dave_bass5

The DG implementation does seem even more pointless to me, but both DG and TCE seem to tout the headphone out for private practice, which i guess both do well (the SD more so IMO), but none are as versatile as even something like the cheap Zoom's for recording.

No reason to really, but i always try and get an idea of what a box can, and cant do before i get it. The PR blurb always makes things sound perfect, but my experience tells me there is always going to be a small feature that doesn't work quite as expected and can make the whole thing unusable.

To be fair, it states that in the manual, so i was well aware of that before i got mine. I think some people are expecting more from this box. I cant personally see why its a problem as you can take a line out from the headphone jack anyway, and get the speaker emulation. If you had the Aux in going to the main out it would be mono only, so not sure how useful that would be.

Ive just tried it out on headphones, and i like what i hear. Its not got the depth of tone that my B3n has, but i can get some very usable tones. The bass sounds a bit more natural, and close if that makes sense. No ambience added. I wouldn't say the speaker sim is doing much, i suppose its just a slight tone curve after all, but it doesnt sound harsh or thin. The Aux in works well, and it actually sounds better than going through the B3n. I guess its not getting processed like in the B3. I actually prefer the stock OD tone, and with the correct use of the Gain knob its sounding quite close to my AS as far as drive goes. All in all, very happy. Its not perfect, its not going to repace any of my dirt pedals, but it has replaced my Q/Strip and Spectracomp, and at home my B3n. Time to get some for sale ad's up. It will be more than 3 months before i decide to sell it :-)

Pretty much spot on. I think the OD needs a bit of coaxing, but im sure its in there. The EQ is nice, and i like the fact that turning the knobs to the left lowers a different freq's compared to boosting to the right. The set Freq's seem to be just right for me, although i never turn EQ knobs too far either way. Ive still to test out the headphone side, but im hopeful. The foot print is a lot smaller than my B3n, and although the SD cant match anywhere near what the B3n can do, i like the idea of a basic tone (which is all iuse the B3n for anyway) in a smaller footprint. Just a shame it wont run off batteries.

I think the one knob OD wont be to everyone’s tates. It seems quite limited. Ill try the other tone prints tonight and see if they are any better. I can see me using it if I can get away from the tone shift when engaging it, I thought the OD wasn’t bad as such, it just wasn’t my tone with OD on top like I got when engaging the AS. I could get a good dirt tone if I re adjusted the EQ once I turned the OD on, but that’s not practical in a live situation. If it didn’t have the Spectracomp in it I wouldn’t bother with it for live use, but the box as a whole worked well. It’s a lot more set and forget, even over my BDDI, and I like that. I didn’t feel the need to keep tweaking it like I do with my other Preamp boxes. It reminded me of the Prok Loin when set to fully clean, only with more EQ. It was never going to replace my AS, and I still have my BDDI, VTBass DI and one or two other boxes for colour if I want more of that. For now I think ill keep the board as it is, it seems simpler now.

Just got back from rehearsals, so these are first impressions only., From the moment I plugged it in everything sounded just a bit better. It was still my tone, only with a bit more definition and punch. It might be the fact that I had the comp on, but whatever it was, I liked it a lot. The EQ is pretty subtle, but it seems to be just at the right frequencies. It’s no Q/strip, but it more versatile than my BDDI and VTBass. The drive section wasn’t quite as positive. Kicking in the stock tome print I lost the fullness and low end. Beaming the Natural tone print resulted in a nicer OD, but nowhere near as nice as the Aftershock. In fact the AS sounded really nice after the Spectrdarive, better than it has ever been. The two work really., really well. The Spectrcomp sounds exactly like I remember from the standalone, so no complaints there, and its nice to have it integrated. The ‘issue’ I have with it though, is, like the Q/strip, its not going to colour my tone like I’m used to with the BDDI etc. This isn’t a bad thing as such, nor a negative, just that I will still need to use other boxes to add the colour. Tonight ill test out thei headphone side, cant wait as that was the original reason for getting it.

Yaaaaaay. A pick player doing a demo That makes a really nice change to all that slap stuff demos that show absolutely nothing. :-) Love that tone.

Yeah, i got a EU plug from DV27 when i got my Aftershock. I also received two adaptors with it, but i wish i had got a UK PSU. I emailed Source Audio about this and they confirmed that due to their location DV27 will supply EU PSU's. Ive not had this with G4M, although in this instance i assume as it came direct from their EU warehouse its understandable. Not the end of the world really, but ill chase it as far as i can go. It does look cool. a bit of a finger print magnet though. Just composing the ad now :-) I have so many boxes i really need to sell, but im just so lazy. I like having the choice to go back to ones i have replaced, and sometimes im glad i haven't sold them, but they are building up now. Must have a clear out soon.

