Here is my view on this topic, a markbass amp and cab give you a very true representation of what your bass really sounds like, i realised this when I was in a recording studio a few years ago playing my parts from in the control room plugged straight in to the desk, my bass sounded very different than I was used to but in the final production it was just what the tracks needed and the band loved the result. I found it very difficult to recreate that sound live until I played through a markbass set up in my local music shop, I baught it there and then and have never looked back. If you want to hear your bass the way the manufacturer intended it to sound then this is the way forward.