Review: Rocktron Velocity 300 new version...

axel said:
I am ordering the Carvin DCM200L also (only a 10 day trial) to do an A/B comparison.
Click to expand...

Hi, just wondering how the comparison with the Rocktron Velocity 300 and the Carvin DCM200L went? I'm currently using the Art SLA-2 into a 1x12 boogie cab.


Cheers
 
shred-o-holic said:
steveb said:
It has my curiosity.......so headroom wise it seems adequate? I use two 4 ohm cabs.....one 4x12 and one 2x12.....plus a powered crossover/sub.......I may just have to order one from musician's friend or something for a try out...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

I can't imagine headroom not being adequate with 4ohm cabs unless you play seriously over the top loud.
 
Great reading. I have an original V300. Its bigger at 2 rack spaces and was my main power amp for many years without one single issue. However, it is currently only half working. Not bad for a power amp that is around 20 years old.

Has anyone A/B 'ed the 2 of them? The new version and the old version?

I have been using Rocktron equipment for a LONG time now and it has been very reliable. I started with a Randall half stack, then went to all rack Rocktron gear. It was all wonderful, but my Randall cab could not deal with all the bottom end. It would "fart out" and I would have to dial out the bass. If I plugged my rack into a Marshall 1960 cab, it was awesome.

Im getting an Axe-fx ultra in a few months and am trying to decide what to do about my power amp and Randall cab. Do I get my old V300 fixed or just get a new one which im sure is lighter. And after multiple shoulder surgries, I really need lighter.
 
So glad to have this forum and community of committed guitar players helping each other. Awesome!

I'm hoping to switch over to using my new ULTRA on gigs soon, but haven't gotten my rig together yet. This power amp may really help out. I was looking at the Atomic stuff for amp and speaker. After reading all of this, I may go with the Rocktron 300 and then i've still got to figure out what speakers to use. I gig ALOT and need a variety of volumes as I freelance in NYC full time.

I have two 1x12 cabs with EV's, one open back and one closed. I am afraid of them coloring the sound too much. Suggestions MOST appreciated. Thanx Cats!
 
Guitarsolo said:
I have two 1x12 cabs with EV's, one open back and one closed. I am afraid of them coloring the sound too much. Suggestions MOST appreciated. Thanx Cats!
Click to expand...

Thats whats speakers are supposed to do. But you probably don't want to use the speaker simulations.
 
Interesting thread!

I use a Carvin DCM150. Not enough headroom and breath but plenty loud and I let the mains do most of the work anyway. I don't have to turn up much onstage at all, volume-wise it's OK (I typically play thru a 4x12 recto lately, 4 ohms per side stereo).

My best sound is with a mesa 50/50, much rounder, deeper, and more sibilance at the top end for those fender tones. But I once hooked up a Carvin DCM2000 just for grins, and surprise, it closed the gap tremendously (despite the massive power, it wasn't absurd). As has been noted here many times, a big part of the difference between tube and SS is the fact that tube power amps have so much more headroom and depth per watt. It's commonly said that you need 4-5x the SS watts to equal the headroom and depth of a tube power amp, and that seems about right. The DCM150 falls way short at 75 SS watts per side into 4 ohms compared to 50 tube watts in the mesa. But when I bump up to 200 or more watts per side, things open up. Not so much louder, just bigger and rounder with more breath.

I noticed Carvin just came out with a DCM 1000L, which would be a perfect match watts-wise (the 1540L was a bit overpowered). 2 rack spaces, which I don't want to do, but only 9 pounds and pretty cheap, which I like.

The Rocktron into 4 ohms may have just enough headroom to push me over the edge, but jeez that's a heavy 1-space unit.... I'll have to ferment on that. How is the "bigness" and "roundness" thing with the Rocktron? Have you compared it to a more powerful unit and/or a good tube amp?
 
I recently picked up a Velocity 300 after reading these reviews. It really does add a lot to the tone. I was using a QSC GX3 prior to this one which had kind of a thin top end sound that I couldn't get rid of. I think I probably could have if I worked at it a bit longer, but I'm not sure. Anyway, the Velocity really has more of a tube feel to it.

With the velocity controls both on zero, the QSC sounded better for sure. Once you bump up the velocity controls (especially the reactance) it the velocity sounded better to me. I had been missing the tube feel of my old Dual Rectifier and it really comes close to replicating that feel. The patches will have to be adjusted a bit to compensate for the sound of the poweramp, but the feel is there for sure. I still need to play it loud and with some other poweramps, but so far, this one is my favorite. The reactance control can get out of hand pretty quickly. I think that the Axe's poweramp modeling on top of the velocity may be the reason for that. I usually run it at around 9 o'clock. The definition control is also pretty sensitive. I try to keep that one a bit lower than the reactance.

