Roadster "issues" gone in Road King???

[kyldh]

Just a quick question because I've never gotten a chance to try out a Road King head yet. Are the "issues" of the Roadster gone in the Road King? I'm referring of course to the channel switching lag (fixed by leaving the reverb turned on) and the "pop" when switching between channels at first (fixed, mostly, by switching around a bit before turning off Standby).

I've thought about one day upgrading to a Road King head with a Road King cab. Since the heads are kind of "brothers", so-to-speak, I wondered if the Road King maybe had the same issues. That could certainly be a good selling point for me if it doesn't.

 

[jnoel64]

I have a Road King 1 and don't have any of those issues.

 

[ryjan]

If anything I'd say the RK has just as much or more going on while switching so no, there will be no improvement.
Really though the next to non-existant lag or the (maybe) one time "pop" isn't really a concern of mine.

 

[kyldh]

the (maybe) one time "pop" isn't really a concern of mine.

Maybe mine actually has an issue then, because the "pop" for me is way more than 1 time, and there's never a "maybe." haha. I noticed it right when I bought it. I just always tried to ignore it since I've read so many others have a similar issue. Mine will pop 10 or 20 times, when switching channels of course, before it finally quits. Mainly seems to happen when switching into or out of Channel 3 for the most part. It's not THAT big of a deal, but it's loud enough to startle everyone in the room at times.

 

[domct203]

Just a quick question because I've never gotten a chance to try out a Road King head yet. Are the "issues" of the Roadster gone in the Road King? I'm referring of course to the channel switching lag (fixed by leaving the reverb turned on) and the "pop" when switching between channels at first (fixed, mostly, by switching around a bit before turning off Standby).

I've thought about one day upgrading to a Road King head with a Road King cab. Since the heads are kind of "brothers", so-to-speak, I wondered if the Road King maybe had the same issues. That could certainly be a good selling point for me if it doesn't.

The channel switching pop is not just limited to the Roadster, it's across all the Recto's to various degrees. I do the "Stand-by shuffle" and my Roadster never pops at band volume.

I've never had a channel switch lag issue with my Roadster either.

Dom

 

[Chadd]

Just a quick question because I've never gotten a chance to try out a Road King head yet. Are the "issues" of the Roadster gone in the Road King? I'm referring of course to the channel switching lag (fixed by leaving the reverb turned on) and the "pop" when switching between channels at first (fixed, mostly, by switching around a bit before turning off Standby).

I've thought about one day upgrading to a Road King head with a Road King cab. Since the heads are kind of "brothers", so-to-speak, I wondered if the Road King maybe had the same issues. That could certainly be a good selling point for me if it doesn't.

The channel switching pop is not just limited to the Roadster, it's across all the Recto's to various degrees. I do the "Stand-by shuffle" and my Roadster never pops at band volume.

I've never had a channel switch lag issue with my Roadster either.

Dom

I do the same thing and never have a problem. I hit all the buttons three or four times each on standby and it's fine

 

[siggy14]

I have an RK1 and as long as I run through all 4 channels while in standby I never have the pop problem, as to all your other issues I do not have them on my RK1, I do not know if that is the case with the RK2 as I do not own one or have ever played one. Like other people have said the pop between channels is across the whole line, has to do with the relays I believe so You will always have to do the dance before taking off standby.

Just a quick question because I've never gotten a chance to try out a Road King head yet. Are the "issues" of the Roadster gone in the Road King? I'm referring of course to the channel switching lag (fixed by leaving the reverb turned on) and the "pop" when switching between channels at first (fixed, mostly, by switching around a bit before turning off Standby).

I've thought about one day upgrading to a Road King head with a Road King cab. Since the heads are kind of "brothers", so-to-speak, I wondered if the Road King maybe had the same issues. That could certainly be a good selling point for me if it doesn't.

 

[kyldh]

I do the "Stand-by shuffle" and my Roadster never pops at band volume.

I do this too, but still manage to get a few pops. Maybe mine is worse than normal. I generally switch around shorty after powering it on. Then I grab my guitar, get it ready, and switch around some more. After that I finally turn off standby, and without fail I still get a few pops when switching into or out of channel 3
It's not the end of the world. They might startle me and whoever else is around, but it's not all that bad. I can certainly deal with it.

