VTypeV4

I've done a dozen or more shows on the Mackie / I-pad setup for our part-time PA and I just can't find any love for it.. I'm a big fan of 'conventional' digital mixers, I use a Soundcraft 328XD and a Yamaha 02R daily at work. Both are a little dated but navigation especially on the 328XD is pretty much as quick as an analogue wiith 10x the feature set and just a couple of EQs. The Mackie will do more than either but the two main points I struggle with are: A: I can't navigate round the platform fast enough. Dragging or pulling areas feels arkward sometimes especiallly if you catch the wrong slider (particularly on the graphic EQ page) it's frustrating. It just all feels a bit slow for my liking. B: The lack of physiicality is a barrier for me. If I've moved away from the main mix, gettiing back for that unexpected guitar solo is super quick on either of my consoles but if I'm on the wrong page on the Mackie, the journey back to the mix page and then to scroll accross to that channel is simply too slow. I feel I made the transition to digital mixers pretty painlessly and I'm now totally sold on the concept. Mixing on an I-pad, however is not for me. I saw John's comment regarding the LS-9. They're a funny thing but I think I'd rather this than the Mackie. I had a very much 'in at the deep end' introduction to the LS-9 but once I'd got my head into it, I appreciated how powerful and flexible they are but they're still not that quick to get round. I've drawn many a parallel to that and my 02R. I've never ran one with a tablet tho. It's late so I'll weigh in with a bit more tomorrow..

[url="http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/Riggerrecord_zpsbne68byw.jpg.html"][/url] Me doing a bit of editing during our recording session on Monday just gone.. Both the Soundcraft and the Yamaha behaved faultlessly (as always) although Pro Tools threw a little wobbly half way through. Luckily no data was lost and next to no time wasted. I took the time to make a new 'studio' patch setup on the Soundcraft which used a more detailed and alternative channel set, post fader / EQ sends and use of the Dynamics on the direct outs. I didn't go mad with them, more as a 'massage' so to speak.. This is the first time I've used the gear as a true studio style multi-track setup layering the parts (rather than live 'all in one go') individually and it worked great as long as I didn't rely on monitoring the input I was recording from the MOTU / 02R due to the lag. It's minimal but enough to put me off. Direct monitoring at source via a toy Behringer desk used as a headphone bus at the stage end sorted that issue as well as being used the playback monitor.. [url="http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/Macro%20XD%2002R_zpsoa7sbgnq.jpg.html"][/url] I appreciate this would probably fit better in the recording section but I wanted to show the 02R earning it's crust after extensive reconstruction surgery. Working great! I love the 02R, it's a great bit of kit despite being long in the tooth these days..

Oh my.. Pix like this are great (and kinda heart breaking!) so keep 'em coming..

I'd almost forgotten about this.. Glad you managed to get your hands on it. Give it all the love it needs as these are uber rare. I love my V4 head but thankfully it's never had the rough life this one has!

Very cool, very cool indeed..

I think the Ashdown ratings work rather like the old Trace ones where the full 300w is achievable at 4 ohms. You'll get a bit less at 8 ohm, probably around 220 is realistic.. As for 8 and 6 ohm cabs in parallel, this comes to 3.4 ohm total. I very much doubt your amplifier will be upset by this load. The other thing to remember is that all ratings are approximate (most eight ohm cabs meter around 5-6 ohms) and when in use, the imdepance of the drivers will change (alot!) dependant on frequency and enclosure design. Oh, and the cab I re-drivered was just a MAG 410 cab, not the combo so no amplifier section.

[quote name='lowhand_mike' timestamp='1440522959' post='2851570'] would that be the same for the 4x10 deep MAG cab? as i'm sure it says its rated as 8ohms [/quote] I re-loaded a friends' MAG 410 (not sure if it was a deep) a number of years ago and the (fried!) drivers I pulled from that were all rated 6 ohms despite the connector panel saying it was an 8 ohm cab. I couldn't meter them as they were all toast. I found the power rating slightly dubious too at 450w as that would equate to 112.5w rated drivers. I think not...

I always liked the idea of a V4 Ampeg although they do seem thin on the ground these days.. I'm none too fussed for the re-issue model but the one featured above is pretty cool..

Yup, indeed it does..

Why do always wind up arguing the toss about the numbers with amps like this (like the TC etc) when there's no standardisation we can use as a reference point anyways? Waste of time. I like Crown amplifiers for pro-audio but their ratings seem quite flakey when you read the small-print of burst power and use specific tones / noise. At the other end of the scale, in reletave terms, my valve amps make no power at all (my largest is a claimed 200w) but none of it matters. Why? Because if you compare manufacturer specific models against each other -even if they're doubling their claimed power- it's still only 3dB off. And when you try to compare company A's '300w model' against company B's '300w model' - depending on how they're rated - there may well be a much greater difference than that. And I'm not even mentioning speakers and their sensitivity, power handling / rating, frequency response, power compression etc etc here. The watts argument is redundant. Question A.. Can you dial a decent sound out of the amp? If yes move to question B. If no try a different amp / model Question B.. Will the amplifier play loud enough through your choice of speaker for your requirements? If yes, you win! If not do they make the same pre-amp with a much larger power stage and / or buy some more speakers. Simple as that, surely? I've never bought any amplifier (bass, pro-audio, hi-fi or reference) simply on it's rating and I believe to do so would be folly. We always seem to go round in circles about these things. Rant over. Not quite, sorry. The people that have used this amp (according to this thread at least) actually like the amp whether it's rated for 20w or 20Mw..