So far, this poweramp has given me the most tube-like response from a solid state poweramp. I can't compare it directly to an ART SLA, but I have played those as well and to me the rocktron feels better. That may just be my playing style and impatience with tweaking though. To me, the reactance control is just another tool for making the Axe sound cool. I'd chose the velocity over the GX3 again.
 
discostu said:
I recently picked up a Velocity 300 after reading these reviews. It really does add a lot to the tone. I was using a QSC GX3 prior to this one which had kind of a thin top end sound that I couldn't get rid of. I think I probably could have if I worked at it a bit longer, but I'm not sure. Anyway, the Velocity really has more of a tube feel to it.

With the velocity controls both on zero, the QSC sounded better for sure. Once you bump up the velocity controls (especially the reactance) it the velocity sounded better to me. I had been missing the tube feel of my old Dual Rectifier and it really comes close to replicating that feel. The patches will have to be adjusted a bit to compensate for the sound of the poweramp, but the feel is there for sure. I still need to play it loud and with some other poweramps, but so far, this one is my favorite. The reactance control can get out of hand pretty quickly. I think that the Axe's poweramp modeling on top of the velocity may be the reason for that. I usually run it at around 9 o'clock. The definition control is also pretty sensitive. I try to keep that one a bit lower than the reactance.

So far, this poweramp has given me the most tube-like response from a solid state poweramp. I can't compare it directly to an ART SLA, but I have played those as well and to me the rocktron feels better. That may just be my playing style and impatience with tweaking though. To me, the reactance control is just another tool for making the Axe sound cool. I'd chose the velocity over the GX3 again.
Click to expand...

Excellent info, thanks for sharing. My Velocity 300 arrives tomorrow and my boss is out this week so I'll probably have to take another 2 hour lunch break tomorrow lol! (still will only give me about 30 minutes of playing time).
I'm hoping this is it for a while... I'm in pretty deep at this point and will need to unload one way or the other (sell the Art SLA-1 or return the Velocity) to start recouping funds.
 
I also have the Velocity 300 arriving tomorrow or Thursday and can't wait to put it to the test.

It will be powering 2 Atomic passives (1 regular, 1 wedge).
 
Hmmm, a power amp coloring the sound from the AxeFX? I thought the point of FRFR and linear amplifiers was to recreate all frequencies evenly?

I kinda get that some of us are playing into some cabs that aren't FRFR (all those playing into 1960a's, raise your hand). Just seems odd to have something else to tweak, albeit two knobs.

I also get it too because I'm still trying to figure out how to round out the soundwave of those higher freqs. But I'm still eartarded . . .
 
I'm honestly not sure how the rocktron would work in a FRFR setup. My guess would be that there are better poweramps out there for that particular purpose. I'm just playing through a 2x12 Mesa. I didn't get the Axe really to play FRFR stuff, but I do use those abilities for recording or playing through an occasional P.A. system. The rocktron does give me the best head & cab guitar amp feel so far though.

Tone isn't really a problem with the Axe... at all. Getting the right feel has been a bit more difficult. The rocktron does make it a little easier for me at least. I still bet you could mimic the rocktron's behavior with the Axe's parameters, but I personally don't know how to do it.
 
LAYGO said:
Hmmm, a power amp coloring the sound from the AxeFX? I thought the point of FRFR and linear amplifiers was to recreate all frequencies evenly?
Click to expand...

Define "evenly". I'm not convinced that cheaper solid state poweramps are perfectly transparent, but my sample size is not large. All I can say is that the QSC GSX3 I tried, along with the class D Crate Powerblock, both add a "brittleness" to the sound to my ear, even when going into a standard guitar cab. I don't hear that sound from the Axefx into my studio monitors, which arn't even all that great as monitors go. What would be interesting to see in amp specs is not just the "flatness" of the overall response, which doesn't really tell you much, but rather samples of individual pure frequencies throughout the range. How "clean" are the output results compared to the input?
 
steveb said:
LAYGO said:
Hmmm, a power amp coloring the sound from the AxeFX? I thought the point of FRFR and linear amplifiers was to recreate all frequencies evenly?
Click to expand...

Define "evenly". I'm not convinced that cheaper solid state poweramps are perfectly transparent, but my sample size is not large. All I can say is that the QSC GSX3 I tried, along with the class D Crate Powerblock, both add a "brittleness" to the sound to my ear, even when going into a standard guitar cab. I don't hear that sound from the Axefx into my studio monitors, which arn't even all that great as monitors go. What would be interesting to see in amp specs is not just the "flatness" of the overall response, which doesn't really tell you much, but rather samples of individual pure frequencies throughout the range. How "clean" are the output results compared to the input?
Click to expand...