 

[bandit2013]

I believe the pop is prone for all tube amps not just those with the Rectifier tubes. However, I have noticed it more with amps that have a Rectifier tube than those that do not (Roadster and Mark V compared to Mark IV and Royal Atlantic).

It is more than likely related to the voltage shifting on the preamp tubes when changing channels. The stored energy will discharge though the rectifier tube(s) as the silicon diodes will block the reverse voltage potential. Note: while the amp is in standby, the capacitors used to store energy for the various voltages for the preamp tubes and power tubes are not charged. Tuning off the standby switch will cause a sudden current spike (inrush) to charge the supply caps for tubes. Generally the Choke is meant to prevent the current spike or at least slow down the transient response. I have also seen the arc flash in the rectifier of the Mark V when switching out of standby. I have tried the change of channels on the Mark V before taking the amp out of stand-by, it does absolutely nothing and the pop still happens. Also get that when changing channels after coming out of stand-by so cycling the channels seems to eliminate the issue after the stand-by is turned off (in other words, closure of the switch to power up the amp DC sources for the tubes).

 

[domct203]

I believe the pop is prone for all tube amps not just those with the Rectifier tubes. However, I have noticed it more with amps that have a Rectifier tube than those that do not (Roadster and Mark V compared to Mark IV and Royal Atlantic).

It is more than likely related to the voltage shifting on the preamp tubes when changing channels. The stored energy will discharge though the rectifier tube(s) as the silicon diodes will block the reverse voltage potential. Note: while the amp is in standby, the capacitors used to store energy for the various voltages for the preamp tubes and power tubes are not charged. Tuning off the standby switch will cause a sudden current spike (inrush) to charge the supply caps for tubes. Generally the Choke is meant to prevent the current spike or at least slow down the transient response. I have also seen the arc flash in the rectifier of the Mark V when switching out of standby. I have tried the change of channels on the Mark V before taking the amp out of stand-by, it does absolutely nothing and the pop still happens. Also get that when changing channels after coming out of stand-by so cycling the channels seems to eliminate the issue after the stand-by is turned off (in other words, closure of the switch to power up the amp DC sources for the tubes).

I cycle through all the channels of my Roadster while in standby and the amp does not channel pop at band volume. The Rectifier channel switching pop is due to charges building in the switching matrix being released in the first few cycles.

I do get an occasional pop when switching into a tube rectified channel.

(You sure do like to type, don't ya....... :wink: )

Dom

 

[bandit2013]

8) I am wordy.

I will have to try cycling the Roadster and see if that does anything. I have not noticed the channel pop with the amp, but have heard it when switching the voicing on any given channel. The Mark V on the other hand, still makes the loud popping when changing channels after stand by is released, does not matter what I do with the amp before hand. Once the amp is cycled through the channels a few times it does not come back unless I put the amp into standby again.

 

[bandit2013]

Okay, I tried the channel switching and cycled all of the channels several times before taking it out of standby, still pops, Only cure seems to be cycling after standby is out. Unless I am missing something or misreading. It does not matter what I do while the amp is in standby. I will still get the discharge pop while channel changing the Roadster. Seems to take longer for the amp to settle than it does for the Mark V. No big deal.

 

[domct203]

Okay, I tried the channel switching and cycled all of the channels several times before taking it out of standby, still pops, Only cure seems to be cycling after standby is out. Unless I am missing something or misreading. It does not matter what I do while the amp is in standby. I will still get the discharge pop while channel changing the Roadster. Seems to take longer for the amp to settle than it does for the Mark V. No big deal.

It seems that some pop worse than others. Are all your channels using the same rectification & power settings? If I switch from a 50W Tube Rectified channel to a 100W Diode Rectified channel and vise versa I get a small pop from time to time.

Before my Roadster I had an '01 Triple that behaved the exact same as my Roadster so I just figured it to be "normal". I gigged that baby for 6 years with zero issues.

Dom

 

[kyldh]

That's a good point Dom. I'll have to check my settings when I get home... my Channel 3 pops the most, and I can't remember for certain, but I may have it 50w while the other channels are at 100w. Maybe that's causing more of a pop than usual.

 

[bandit2013]

I have set up mixed modes and or all the same, no change. I have no complaints over it. I just did not get the same effect channel switching before taking the amp out of standby. Basically have been using the Rectifier tracking and not the silicon diodes. I love that spongy sound and slight sag.