Omni12 (2x10) compared to a 2x12 + 6" conventional cab ??

[vlad335]

I guess I should post about using this cab at the gig Saturday night.

Absolutely great bass guitar cab. All the adjectives I used above still apply and I take none of it back. IMO this is the best of Bill's bass designs but I have to relay two issues I had with the cab that night.

First, I realize I will need two of them. CRAP! This has nothing to do with the design but has everything to do with playing with a stupid loud drummer. I was completely surprised to say the least but it is what it is. Our drummer is in no way a normal human being. He has broken 2 bass drum pedals in the past year, numerous heads, cracks cymbals, and goes through drumsticks at an unbelievable rate. For example, I bought him a set of synthetic sticks last month that are touted as very resistant to breaking and within minutes one of the tips hits me in the side of the head. Anyway, this cab is still louder than any single cab made but I am not going to be able to get away with one in my situation.

Before the gig, I wired up L-pads for the mid and high frequency drivers and this was a mistake. They effected the sound quality of the cab slightly and I didn't have time to wire the cab back the way it was. I am certain I wired them correctly and these are the ones I used. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=260-262 These should have been OK right? I don't know, maybe I did something wrong but I am certain I did not. The drop in sound quality wasn't tremendous but it was noticable to me. Sort of like the difference between a CD and an MP3 . Anyway, the L-pads are going to be removed as I didn't need them. Turned out I had the mid and highs set flat anyway while playing live.

Didn't really get any pics of the cab specifically that night. You can see it somewhat in this pic though.



I have 2 more BP102's to start another cab. Thinking of making another with the woofers and the midhorn only.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

First, I realize I will need two of them. CRAP! This has nothing to do with the design but has everything to do with playing with a stupid loud drummer..

-1. Force him to either get plexiglas drum isolation shields or find another gig. Why risk losing your hearing trying to match his levels?

[djohnson573]

First, I realize I will need two of them. CRAP! This has nothing to do with the design but has everything to do with playing with a stupid loud drummer..

-1. Force him to either get plexiglas drum isolation shields or find another gig. Why risk losing your hearing trying to match his levels?

Or lose an eye from a flying drum stick tip.

[Mark Coward]

I have 2 more BP102's to start another cab. Thinking of making another with the woofers and the midhorn only.

You might want to try it as a woofer/sub only. Just stacking the one you have on top would let you hear things better. With mid-horns in both, you'd need to stack them sideways. In any case, if you can set up with your rig on the side pointing across the stage you and everyone should hear better.

btw, weren't you using on O15TB? I know that David Perry and others compared the O12 & O15. I guess that the 2x10 version at 4 ohm would be louder at the same setting on most amps.

[Wes Whitmore]

You only ran one O12? How is that stack so tall in your picture?

[vlad335]

You only ran one O12? How is that stack so tall in your picture?

Stuck it up on one of the lighting roadcases.

[Wes Whitmore]

I love roadcases...

Do you think you lost some lower octave SPL because it wasn't on the ground? I still bet you would want another one with a drummer like that, but it might get you by until you have time to build another.

Wes

[vlad335]

I have 2 more BP102's to start another cab. Thinking of making another with the woofers and the midhorn only.

You might want to try it as a woofer/sub only. Just stacking the one you have on top would let you hear things better. With mid-horns in both, you'd need to stack them sideways. In any case, if you can set up with your rig on the side pointing across the stage you and everyone should hear better.

btw, weren't you using on O15TB? I know that David Perry and others compared the O12 & O15. I guess that the 2x10 version at 4 ohm would be louder at the same setting on most amps.

I just got the cab home last night so alot of work to do today. First things first, the L-pads are gone as they are killing this cab. When I first hooked up the cab I was treated to the best bass sound I have ever heard. I put the Lpads in and the cab became very honky sounding, low-fi, and distorts at the drop of a hat. I confirmed this at practice last night. I am absolutely certain that I wired them up correctly and I think this is the central issue right now.

[vlad335]

I love roadcases...

Yeah, me too! The cases for the lights were done in my usual ghetto style. http://acapella.harmony-central.com/for ... ?t=2062469

Do you think you lost some lower octave SPL because it wasn't on the ground? I still bet you would want another one with a drummer like that, but it might get you by until you have time to build another.

Wes

possibly... but I have to check some other stuff out first.

[Scott Brochu]

First, I realize I will need two of them. CRAP! This has nothing to do with the design but has everything to do with playing with a stupid loud drummer. I was completely surprised to say the least but it is what it is. Our drummer is in no way a normal human being. He has broken 2 bass drum pedals in the past year, numerous heads, cracks cymbals, and goes through drumsticks at an unbelievable rate. For example, I bought him a set of synthetic sticks last month that are touted as very resistant to breaking and within minutes one of the tips hits me in the side of the head. Anyway, this cab is still louder than any single cab made but I am not going to be able to get away with one in my situation.

Does he have a monitor? Is it not turned up enough that he can hear himself that he thinks he needs to play louder?
He looks like he's got everything mic'ed including H-hat. And he still needs to hit them hard?
Tell him music comes from within and plays out with expresion and feel. Playing through the drums is not. You want to almost pul the sound out of the instrument not pound it into the ground. Let the mics do the job for loudness.
Sorry Vlad335 just hate to see a fellow drummer ruin his craft with poor execution.

On a lighter note...love the lights I see you over in the light section sometimes at HCentral.

[vlad335]

On a lighter note...love the lights I see you over in the light section sometimes at HCentral.

Haha! I knew I recognised your screenname from somewhere. I read too many forums.

Well figured out the problem. It's the QSC amp! I took my rack to practice and hooked up my Ernie Ball 2-12 cab and same result. ( Actually with less volume than the Omni.) Now I know what this cab sounds like as I have owned it for 6 years so something pointed to the rack. I stuck a RMX 850 in this morning hooked up the Omni, and everything is good, no... it sounds great!

Wow! this a great bass guitar cab. I got a little preview of it when I first hooked it up but I think there has been intermittant issues with the PLX amp for awhile. I never had problems with a QSC amp before so I never even considered it. Now this cab sounds gorgeous. Perfect in fact. I played it about a half hour and didn't want to put my bass down. My wife is sleeping so I only cranked things up briefly but no issues with volume either.

Now Ill see what this sounds like on Saturday.

[Scott Brochu]

Haha! I knew I recognised your screenname from somewhere. I read too many forums.

BBDrums

[vlad335]

Haha! I knew I recognised your screenname from somewhere. I read too many forums.

BBDrums

Ahh, I think it was your sig then. Maybe you avatar pic as well. Anyway, great lighting forum over there. Got a great deal of help when I was putting the light rig together. Too bad the bass forum is a mess.

I just made some minor EQ adjustments and played the cab again. The sound is simply great. Powerful and clear without a single overtone like you get with conventional bass cabinets. Also quite revealing as well. for instance, I use a couple presets on my Zoom B2.1U for different tones and obviously forgot to remove the compression from some of them because you can hear it clamping down and bringing up noise. Then a noise gate kicks in and introduces a weird artifact. Hard to describe but I have never heard this before. Not even with headphones! Granted it's not right out front but I can hear it.

Contacted QSC about the warranty which I remember being upgraded to six years. No dice. They have no record of it.