Hi all, anyone here successfully set up their Rumble 40 Studio with a DAW via the USB port? I am using Abelton btw. I want to use the USB port to capture the amp modeling portion of the sound.
I got the thing to talk to the DAW, but a few issues ensue…
Path 1
no ASIO driver (treated essentially like a mic, per Fender)- works, but…as Fender also suggests, there MAY be latency…MAY? - yup, is. I expected this but they say give it a shot first to insure the connection is made.
ASIO driver - Fender posts a link to a Rumble 40 ASIO driver which is broken (great job Fender!) on one page but on another help page posts a link to ASIO4ALL to use instead, which I did. The sound from the amp comes into Abelton, however…i cannot hear (monitor it) anywhere! Headphones in the PC - nothing, Headphones in the amp - just the bass.
The ASIO4ALL driver does not let me pick my PC speakers as an output, etc.
I solved this entire issue by using the XLR post out of the amp to my Focusrite but would really like to solve direct since the functionality supposedly exists.
Yes it is enabled. but ‘goes nowhere’. It seems to be the ASIO4ALL driver somehow but can’t sort it.
In Abelton…
Add backing track mp3 to audio track, play it, plays fine, can hear it on PC speakers/headphones.
Add Rumble Studio 40 to second audio track by configuring input/output to ASIO4ALL, selected Fender Rumble 40 Studio and RealTek speakers in ASIO4ALL hardware setup panel. As soon as I add the second track, all outgoing monitor sound is gone.
There is nowhere in Abelton except the configure hardware spot to adjust this. Seems all tracks use same driver so once this is input into audio track 2, wherever the sound is going it takes both audio tracks with it.
The ASIO driver Fender wants you to use is ASIO4ALL.
The driver needs to be configured with 1 input (Fender Studio) and 1 output (Realtek HD Audio Output in my case) and everything else turned off. Then you can monitor from the PC speakers or headphone jack.
I also show setup in Abelton, your DAW may be different to set up
Can I ask if you’re overall happy with the Rumble 40 Studio and your setup for recording?
I’m thinking about an amp upgrade and this one looks very interesting to me. At the moment, I do my recordings through a DAI and GarageBand, which works fine, but the Rumble 40 Studio seems to bring so much more functionality.
This may be a stupid question, but when you record, is it the same sound that you’d also hear through the amp directly, more or less, depending on the preset? I’m always confused about which part of the whole setup (bass, amp, DAI, DAW) is responsible for which tone/sound. Obviously, when I practice just with my amp, my bass sounds different from when I record it. It would be nice to get some similarity there.
Thanks for any advice on that!
Yes you can and no I don’t.
I do not go through the amp any longer for recording.
The tone through the XLR does not match what you hear in ambient air, and I have found that no matter what sim I use it muddys up the sound.
I am at the moment on a quest to replace it with something not only bigger so I can play with others one day but find something cleaner sounding all around.
What it did teach me was what type of amp I am after.
I played around with all the sims and for ambient only use the GK800 sim.
I really wanted to use the B15N sim for Motown stuff but my 61P copy sounds better direct to the DAI.
I stopped using all the other amp sims because I disliked them even for ambient playing.
My philosophy was (and still is) that I don’t want to be stuck with one tone color in any one amp, thus buying the Studio 40 to try a bunch of options over time inexpensively.
What I learned is that I want to color the sound myself via my bass of choice, and perhaps preamp pedals (I have two), eq, etc vs. the amp itself adding a lot of color.
For recording, the DAI and DAW should not color the tone, and they generally don’t (unless of course you use plugins in the DAW).
Bass, preamp, power amp and cabinet all effect tone for sure.
I start with the bass that sounds right for a song, then adjust with preamp pedals (Tech21 VT Bass DI or the Darkglass B7K are what I have) then go direct to the DAI.
This is my plan for a nice clean amp/cab soon for ambient playing too (of course it would be nice if the amp has a nice preamp onboard too!).
So to answer your other question, the Fender will sound VERY different ambient vs. in the DAW, and this drove me loopy. I think they all do to some extent but the Studio XLR/USB outs just make a mess of the signal.
I am also on the lookout for a ‘clean’ smaller amp like the studio, but from what I am learning clean costs $$, so better to buy big.
If you search in this forum “Cleansest amp” you will see my drama and journey to date on this…
Honestly I would not recommend getting your amp sims and audio interface built in to an amp. It would be much better to get a standard amp, a multieffector like the Zooms with a bunch of amp sims in it, and then a DAI to record with.
Otherwise you have all your workflow tied up in that entry level practice amp, and you will just need to replace it later when you inevitably upgrade.
