Heads-up: SpaceStation keyboard amp is apparently back

[Jazzmammal]

MOI this was years ago. I also tried one out at West LA Music and didn't like it in the store either. I really wanted to like it from the reviews I read but nah. At that gig I used a Kurz PC2X. To me it wasn't close to the Barbetta I was using at the time. Not saying the MS was terrible, it was decent but just not my fav. Could be I was just used to the sound of the Barbetta and if I used it more it would have grown on me.

 

Bob

[MathOfInsects]

MOI this was years ago.

 

This is not the first time in my life I've asked this, but: why me? I think it was CPhollis and roygbiv in on this one.

[delmar]

Here I was trying to figure out what MOI is...some variation of IMHO. At any rate, my spacestation arrives Tuesday and I've already got my really mini tremor sub. It's bigger than I thought it was. My girlfriend's eyes did not seem to be registering delight somehow as I unpacked it. She'd gotten the heads up about the amp but not the sub. Also I am hiding my new moogerfooger ring modulator. I've not so much as kissed another woman since we met but I feel like I'm sneaking around!

[roygBiv]

MOI this was years ago.

 

This is not the first time in my life I've asked this, but: why me? I think it was CPhollis and roygbiv in on this one.

 

I deny everything.

[hardware]

Finally played a wooden floored stage.

Ssv3 passed the final test.

Been doing concrete ampitheaters and outdoor events with typical partical board risers until recently.

Carpeted indoor stages...everything worked great.

But finally did the big wooden gig and nothing stops the SSv3.

[cphollis]

MOI this was years ago.

 

This is not the first time in my life I've asked this, but: why me? I think it was CPhollis and roygbiv in on this one.

 

I deny everything.

 

You must have the wrong guy ....

[BornAgnMusician]

Hi. I'm new to this blog and blogs in general. Aspen asked me to join and tell about my experiences with my Spacestation. I have an old MK2 which sounded ok, but my piano with my MOX6 would ring in the middle register like I was playing bells. I always use a mixer with my MOX6 because it doesn't have enough power to drive line inputs. Well, anyway that's another subject. But using a mixer in-line allows me to adjust the EQ a little to get rid of the bells. Then I saw online Aspen had an upgrade kit to change all the speakers and a couple of L-pads (L is for Inductor in the electronics world.). So I ordered the C kit which replaces every speaker component except the tweeter. I never opened up the SpaceStation before so I really didn't know what was in it. So opening it to make the substitutions of speakers and the addition of L-pads let me see the guts of the beast. It has a large toroid transformer in it. That and the speakers make up most of the weight of the unit. I found I couldn't take the back plate off to do the wiring because there are other boards attached to the cabinet in weird places and wires going to and from them. I didn't want to gut the cabinet so I did everything from the front with only the speakers removed. It was simple and straight forward if you are any good with hand tools. The trickiest part is drilling the holes for the L-Pads. You need a special drill to do the job. I'm used to improvising so I used a spare chuck at the end of a short drill and did it from the 6 1/2" compartment of the cabinet drilling it by hand. The cabinet is press board so drilling it is fast and easy. (I didn't like the idea of sticking a drill into the small electronic compartment with pc boards everywhere). Also if you are any good with a soldering iron, I also suggest soldering and shrink tubing. Because I don't like kludging things I used my own wire and made a neat harness. The kit comes with all the wire with the connectors crimped on, and electricians caps. But I didn't like the look when I was finished.

 

Question for Aspen. If the boards are EQ'd for the speaker that were in the unit, are the new speakers EQ'd properly? That would definitely explain why the Upgraded MKII and the v.3 don't sound the same.

[BornAgnMusician]

I've been experimenting with the upgraded MKII. Last week I used it in a church service. I placed a ELX 15 on a short platform I made, and placed the spacestation on top of the ELX. I went out of the subout port on the spacestation to the input of the ELX 15. I adjusted the volumes to balance the two units and then turned up the width control. (I usually play a midi demo track from my MOX6 for soundchecks. I'm more interested in the EQ aspect at this moment of setup). I started adjusting the EQ on the mixer driving the spacestation and couldn't get it just right and then noticed I didn't pan the signal left and right. When I did all my EQ problems went away. I moved the EQ back to straight up and everything was good. I readjusted the levels between the ELX 15 (you don't need much to add to the bottom) and the spacestation. Then I used the trick of moving everything about 5 feet away from my keyboard. As you all already know I didn't have to have it so loud and everybody could hear. That was a great praise and worship service.

