic'd. There are cheaper ways to get speaker modeling, though.
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Originally Posted by Rainer. Then you're getting a lot better than direct, not as good as mic'd. There are cheaper ways to get speaker modeling, though.
...unless he was planning on getting the block anyway. I've always wanted to try one of those. I'm not expecting anything amazing, but I'm curious.
-Nick
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Originally Posted by Rainer. Then you're getting a lot better than direct, not as good as mic'd. There are cheaper ways to get speaker modeling, though.
I'm starting to like direct vs. mic'd. Why? Because mic'ing creates another layer of dynamics that includes: the mic you use, the mic placement - this can involve a whole slew of variables, etc. Again, the audience will let you know what they like (or not).
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Yeah, I guess I'm strictly thinking on the level of tone. I've been looking at ways to go direct as well with the best possible tone.
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I honestly haven't read a bad review by a single person who actually understands the Power Block.
Alot of the bad reviews I've read have at some point said, "it's Crate, so of course it's bad" and/or, "it's tube, so of course it's bad"...and they're generally by people who only played them in the store.
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Originally Posted by Rainer. Yeah, I guess I'm strictly thinking on the level of tone. I've been looking at ways to go direct as well with the best possible tone.
And I might be arguing against myself here, but therein lies the problem for us. The amp is not just the preamp section, it is the conglomeration of the preamp, speaker, cabinet type, etc. When you go direct, you lose the speaker and cab dynamics, which are best picked up by mic'ing. Amp and cab modeling can fill some of the gaps.
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Originally Posted by Hopeful And I might be arguing against myself here, but therein lies the problem for us. The amp is not just the preamp section, it is the conglomeration of the preamp, speaker, cabinet type, etc. When you go direct, you lose the speaker and cab dynamics, which are best picked up by mic'ing. Amp and cab modeling can fill some of the gaps. to add to this, we often say that the amp is the fundamental of tone and is more important than the guitar in terms of tone, but even then, one could go as far as to say that without a decent speaker to reproduce the amp and guitar that the whole thing goes kaput.
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That's why I'm really starting to like the Digitech GNX3000 with cab modeling going into the PA. It bridges the direct vs. mic gap quite nicely - once I put my tube amp bias aside.
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The main reason I thought of this is I was just thinking about how it would be cool to have my amp on my board, but I guess that isn't really new . I mean, with all these modeling thingies out there this is probably pretty much the same thing. I do wonder how good the line out is though...
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Originally Posted by jamforchrist123 The main reason I thought of this is I was just thinking about how it would be cool to have my amp on my board, but I guess that isn't really new . I mean, with all these modeling thingies out there this is probably pretty much the same thing. I do wonder how good the line out is though...
I can't speak to the Power Block, but with the line out, you should be processing the same signal out to the board. I think it really is a matter of EQ'ing your sound. Unless you have crummy cables, a poor board or a tone deaf soundman, it should be pretty much unaffected. But, even mic'd, you would have the same problems if the above three factors were still there.
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The largest issue you will run into by running tubes directly into a PA is you will lose some of the tube feel in your sound. This is a little technical, but speak resitance increases on a curve, so the more juice you push through the tubes the more the speakers " push back". This is part of the dynamic sound of a tube amp.
If you are going direct use a BOSS GT-8 or a POD XTL. Both have very complex cab modeling. If you want something a little more "tubish" and a little less complex get a Vox tonelab.