Genz Benz Shutte 9.0 Review

[PapillonIrl]

Hi all.

So I took delivery of a Shuttle 9.0 a couple of days ago. (Thanks Mark @ Bass Direct)

I drove to the rehearsal room straight after work in an early Yuletide fit of enthusiasm.

My rig was already set up in there from the previous evenings rehearsal ( 2 x berg hs210s, eden wt550, fender 2009 us standard p w/flats )

I put the GB on top of the Eden, for easy cable changing and started to A/B the two amps.

Bear in mind I had no quick way to switch, so there was a lag of 5 seconds or so betweens swaps.

Before I continue, I should probably list the things I was less than happy with about the Eden:

-Pots seem to get dirty, and crackle. Need regular cleaning, and aren't that easy to get to.
-Compressor is not very good
-'Enhance' knob should be labelled 'suck'
- Lack of gain which didn't exist when I bought it (put it down to dirty gain pot)
-Lack of high-end which didn't exist when I bought it (put it down to dirty high/hi mid eq pots)
-High/High mid EQ knobs just increasing hiss when boosted (again, I put this down to a dirty pots but had become weary of cleaning)

It turns out, that the last three issues were caused by a reasonably new, reasonably expensive jack cable.

When these issues were still present after I plugged the Shuttle in, I started the process of elimination and... d'oh !

So, onto first impressions of the Genz Benz.


The first thing I was surprised about was how mid-forward it was compared to the Eden (both set flat). I think perhaps the HS210s are a bit mid focused also, but I had to attenuate quite a bit of high mids (somewhere between 1k and 2k sorry can't really remember) to get a sound in the same ballpark.

Which brings me to the next surprise.

The EQ in both these units is worlds apart. I hadn't really realised how fortunate I had been with the Eden EQ. It is VERY powerful and accurate. But also musical. The GB EQ feels just a little fisher-price in comparison. I am used to using large format mixing console EQ's though so I am probably a little fussy here.

The next surprise was volume.

The Eden feels louder.

Weird I know, but unless I am missing something here the GB just does not seem to be capable of moving as much air as the Eden. I have only used the 6.0 once, and found the power was lacking a little, so maybe it is a case of 'not all watts are created equal' ? (Wasn't there a thread with that title some time back ?)

I spent the next half hour or so trying to tweak the Shuttle to certain useful sounds, and when I felt I had got there, I swapped to the Eden to try and replicate.

Almost every time I was able to get a slightly better (to me) sound quicker on the Eden, but with some notable exceptions.

- I was able to achieve an 80s slightly aggressive, yet still pop-y picked sounds (stranglers etc) easier with the GB, and it sounded better when played hard.
- The aggressively picked rock sound ala QOTSA, impossible with the Eden, you can get pretty close with the GB.

So what was easier and better most of the time with the Eden ?

Alot of the ease could conceivably be down to my familiarity with the EQ. Also two sweepable mids are a lot quicker to work with than one.

The sound... hard to describe, but I will try.

To me, the low-end feels far more accurate, yet warm on the Eden (hate using that term, but there you go). The GB was boomier and had less clarity, even when there was less air moving my pant leg, it felt like the note was not as clear on the E string.

Low mids ( the ones you can hear as well as feel ) were kind of the same. A slight thing, but you could just connect with this frequency more on the Eden as a player.

So am I going to to sell the Genz Benz ?

Actually I'm not sure.

The weight and portability mean a lot to me. I got a padded gig bag with it which rocks.

It has the edge also in versatility and (I suspect, though this is far from proven) reliability.

In any case, amps like these need to be judged in the context in which they are to be used. I have a rehearsal in a couple of days, at which time I will make my final decision.

Cheers,

Nathan

p.s. where did the other Shuttle 9.0 thread go ? Can't seem to find it ?

Edited December 11, 2009 by PapillonIrl

[Musicman20]

I had a very similar experience. I compared mine to my LM3 and Orange AD200b Mk3.

Thank you for being honest about it!

Unfortunately mine also came with QC issues, down to GB, but I agree, it didnt feel like I imagine 900W would. Very brittle....no warmth. I also think it doesnt feel as solid as the Markbass micro amps....I don't know why.

Maybe im just not into a hifi tone.

I have sent mine back for a TC Elec RH450.

Some people will love the 9.0....but Ive finally concluded the Genz sound isnt for me. I'm just glad my dealer was so helpful.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Musicman20

[PapillonIrl]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='681746' date='Dec 11 2009, 09:45 PM']I had a very similar experience. I compared mine to my LM3 and Orange AD200b Mk3.

Thank you for being honest about it!

Unfortunately mine also came with QC issues, down to GB, but I agree, it didnt feel like I imagine 900W would. Very brittle....no warmth. I also think it doesnt feel as solid as the Markbass micro amps....I don't know why.

Maybe im just not into a hifi tone.

I have sent mine back for a TC Elec RH450.

Some people will love the 9.0....but Ive finally concluded the Genz sound isnt for me. I'm just glad my dealer was so helpful.[/quote]

Not sure if 'hifi' should be the label to describe these amps tbh... although I have heard the term used alot for this range.

Everything sub 600hz seemed to be slightly more accurately reproduced through the Eden, and this is not billed as a particularly clean or accurate amp.

Not necessarily knocking that, the 9.0's selling points are in other areas anyway. The weight/size/power ratio is ridiculous.

Just dislike hype when it is inaccurate and unnecessary.

What were the QC issues with your unit, if you don't mind me asking ?

Edited December 11, 2009 by PapillonIrl

[PapillonIrl]

UPDATE (dramatic U-Turn):

Ok, I will go into further detail when I have more time, but I played the Shuttle today in a full band context complete with loud drummer.

I basically have to take everything I previously said, back.

I am keeping this one.

I was overdriving the input slightly with a Sadowsky pedal. Cut at 1.2k, treble rolled back on the precision, and pushed on the amp.

Impossible to make the Eden sound like this in the mix, the way it cuts through is very musical, and it breaks up nicely when you dig in more.

The finer points of the tone advantage the Eden has when played clean, which would be noticed on a solo bass recording or when playing alone, are just not that important in most practical situations I guess.

Very happy now actually, gonna put the Eden up for sale.

Another reminder how important it is to try these things in context.

Oh, and it is plenty loud for real world situations. Maybe the Eden has more clean headroom, but I have decided that I like some grit. :wub:

Nathan

Edited December 13, 2009 by PapillonIrl

[wateroftyne]

Thanks for the review!

Like anything else, the gig is where it counts...