Just a heads up that if you're looking for an attenuator, this one's impressing me a lot. I've run my Mark III, my bandmate's Roadster, and a JCM 800 4104 through it.
Verdict: This is not intended to get you to bedroom volume. This is intended to get you from "oh god loud" to below earplug level, and it does a great job of that.
Oddly enough, it likes the Mark III best. Honestly, the only *audible* difference with the low and high attenuation knobs at 5, which would be moderate rehearsal volume, is a bit of "cab thump" that you get at high volume. (This is lead channel, Simul-Class, with the volume on 8, master on 4-5, lead drive on 6-7, lead master on 5, treble and bass shifts and deep out, R2 engaged, and R2 volume on 10, so it's really insanely loud w/o the attenuator.) In terms of playing, there's a bit of extra compression, but you rapidly get used to it. If you crank it down to, say, loud speech volume it sounds pretty bad-- very compressed and weak.
The Roadster combo, I think, depends a little bit on cab thump and sounded a bit thin at the same attenuation levels with the same eq settings as w/o the attenuator. Basically, you will need to re-eq. However, the compression wasn't as noticeable with the Roadster as it was with the Mark, and you could dial it down to almost speaking volume and still have it sound better than it would w/o the attenuator and be nicely playable. Whether there was enough of a difference to make it worth the $200 for the Mass 150, as opposed to just turning the output way down, I'm not sure.
The Marshall didn't do very well; you had to re-eq the amp severely and while it sounded great at medium rehearsal volume the compression felt really extreme, to the point where it was almost like playing with a fuzz pedal. However, if you know a better way to get most of the sound of a JCM800 with the pre and master almost dimed, without playing loud enough to give your dead grandpa a week-long migraine, I'd like to hear it.
The attenuator seems very well-made. It heats up, but less than the amps themselves at these volumes! It has a "direct out" that kicks out a very, very hot signal that sounds all right but I think only an actual mixer board could handle it.
I'd post clips, but I don't actually have the gear to A/B between "good attenuated sound" and "unattenuated." The unattenuated sounds will be way too loud for my I/O device, so it'd be apples and oranges comparisons.
What I can say is that it's definitely a keeper for my Mark III for home practice and quieter rehearsals, but I don't ever need to go down to "bedroom" volumes. I'm now looking for a second one!
Verdict: This is not intended to get you to bedroom volume. This is intended to get you from "oh god loud" to below earplug level, and it does a great job of that.
Oddly enough, it likes the Mark III best. Honestly, the only *audible* difference with the low and high attenuation knobs at 5, which would be moderate rehearsal volume, is a bit of "cab thump" that you get at high volume. (This is lead channel, Simul-Class, with the volume on 8, master on 4-5, lead drive on 6-7, lead master on 5, treble and bass shifts and deep out, R2 engaged, and R2 volume on 10, so it's really insanely loud w/o the attenuator.) In terms of playing, there's a bit of extra compression, but you rapidly get used to it. If you crank it down to, say, loud speech volume it sounds pretty bad-- very compressed and weak.
The Roadster combo, I think, depends a little bit on cab thump and sounded a bit thin at the same attenuation levels with the same eq settings as w/o the attenuator. Basically, you will need to re-eq. However, the compression wasn't as noticeable with the Roadster as it was with the Mark, and you could dial it down to almost speaking volume and still have it sound better than it would w/o the attenuator and be nicely playable. Whether there was enough of a difference to make it worth the $200 for the Mass 150, as opposed to just turning the output way down, I'm not sure.
The Marshall didn't do very well; you had to re-eq the amp severely and while it sounded great at medium rehearsal volume the compression felt really extreme, to the point where it was almost like playing with a fuzz pedal. However, if you know a better way to get most of the sound of a JCM800 with the pre and master almost dimed, without playing loud enough to give your dead grandpa a week-long migraine, I'd like to hear it.
The attenuator seems very well-made. It heats up, but less than the amps themselves at these volumes! It has a "direct out" that kicks out a very, very hot signal that sounds all right but I think only an actual mixer board could handle it.
I'd post clips, but I don't actually have the gear to A/B between "good attenuated sound" and "unattenuated." The unattenuated sounds will be way too loud for my I/O device, so it'd be apples and oranges comparisons.
What I can say is that it's definitely a keeper for my Mark III for home practice and quieter rehearsals, but I don't ever need to go down to "bedroom" volumes. I'm now looking for a second one!