You can't quite tell from the pix but mine has Svetlana 6L6GCs (not sure if they're the same as yours?) and was apparently done a few years back by the previous owner. I trust him as I've known him for years. He also said he thought one of the driver valves was on it's way out as he thought one channel sounded different but to be honest, they both sound just fine to me. For good measure, I've changed the first stage valve for a Sovtek and the driver valves for a pair of JJ ECC83. As for EHX valves, there's a quad of KT88s in my Trace V4 and they're excellent. I think they're re-branded Sovtek but I had some in the Ashton BV300 and they never missed a beat in that either. I'll certainly use them again. Glad your Peavey is still going strong, may it live long!

I thiink it's one of those things that'll come in handy for both bass and playback..

Nice vintage Peavey setup there, Ed! Best of both worlds with a modern cab too..

Ha, sounds like a winner! It'd probably sound awesome through my little SWR boxes too... I'm tempted to use it to drive my little studio monitors but being a valve amp, I'm concerned it may fib a little (or a lot!). Peavey claim very low distortion figures below rated power however, so do Leak with my little ST20 and I can hear the amp 'helping' there too..

[URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0124_zpso1evtnsu.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0124_zpso1evtnsu.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0125_zpsisznodtt.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0125_zpsisznodtt.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0126_zpsaijjnza9.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0126_zpsaijjnza9.jpg[/IMG][/URL] 6L6 powered stereo power amplifier I picked up cheap. Nice amp and pretty comprehensive rear panel offering balanced ins and outs plus independant level controls. It makes a claimed 60w / Ch at 4, 8 or 16 ohms. I expected the output transformers to be a little larger but they they're a slightly funny shape so maybe that is a factor. Anyways, it sounds sweet and is in good heath.

Picked this up for a song from a friend. I'm not entirely what I'll use it for but it's healthy and in good order so I'm sure I can find a use for it. The only thing I've done to it is change the driver valves for a pair of JJ ECC83s. [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0124_zpso1evtnsu.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0124_zpso1evtnsu.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0125_zpsisznodtt.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0125_zpsisznodtt.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s778.photobucket.com/user/VTypeV4/media/DSC_0126_zpsaijjnza9.jpg.html][IMG]http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy70/VTypeV4/DSC_0126_zpsaijjnza9.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Part of me is tempted to try and trade it for a Macrotech 600 or 1200 which would actually be more useful to me but we'll see.

I've just picked up a valve Classic 60/60 power amplifier but I'm yet to try it..

[b]K. Edwards Electronics Engineers[/b] Blythe Works, New Haden, Draycott Cross Road Cheadle Stoke-on-trent Map 52.97868 -2.01244 [b]K. Edwards Electronics Engineers[/b] [size=2] Blythe Bridge - 3.7 miles away[/size][size=2] Manchester - 31.8 miles away[/size] ST10 1PN It was done ( I think at least ) by these guys but I used local music shop 'The Rhythm House' as my go between. I have frequented there since I was a teenager and regularly mix the owners group so it was easier for me to take it there and let them sort it for me. The electronics company have done repairs for me previously via the music shop and it's always been reasonably cheap, a quick turnaround and a job done right so I have no issue in recommending them. As for what was done to it? What wasn't done to it! Ha! It's had a partial power supply rebuild, including the notorious main connector, a number of replacement ICs, capacitors and components. Some of the gain pots were replaced as more than a few were ropey and noisy and a number of the fader connectors were changed too. Some of the PCBs had poor tracks and dry joints which were a nightmare, I was told the desk had been dropped and damaged at some point in it's past and poorly repaired. All this is apparently what caused the occasional 'twitchyness' and ultimately the failure of the unit. It seems rock solid now. It was a bit pricey but I was told he's spent many hours into putting all of the faults right and I have every faith that it's all true. I did consider just taking the cards out (2 x ADAT, 1 x AES and 1 x Cascade) and meter bridge off it and getting another for around the same money as the repair but investing in this one means I now have one thats (almost) as good as new. I'll take some pix of it back in service this week, it needs to earn it's crust! Plus It'll give my 328XD a rest and an opportunity for me to clean it too. I've become a bit precious with my Soundcraft and have considered getting another 02R so I can have the XD at home but finding another Yamaha with the meterbridge and 2 x ADAT cards for reasonable money is few and far between.Not to mention that when they do, they're collection only from Cornwall or the Shetland isles! Oh, and as a bonus, all my data on the Yamaha was safe too, it's all still there! Cheers, Matt

A run of the desk seems to have it back on all cylinders after a quick shakedown run yesterday. I'll put it on FOH duty next week but I expect no drama..

Sounds like you've got plenty to keep you going there! You must post some pix too! I get mine back tomorrow which I'm very pleased about although it sounds like the repair man as gone to town on it so I'm expecting it to perform like a new one. I also expect all the data will have been lost too as I had no chance to back it up before it died. Despite the problem I've had, I still believe the Yamaha is an excellent and highly capable desk.

I like viintage valve amps although the limitation of cheap old bass speakers like Oxford and the like don't do much for me. Vintage JBL and EV on the other hand still sound cool to my ears. I like to think I have the best of both worlds with my Trace / SWR setup..