 

So I found I could use a powered speaker with my spacestation and they mixed great with no EQ problems.

[cphollis]

Welcome to KC. I think you'll enjoy it here

[BornAgnMusician]

I have to agree with Aspen on Piezo Speakers. They sound horrible. Good manufacturers don't use them, but most of what they have in the low to middle price range use them in their keyboard amps. I used to build speaker cabinets as a hobby and I've experimented with many piezo tweeters. I now can spot them a mile away. But they are cheap, you don't need a crossover, and they take a ton of power before they blow. They are made of a vibrating quarts crystal element so their impedance is really high, but they have an unpleasant irritating sound about them. I'm glad Aspen decided not to use them.

 

By the way, I don't know how to add an equipment list. I also own the Spacestation Version 3 by the way. I haven't gigged with it yet. I'm still playing with my upgraded MKII. I going to experiment with using two stacked to get more power.

[Jazzmammal]

Somewhere back in Season 6 or 8 there's a whole section of this opus about how best to use two Spacestations. Searching for the phrase "two spacestations" or maybe "2 SS" might find it.

 

MOI, did I have another senior moment? Damn. Oh well, everybody cuts grandpa a break, right?

 

Bob

 

[Doug Robinson]

I was using an amp stand for my horizontal SS3 and loving it, but everyone was raving about the $24 lightweight folding amp stand so I bought one. I have to say that I don't like it as much so far and here's why:

 

With the taller amp stand (the amp is about 1.5 feet off the floor), not only is it a lot easier to reach down and fiddle with the controls and on/off switch, but also I played in the same place I always play on a Friday night and my drummer said he couldn't here me as well--there was a stone wall about 3 feet high between us and usually the sound carries over it but now because the amp is only 4" off the ground it got a little blocked.

 

I like the way it looks, and I've got a theater gig coming up where it should work fine. But the jury is still out.

[DanL]

I saw a blues duo using a V2 as a PA this weekend at a local brewery. Guitar, vocals, harmonica. They had the SS on a pole about 8' high. It filled the room nicely- and it's a decent sized room, probably 60x40 with a 20' ceiling.

[cphollis]

Somewhere back in Season 6 or 8 there's a whole section of this opus about how best to use two Spacestations. Searching for the phrase "two spacestations" or maybe "2 SS" might find it.

 

MOI, did I have another senior moment? Damn. Oh well, everybody cuts grandpa a break, right?

 

Bob

 

As I've been following the series since the pilot, allow me to share what I recall?

 

Scenario 1: different sets of inputs to each SSv3. Have at it. E.g. vocals and drums in SSv3 #1, keys in SSv3 #2. No concerns other than normal placement guidance.

 

Scenario 2: same exact signal through each SSv3, e.g. a keys player who wants more oomph. The consensus was to stack them on a vertical axis, although there wasn't a lot of field experience on this one.

 

I think the concern was phase-shifted signal producing untoward effects. Just talking out of my @ss here, though.

 

BTW, I have two of them, albeit in different cities. I have zero interest in trying scenario 2 as I get plenty of absurd volume with one unit. If I ever did want more oomph for some strange reason, I'd just plug a big honkin' self-powered PA unit into the sub out, dial up the width, and call it a day.

 

-- Chuck

[Bill Spencer]

OK, to refresh, I can't find a sub small enough, so I'm researching tiny bass amps to use to supplement the SS3 when playing key bass.

 

I did an outdoor gig, and when I turned the Width control past about 1:00 (MORE STEREO!), the stereo bass patches caused very ugly noise from the side firing speaker. Not surprising, since it's a 6" speaker with no support from an enclosure. Lesson here is to not turn the Width control past 12:00 (there's really no need), and if you need more volume, just use the main Vol control.

 

At any rate, since then I realized I really should have more low end support for key bass gigs. All the subs I've seen are too large (needs to be less than 12" in at least one dimension to fit in my truck and on my dolly), so let's look at micro bass amps.

 

Borrowed a G-K MB150S/112 from a bassist friend for an outdoor duo gig.

 

Wow. For this test, I just ran a separate send from the bass kybd to the GK via an aux on my mixer, so I had keys, key bass and vocals through the SS, with extra bass support from the GK. This way, I still get nice stereo on the chorused and synth basses. Sounded great! I have an EQ between the mixer and the SS3, so I was able to roll off the lowest freqs to the SS3- perfect. Next gig I'll try hooking up the bass amp to the sub out and rolling off the highs on the amp (lots of eq controls on the GK).

