DHA VT5 Studio Bass Preamp

[jimbartlett]

I purchased one of Dave's new VT5 Bass preamps about a month ago. I have prepared a review and soundclips of it which will hopefully be of interest to all of you. With regards to the soundclips, all were recorded straight from the unit onto my PC. The buzz/hiss you can hear is from my cruddy Behringer USB adapter, not the unit. I used my Warwick Streamer Stage 1 in passive mode to record all clips.

Thanks, I hope you enjoy the review!

Jim.


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PRODUCT: DHA Valve Tone 5-Studio Bass







PRICE: £639 direct from Dave Hall.

Since a gig a few months back with not much room, I have been considering using rack mount equipment so that my pedal board doesn’t take up valuable floor space. I saw the discussion on Basschat.co.uk started by Dave Hall about making a DHA valve pre-amp and it sounded the type of thing I was after.

FEATURES : 10

The DHA VT-5 is packed with loads of features to which should meet most people’s needs from a pre-amp. The FX Loop is my favourite as it is an exact replica of the DHA VT-1 Blender pedal which I have used on my pedal board for a long time. The EQ is somewhat limited due to being passive

Visually, I think the VT-5 is stunning. It has the look and feel of a top of the range boutique rack unit. I haven’t met one person yet who isn’t impressed by the looks and asked question about what it does.

Key points:

* Two separate overdrive channels, Red and Blue.
* Two stages of valve Overdrive/Distortion per channel
* Treble, Mid and Bass passive tone controls per channel
* Ge and Si clipping per channel
* Boost and Colour controls per channel
* Boost, Bright, Fat and Tone switches per channel
* Tuner output (mute)
* Headphones out socket with volume
* Pre and Post Overdrive/Distortion switchable valve driven FX Loop with blend control
* Built in Soundlab DI with volume control
* Footswitch which controls By-Pass, Red or Blue select, Red 1+2, Blue 1+2, Tuner (mute)
and FX Loop. All switches have an LED to show when it’s selected.
* VU input and output led meter

SOUND QUALITY : 9

I have played a Gibson RD Artist, Warwick Streamer Stage 1 and Epiphone Non-Reverse Thunderbird through the VT-5. I always have the Fat switch on (Dave has informed me that on most of his pedals this effect is always “on” without being switchable), and I leave the EQ flat as it doesn’t have too much effect on the sound.

The first valve stage gives me a lovely, warm vintage Bass tone which can be used on any style of song. You can control the amount of input into the valve by the I/P knob and the valve crunch by the Gain knob. If you put both on max you a nice valve crunch sound. You can turn the Gain knob down and use the Boost feature to produce a good low gain overdrive sound which is very reminiscent of the Barber LTD SR pedal I had a few months back (this is a good thing by the way!).

The second valve stage is where you can start producing some really gritty/fuzz sounds. You control how much of the fist valve stage is fired into the second by using the 1>2 knob and the amount of gain by using the….er…..Gain knob. Again you can utilise the Boost feature to get some low gain gritty sounds or produce some great full on fuzz. I’ve been using this on some Muse covers we do and it works very well.

You can select the type of clipping you require including Ge or Si by using a 3 way selector switch.

As mentioned above, the FX loop is fantastic. Built on the DHA “Bob The Blender” pedal, you can blend in the effect placed in the loop with your clean sound. There is also a switch to make it pre or post overdrive which is a great feature.

The unit has a built in headphone amp which works very well. I recommend having the volume all the way down and turn up slowly though as it really blasts out!

Dave has included a DI on the VT5 which is based on a SoundlabDI. It too works very well when I ran the unit through our PA. This is a good option to have as I have (and many of you) on occasion run through the house PA instead of a speaker.

There is a Tuner out (front and back) and switch on the front of the VT5 which mutes the sound enabling you to tune in silence. I run a lead out the back into my Korg DTR-1000.

Please note that all the features mentioned are doubled up. You have two channels on the VT5, Red and Blue. You can plug in two instruments and have separate settings for each one. This is great as I always play two different Basses at gigs with different tunings and sound requirements.

Dave includes a 6 button footswitch which controls the on/off for Bypass, Valve1/Valve2, Tuner (mute), Red channel, Blue channel and FX loop (on/off).

The VT5 produces a lovely crisp sound without any hum or buzz. The first time I brought it down to a rehearsal, my band loved the sound I was getting out of it. Our Drummer said the sound had a better definition to my previous set up and he found easier to hook on to.

One aspect that didn’t work too well for me was the EQ. It is a passive EQ which can only cut frequencies so it is quite limited. If you have a good EQ on your amp though, you shouldn’t find it a problem.

Even though I mainly play Rock, I can imagine this being used for almost any type of music.

RELIABILITY : 10

Built like a tank. I swear I saw this used on the Death Star somewhere….

CUSTOMER SUPPORT : 10

Dave is a great bloke. You can call him up and go over any questions/issues you have with his products. He is always courteous and very helpful with his advice. Never, ever a problem and a pleasure to deal with (unlike some of these global companies!).

OVERALL RATING : 9

I'd give it a 10 if it had more EQ control. It doesn’t effect me that much as I have a good EQ on my Ashdown but, if I was using just a Power Amp it could be an issue.
With all the features you get for the price, I think this pre-amp is fantastic. A valve pre-amp with 2 separate channels and loads of features for just over £600? What more do you want!?!?

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SOUNDCLIPS (all mono, sorry!):

[url="http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/7ab9b005b6_0.75MB"]Bass VT5 1st Stage - 3/4 gain [/url]

[url="http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/dc0bf53e8b_0.75MB"]Bass VT5 2nd Stage - Half 1>2, 3/4 gain [/url]

[url="http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/98f0477382_0.72MB"]Bass VT5 2nd Stage - Full1>2, full gain[/url]

Edited April 1, 2008 by jimbartlett

[ped]

Brilliant, thanks for the review. I look forward to hearing the sound clips a bit later on today.

[DHA]

Thanks Jim,

Just so you all know, Jim's rack is a custom design to his specification and we are happy to quote on any "pick and mix" designs based around the features in the VT5.

Dave

[Kev]

that thing looks fantastic, i mean really it jus looks ace, let alone how it sounds!

i agree with the eq thing, i wish the eq on my vt-2 did more, but, like you, the eq on my amp is pretty responsive

[Kev]

can those sound samples be reuploaded please?

[jimbartlett]

Kev,

I'll have a look tonight to see if I still have them.

Cheers,

Jim.

[Kev]

nice one mate

[jimbartlett]

I've found the samples, uploaded them and modified the original post. All the links should work again now.

Thanks,

Jim.

[Kev]

thanks

still can't decide whether this will be right for me, will lower gain valves take that fuzzy sound away and leave just warm tube overdrive?

[jimbartlett]

To be honest mate, I don't know. Brycebites would be the best person to ask as he seems to know A LOT about tubes.

[nbtone]

It looks very complicated and difficult to use to me.