Thank you so much, @John_E and @howard! This is really helpful and I’m getting a better picture of how everything works. I read many good reviews of the Studio 40 but as tempting as all that digital stuff is, what I’m really after is finding out what my bass actually sounds like. I only have a super small amp (Rumble 15, I’m almost ashamed to say) and before I even consider buying a new bass, I’ll first need to get a proper feel for the sounds I can and want to produce. So, off to more research… or I’ll just buy the normal Rumble 40, as Josh suggested in his amp review.
I started with the Rumble 40 which in retrospect was fine but thought I wanted something different very quickly.
I played a 100 in a store with a P bass I bought and can tell you it’s a lot better to be able to give your bass some better “ooomph” behind it to really here what it sounds like. You don’t have to play it louder, better amps and larger speakers sound better even at low volumes at least to me.
If at all possible go try both and let your ears decide.
@Regina before buying a new Amp because you need more oomph, try the following:
If your Amp is on the floor, move it up higher, on a chair or even on a table.
If you are practicing close to your Amp, move away further, try different positions. Bass frequencies are very wide, and you might just sit in a spot where the wave has a very low amplitude.
What I currently often use for practice is that I have my Bass directly connected to my computer via a Focusrite Solo and I just monitor it with Reaper. Only effect I added in Reaper currently is a little bit of compression. I have some Yamaha monitoring speakers attached to my computer which are then used also for the bass. Those aren’t very boomy as they only have 5" speakers, but it is enough for me.
The Amp I have that I currently am not using that much is a Rumble LT25, which also isn’t very big, but which still could annoy my neighbours very much if I would turn it up even half way.
The amp upgrade is decided. I think we can all agree that a Rumble 15 is totally fine for trying out if you even like playing bass but now, after a good year in, I want something more serious. It’s not just about the ooomph. As I’ve been told by @howard, I think, on Discord, a better amp will also produce better sound when I play with headphones. So with a kinda big birthday coming up in a couple of months, my wishlist now contains the regular Rumble 40 and some beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 32 Ohm headphones. I think that combination will be fine for me for a pretty long time.
As someone who has been down this same exact path I felt I had to say something.
The Rumble 40 is a great amp BUT when you jam with others, and you will, you will find that you need more oompf, especially if there is a live drummer. The Rumble 100 will more than meet your needs in small venues.
You are getting a lot more amp with the Rumble 100 than the 40 than you probably realize.
Besides stepping up from a 40 watt to 100 amp output you are also getting a 12" speaker over the 10" speaker in the Rumble 40, and you will definitely notice a difference in the sound over the 8" speaker in the Rumble 15 because the 12" speaker in the 100 is moving a lot more air. The Rumble 40 only has a 10" speaker which, there again, is moving less air. And last in the specs between the Rumble 40 and 100 is that there is hardly any difference in the weight and size.
And as far as effects are concerned, I have talked to a lot of people that purchased the Rumble 40 Studio and admitted they were swayed in that direction primarily by the built in effects only to learn later that as @howard said you are better to have effects separate.
If you want to play with effects I would say that before you fall down the pedal rabbit hole get a multi effects pedal. You will find a lot of recommendations here for the Zoom B1Four. For a $100 you can’t go wrong and everything is in one pedal and I have never seen a bad review on it.
For now I would forget about pedals because you have enough on your plate without spending hours playing with effects that could have been used practicing.
And bottom line, and good news is, the Rumble 100 is cheaper than the Rumble Studio 40 you were considering.
Just some things for you to consider before deciding on the Rumble 40.
If I did it all from scratch again @Celticstar, I would have bought a Rumble 100 straightaway, vs. the Rumble 40 or Studio 40 but started with the 40 as I did not want to invest a lot as I am a sax player and that is my #1. This thinking has of course changed.
@Regina@Celticstar’s advise is sound, get the MOST amp you can afford, as you appear to be committed to the hobby. I wish I knew this a year and a half ago.
I like the optimism
Ok guys, just had a look at the price. If you say, that for 60€ more, I can embark on my journey to rockstardom, then I shall hereby change my birthday wishlist and join the grownups.
Fortunately for me I knew within a day that the Rumble 40 was not going to cut for me and so I did a swap for the Rumble 100 and lost no money at all, for a change
One thing I noticed, that I found strange, when I was looking at the Rumble 40 series specs for @Regina, was that the Studio model only has a 3 band equalizer as opposed to the 4 band on the Rumble 40.
I replied because I saw that you were thinking of starting an all women band and I knew the Rumble 40 would not work for you. It is so much fun to play with others. I can’t describe it exactly but when you are with like minded people playing it makes all that practice worth while.
You will not be disappointed.
Please let us let us know what you think when you get your new amp.
I just wish I could be there to see the look on your face when you try it out.