 

Looks like this may be an even more compact solution than a sub.

 

On another note, I'm now always trying to use the SS3 on it's side at a wall/floor intersection. Set up like this at appx 45 degrees, there's tons of low end, and turning the Highs and Mids controls up a bit (1:30 ish) really sounds great. When I'm shoved in a corner or against a wall on cramped stages this is great 'cause we can hear the front firing speaker very clearly, and amazingly mic feedback is not much of an issue even with the SS3 behind us.

 

I'll be borrowing a few more different models (Mark Bass, etc.) before purchasing, and will report my impressions.

[hardware]

If you ever see a used Barbetta Sona 32 its the bassiest liile cab I ever heard.

I did a few casuals where I kicked bass and couldnt fit my subs in the car.

But needed a seperate amp so I figured Id use it and then buy a used bass amp later.

No need. That little monster had low end and punch.

Very directional though.

[MathOfInsects]

On another note, I'm now always trying to use the SS3 on it's side at a wall/floor intersection. Set up like this at appx 45 degrees, there's tons of low end, and turning the Highs and Mids controls up a bit (1:30 ish) really sounds great.

 

Same. It has really mellowed out the stage mix since I've begun doing this. Large stages I still do whatever gets me the best reflections. Smaller stages it's always sideways now.

 

As I've noted before, though, IMO it's not the same. It's a little muted, and it tends to put your body and keyboards in between the waves--both the front and side-firing ones in this case--and the rest of the room. But it's still great. It mellows the mids nicely while keeping the 3D effect alive, and it's become my go-to set-up.

 

FWIW, when I set it up sideways, I increase the width control to at least 1:00, sometimes more.

[MotiDave]

I was using an amp stand for my horizontal SS3 and loving it, but everyone was raving about the $24 lightweight folding amp stand so I bought one. I have to say that I don't like it as much so far and here's why:

 

With the taller amp stand (the amp is about 1.5 feet off the floor), not only is it a lot easier to reach down and fiddle with the controls and on/off switch, but also I played in the same place I always play on a Friday night and my drummer said he couldn't here me as well--there was a stone wall about 3 feet high between us and usually the sound carries over it but now because the amp is only 4" off the ground it got a little blocked.

 

I like the way it looks, and I've got a theater gig coming up where it should work fine. But the jury is still out.

ok, hang on Jaz ... you have a 3 FOOT stone wall between you and the drummer, this is a normal gig configuration?

 

I'm going to assume they told the drummer to play outside, as you're too good for that sort of treatment

[delmar]

Well, I got my SS today. I received a Seismic Audio Really Mini Tremor Sub (long-ass name!) and hooked them up to no avail. The SARMTS takes a TRS/neutrik cable. I assume the sub out on the SS is mono? Can't seem to find that information. Before I head out to my local music store, I thought I'd ask here. Will an adapter do it? Or do I need something more complicated and expensive? (History tells me it will be the latter, always.)

Harumph. I was excited to shake the walls here.

 

Edit: the seismic Audio site calls it a Speakon cable, and says that instrument cables should not be used from an amplifier to a speaker....but what about this case? I assume the sub out on the SS isn't powered, and the SA sub is powered. Neither product has a manual, but I did get an irrelevant Fender bass amp manual with the SS...why I wonder.

Anyway. The adapters seem to run 10-12 bucks online. Wish I'd known, my local store wants $19. But mono from the SS? That's the short version of this post.

[delmar]

Wow, I'm getting a hell of a hum from my SV-1 into the SS. Tried plugging in to a different outlet and no better. Awesome.

[delmar]

Been digging into past posts on this thread. Around page 69 the consensus seems to be keys > sub > SS.

On a Gearslutz thread, someone reco'd https://eventhorizon-srv.com. I can get cheaper Mogami cables custom made. The SV-1 has inputs as well, so I could conceivably run not only the XK1c through it, but the Prophet (with a small mixer) if I end up incorporating that into my current band. That means I could use the SV1's XLR outs. So that means I'd need two XLR cables (about 10-12 feet, no?) going into a Speakon Y cable. Then an XLR to 1/4" Y cable to the SS. This does not take into consideration the need to connect to a stereo direct box to the FOH...but I could use the 1/4" outs on the SV1 I suppose.