Well it arrived today. Very impressed with the quality. Heavier than i expected, and the knobs feel really nice and smooth, but with good resistance. I wont get a chance to plug it in before tonight's rehearsal but ill report back tomorrow. The only slight issue i have is its been supplied with a European 2 pin PSU (and shaver adaptor). Not too happy about that so ill email G4M and see if they can source the correct one. Ill be using my Cioks DC5 for the pedal board but for home use id prefer a smaller form factor as far as PSU goes.

Cant beat that combination. I love a glass (or three) of rum when I’m playing at home,. Helps loosen the fingers.....and mind lol. Mines waiting to go out for delivery tomorrow, cant wait for tomorrow evening. Happy birthday, it will be a good one by the sound of it.

Both me and my GF have the Bose QC35's, and the noise cancelling is the best out there. Not cheap, but well worth it if noise cancelling is top priority. I walk to and from work, through central London with mine on and they block out most of the world. Could easily listen to classical or (god forbid) Jazz while walking next to the main roads. Almost 20 hours battery time. I charge mine up one a month. Just so we are clear, the active noise cancelling is for the listener only, they dont block any extra sound getting out (over what a pair of closed back headphones normally do). So in a quiet room others might hear the music, but at least you wont hear them shouting to turn it down lol.

Ha, was just going to post that as well.

I hadn’t really thought about its size, but i guess as i own 3 Tech 21 boxes i had it in my mind that it would be about that size. I’m glad its a bit larger, as i can imagine hitting both those foot switches by accident. Cant stand them myself, and most seem to actualy be re-unboxing with a lot of over acting anyway.

II cant understand a word he is saying, but it looks a bit larger than i expected.

There will be the video's where the 'Celeb' sits there with eyes wide open and blank expression on their face, while the guy from TCE fiddles with his (virtual) knobs and tells us all how wonderful and unique this tone print will be.

Yeah, its still very early days for the Tone Prints.

Looks like all the existing Spectracomp tone prints are now available for the Spectradrive. Fast work on TC's side.

Looks like you cant beam the existing Spectracomp tone prints to the Spectradrive. Only the ones designed specifically for the Spectracomp built in to the drive. So far thats just one. Not deal breaker for me, and im sure TC will add more now that the SD is out. A guy on TB has two, and has posted his findings. So far, its a very clean pre amp, the stock OD is horrible (the Natural tone print is a huge improvement though), and the output is very loud. These were just day one, bedroom level testing though. Mine should be hear on Monday, Ive got a rehearsal Monday evening so im hoping to give it a good run.

Just to be clear. when you program a tone you can set which output it uses. Even when using both tone engines in one preset, you can still get them to only use the one physical output. No need for any external switches. its a very cool device. Although ive not had mine long, i was all geared up for using as many of the pre set slots as i could, but it ended up getting quite complicated. Now i actually just use the stock tones, although i have changed the tone engine on the Vintage position to something less middy.

I think Al might have been talking to me about it, i got one off here last week I dont think ill use it much, but from what i have seen its really cool. In the AS each preset has two separate tone engines. You can program them to stack, use just one, one for each output socket etc. If you use the Tap Tempo you can program the preset to allow the TT to switch between each tone engine, but still only use the mono out. Effectively two pedals in one. you can have one on all the time, and stack the second tone, either while you hold the switch down, or latching, or switch between the two. Ive not yet found a way to actually switch between each of the 6 different preset slots (3 on the toggle switch, 3 preset in red mode). I dont think you you can, but if you could, that's a lot of options to try and remember.

Its almost like there isnt any music left in the signal. Just as well I’m not in to that type of tone. As long as i can get a tiny bit of OD colouring thats all ill need. My AS will supply the magic :-) EDIT: Just noticed a couple of other videos from the same source. Dear me, they really arent selling this thing well IMO. Even the off tone sounds poor.

Another YT video. Not my cup of tea at all, but i know its capable of a lot more.

Gear 4 Music. I probably use them more than I should these days lol.

Right, all ordered. The Spectradrive should be here sometime next week. I was surprised to see the price drop once i went through to the Payment options. The cost of the unit itself was only £186, plus £7.99 delivery. Im quite pleased with that. i will of course post back with my thoughts once ive had a play with it.