A friend of mine worked for a copper cable production facility … and really had to laugh when he heared how much I spent on cables.
He brings it up every time he sees me, loudly laughing and pointing at me, even in public locations, telling his opinion about me to innocent bypassers. He does this for about 35 years now - is there no end to (t)his madness???!
The funny thing about switching amps, though, is that while not digital per se they really do kind of resemble a digital signal.
Yeah that’s funny and that’s most certainly why a lot of people misunderstand what is class D. also the “D” letter is not the best choice to clarify this 
It’s more correct to see switching amps as analog derivative and integration devices. That’s the derivative part, with its time-based quantization, that looks similar to a digital signal.
Anyway the signal is somewhat decomposed, then amplified by switching MosFET’s or IGBT’s, and then recomposed. It takes a bit of time and I guess that’s why those amps are “slower” and less punchy than Class AB amps, where the amplification is more of a direct process : just the same signal with more amperes. Actually I’m quite sure that a lot of bass players could prefer a Class D amp behavior because it can be felt like a “free” and kinda natural compressor, somewhat. Not necessarily a bad thing. It depends for what and who. It’s not a problem at all for a HiFi system because the signal on a record is already (heavily) compressed anyway.
Also obviously the power/weight/price/heat ratio of Class D amps is by far unbeatable and makes it a natural industrial standard nowadays.
The only real downside is that it normalizes very high power amps, and I’m not sure it’s a good thing, because this can normalize low efficiency drivers. But that’s another story.
I had an analog Class D FRFR Cab and it had an unbearable hum and some hiss. I asked around a lot and understand that this is a common issue!?
Now I have a Digital Class-D PA with no hum whatsover, and hiss that I only hear when the bass is connected and I put gain on 100% (not playing obviously) - so not relevant in “real” situations.
Everything analog I create with digital VST effects 
it is, in the case of a poorly designed and built power supply
In my case it was the Positive Grid Spark Cab. Highly recommended by dreaded influencers on YouTube, despised by many actual owners…
I asked Positive Grid support about it and they said: “It’s also essential to note that most powered cabinets and high-power active PA speakers, such as the Spark Cab, may exhibit some degree of noise floor, which should be considered normal. Please rest assured that this does not indicate any quality issues with the product.”
I used Google Translate (Bullsh#t => plain English) to understand what they’re saying and it means: “F#ck you!”
What I can say about the Spark (the first one) is that I used to consider buying one, so a friend lent me his one for a few weeks so I can try it before I decide to buy it or not. I didn’t buy it.
Also when I sold my Fender Cabronita, the buyer had a Spark and tried the guitar with this amp. I never heard a Cabronita sound that bad. (but anyway the guy loved the guitar and bought it immediatly). I’m not sure about the hype around the Spark’s. Maybe it can fit the needs of some bedroom players. Or maybe it’s just a lot of marketing.
Yeah, maybe a lot of marketing.
I am worse than a “bedroom player” - I’m one of those terrible post midlife crisis sofa players
I needed something that I could hide in a way that my girlfriend does not discover it immidiately. If she sees it after a few weeks, she finds me adorable, cause I’m so afraid of her ^^
And then I can keep stuff!
But this one she heared humming from across the room…
Cause of the humming Spark Cab and my silly fight or flight response to her discovery I was allowed my current PA, so everything is good now.
I was a big Positive Grid fan until recently, cause of the Go and Mini. It is good for what it is, but the latency issues in audio interface mode totally s#cks.
I needed that for travelling and playing outside - but it is unusable for creating a proper cover.
Now I have a Boss Katana Go, which hopefully has no latency (still got to test) and I plan to connect my old JBL Charge (one of those with 3.5mm analog in) for playing on the road. It’s small, light and sounds ok enough for that purpose…
And my first impression of the Katana Go is so good, that it makes me wanna get rid of everything Positive Grid (except BIAS FX - though Amplitube is also much better/stable, in my opinion).
It was not pejorative when I said that. We can’t ignore that there are various musicians with different goals and different needs. That’s perfectly fine.
No worries: even if you were, I can take it
Also, I envy all “real” bass players in the most sincere and affective way. Wish I were about a hundred years younger and could have started at a younger age. Then I would be in a band and be rich and famous. Or at least play in a band, noodling in a dark corner…
But playing on the sofa makes me reconsider/revalue my #1 passion - music - and I discover so many new aspects of it (as well as new bands and genres). It is my 2nd honeymoon with music, it reintroduces the long lost magic again. Can it be any better?
So I am a proud sofa player!
Nah, they’re saying “we had a price point and gross margin target to hit so that’s what we were willing to spend on components”
Also translates to “F*ck you!”
yeah, if you record covers
I generally jump right to the comments on UG because bad tabs get called out pretty fast.
I don’t think people should strictly play off a tab unless the song is literally chugging roots (I’m looking at you, punk rock)
Tabs are a quick way to see how the roots change and what the person thinks you should do in between and a great “start” but if you can determine the key and toss in some passing tones it’s more fun to have fun and play through the entire song rather than treating it like a classroom lesson with homework.
I think the hardest part of playing with other people is having the confidence to speak up for yourself when they say “I don’t think that’s how it goes” and want you to stop playing and look up a tab. Of course, if your just murdering it that is valid, but I think it’s good to develop your own playing your comfortable with.
i personally could care less if a tab is “accurate” to the source or not. if a few notes are off but it still sounds like the song, that’s close enough for me 
edit: i mean it does have to sound like the song, though.
Man, that also translates to “F#ck you!”
Google translate must be broken ^^
Yeah yeah - I am still working on it. On some days I feel really close. But than the timing is off (= biggest problem), I make one little mistake that destoys the whole recording … or I despair from getting the compressor right (to correct my dynamics) or chose the correct VST effect.
I know it sounds like an excuse, but it is quite hard to post a cover, when everybody is so great (or funny). I feel a lot of pressure…
Also, I can talk better about bass stuff than actually play 
.-(
Sure it is, that’s a part of what you should do it 
I can understand that. But there is no required minimum level and nobody asks you to do something perfect, and it’s even more true for a first cover. Things will be great when you’ll get over this pressure.
You can choose and set your VST’s after you record, it’s not admissible as an excuse 
Yeah, I learned that from @howard. Sometimes it really makes sense, what he says
I worked on my cover yesterday and had an OK dry recording (OK = when my girlfriend sings or hums to it).
Still not good enough for BassBuzz, but I could use it to experiment with BIAS FX, TH-U and Amplitube.
First of all: too much choice!
So I stick to Amplitube as the UI is ok-ish and it’s also the most stable.
Selected some effects, but failed to get it right in the mix.
It feels detached, not organic.
Also, because of my varying dynamics (sometimes too loud, sometimes not loud enough), I hoped to resolve that with playing with compression settings.
But you can not resolve s#cking with a compressor, unfortunately ^^
Whoa there, let’s not jump to conclusions here.
D@mn - text correction totally changed the meaning of what I actually wrote