Today has been educational.

 

 

[timwat]

I assume the sub out on the SS is mono?...Edit: the seismic Audio site calls it a Speakon cable, and says that instrument cables should not be used from an amplifier to a speaker....but what about this case? I assume the sub out on the SS isn't powered, and the SA sub is powered.

 

The "Sub out" on the SS is indeed mono. However, the picture of the Really Mini Tremor Sub on the Seismic Audio website shows a combo XLR jack as the input to the powered sub. The printed spec states this as well. If this is indeed what you've got, any normal 1/4" to 1/4" cable (instrument or speaker) should work.

 

If indeed you have a Speakon jack on the panel of your sub, it would be different than what their website shows, and I can't address that. In that case, you can use a male 1/4" to Speakon cable (which are sold at any regular music supply store).

[timwat]

Wow, I'm getting a hell of a hum from my SV-1 into the SS. Tried plugging in to a different outlet and no better. Awesome.

 

As far as hum, basic process of elimination is the order of business. Try using an MP3 player (your phone, an iPod, your computer or similar) to see if another input source still produces hum.

 

If not, then something is dodgy upstream with your SV1, the cabling, or both.

 

If every source you plug into the SS produces hum, well, the evidence would seem to imply something going on with the amp.

 

 

[timwat]

Been digging into past posts on this thread. Around page 69 the consensus seems to be keys > sub > SS.

 

That advice only pertains to powered subwoofers that only have stereo L&R inputs (like the Behringer that was extremely popular in those earlier pages of this thread).

 

However, as bass is relatively omnidirectional, many of us go:

 

keys > SS > sub out > sub or bass amp

 

As the "sub out" is a mixed L&R, mono output.

 

As far as "good cabling", there is no price requirement. You don't need to spend $60 a cable (although in the grand scheme of things, that isn't inordinately out of normal market price). You could solder your own and save lots of cheddar - presuming you can solder decently, avoid cold joints and ensure strong physical connections, etc.

 

Hope this helps some.

[delmar]

 

The "Sub out" on the SS is indeed mono. However, the picture of the Really Mini Tremor Sub on the Seismic Audio website shows a combo XLR jack as the input to the powered sub. The printed spec states this as well. If this is indeed what you've got, any normal 1/4" to 1/4" cable (instrument or speaker) should work.

 

If indeed you have a Speakon jack on the panel of your sub, it would be different than what their website shows, and I can't address that. In that case, you can use a male 1/4" to Speakon cable (which are sold at any regular music supply store).

 

Thanks, Tim. (Is it Tim? If not, thanks, Timwat!) I tried it again with different cables and everything works! I convinced myself that the sub input wanted a TRS.

No hum from the Hammond with the same cables. But the SV-1 has never hummed before. Strange.

Also, I was under the impression that Neutrik and Speakon were the same thing.

[timwat]

Yup, it's Wat. Tim Wat. (boyhood Bond obsession).

 

Speaking is a connection type, Neutrik is a manufacturer. Neutrik originally developed the Speakon standard, and retains the registered trademark. But Neutrik makes every other kind of standard audio connector as well. Speakon's primary advantage (as far as I know) is that it's a locking connector - really useful over 1/4", banana plug or similar.

 

Sorry the SV1 is humming, but glad you were able to get the SS up and running without hum!

 

Tim

[delmar]

Well now the SV1 isn't humming. And it sounds like it's being played through my HR824s. Very excited! And this is in a fully carpeted living room. Tim, thanks again. I was feeling frustrated when nothing was going right!

[BenWaB3]

If you ever see a used Barbetta Sona 32 its the bassiest liile cab I ever heard.

I did a few casuals where I kicked bass and couldnt fit my subs in the car.

But needed a seperate amp so I figured Id use it and then buy a used bass amp later.

No need. That little monster had low end and punch.

Very directional though.

 

Great to know. I still have a 32c & had wondered if it would suffice on the occasional jobs where I would play L.H. bass.

[mynameisdanno]

Long shot, but anybody in Dallas have one of these and willing to rent to me for a show tonight at the Granada? I was going to bring my Leslie but a wheel bearing failed on my van, so I'm down to the Vent, and I'd love to give this thing a test drive. PM me.

[Raymb1]

I have the same hum in my condo. It probably has something to do with the wiring in the building. Have you had the hum on a gig? I've had no hum on any of my gigs. Some have gotten rid of the hum using an Ebtech HumX.