"Define "evenly". I'm not convinced that cheaper solid state poweramps are perfectly transparent" --
I tend to agree with this concerning cheaper SS power amps. I used an Alesis RA100 power amp with passive Tannoy Reveal studio monitors for years and in that respect the RA100 worked pretty well -- computer based DAW, amp plugins, mixdowns, etc.. (although I did not audition a ton of SS amps, the RA100 was your basic $200-300 SS power amp at the time). When I got my first AxeFX (yes, I've had a few) I did use the RA100 into an Avatar 2x12 and I was actually able to get some pretty decent results. The adjectives for the tones that I would use in that solution are very similar to what I'm finding with the Atomic FR and Art SLA-1. In fact, every time I've used the Art SLA-1 (even into traditional guitar cabs) I have come away with similar results, mostly when playing at low-moderate volumes:
A very small lack of depth, lack of character, a little flat, a little brittle on the top end, 2D vs. 3D?
I should mention that this is me being extremely nit-picky... I play seated, in front of studio monitors or the Atomic FR (raised up about 6" on a stand) and I sit back about 6 feet or so. Almost always SOLO guitar (I rarely ever practice with backing tracks and I haven't actually recorded anything in quite a while... still working on my tone lol!). I don't play in a band and I haven't even taken this rig out to jam (yet). So I understand the "game" changes completely once you enter into a full band scenario, gigging, etc... but for really critical listening this is where I'm at.
I know what to expect from the AxeFX and I like what I hear from studio monitors (for the most part). I also think the Atomic's FR (both powered and passive) seem quite musical, really full and rich low end but tight, nice clear mids and smooth high's (too smooth vs. powered monitors? I don't know?). I'm hoping the Rocktron 300 with the reactance and presence control allow me to dial in just a tad more "liveliness" and character to pump through the Atomic FR.
I used a Tubeworks Mosvalve 962 for a short while and it had a nice tube-y character (even though it was SS) and also had a well conceived presence control. I have heard that the Rocktron Velocity 300 is kind of similar to this type of amp, hopefully even better.
If not, I will probably do one last complete revamp and go full on FRFR wedge; Definitely QSC K10 or FBT Verve 12ma. I will just deal with the sometimes strident upper mids and high's until I find the perfect way to tweak them (which should match whatever I do on my studio monitors). I would guess finding the perfect PEQ settings or possibly some graphic EQ will get me there pretty easily. We shall see.
 
Great thread.

So did anyone A/B the Carvin against the Rocktron? I've done a ton of research and it's down to those two for me. I will probably order them tomorrow and A/B them myself, but in the meantime curious if others have done so.

I concur with what everyone has said about the Powerblock - clearly it thins out the sound, making it brittle and (if you use metal distortion as I do) harsh and unpleasant. I used it at one gig and that was it, I swore to never subject an audience to it again. Not even good enough for rehearsals; it's a toy. I'm running it into a Mesa 4x12 at 8 ohms bridged mono.

So to the people wondering if you just weren't setting things right on your pre, that's surely neither here nor there: no matter what you feed the Powerblock, it will thin out your sound and ruin it, as it hands off to the speaker. You can't overcome deficiencies in the power amp by tweaking the pre amp. I tried for weeks, in rehearsal, to make the powerblock sound good. Now it's a doorstop. But it's too light to even be THAT.

Thanks very much everyone, this was an extremely helpful thread and put the cap on my research.

In case it's helpful to anyone else considering their options, here's some notes I took as I looked for a power amp over the weeks. I was mostly interested in weight, cost, wattage, and output jacks. I want to be able to throw this thing into a backpack and stop lugging around my triple rec in it's frickin ATA case. I ruled out all double space units and all amps above about $500. I was open minded and considered bass amps, PA amps, and even gave fair consideration to the Bose Personal Asshole System/PAS/L1 :roll: . I'm not a fan of emoticons but Bose deserves the eye roll. This list is basically in order of best options at top, worst options at bottom - that's "worst" for my needs, which are to power a 4x12 for gigs in NY clubs and on the road as a metal guitarist in the band King Hell.

BTW NONE of the big music stores keep single rackspace amps in stock. I'm concluding that these items have low profit margins and the stores don't wanna touch 'em. I described what I'm looking for to a nice Guitar Center employee and he proved that even the nice ones are jackasses as he immediately tried to sell me a $1000 double space Crown with three million watts.

Carvin DCM200L
4 lbs!
$279
200 watts at 8ohms bridged
1/4 outs! (and bananas)
http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... ct=DCM200L

Rocktron Velocity 300
18 lbs
$369.00
300 watts at 8 Ohms
1/4 outs!
Guitar sound, guitar outputs, guitar ohm options (4,8,16)
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Rocktron-Ve ... 1500881.gc

SWR Amplite
3 lbs!
$550
400 Watts into 4 ohm
No 1/4 outs
What would it be at 8 ohms bridged?

Behringer EuroPower EPQ1000 Stereo Power Amplifier
10 lbs
290W/Channel @ 8 Ohms
No 1/4 outs
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6 ... Power.html

Samson Servo SA201A Professional Power Amplifier
15 lbs
200 watts at 8 ohms
No 1/4 outs
http://www.samash.com/p/SA201A%20Profes ... _-49957513

ART SLA-2 - 2-Channel Rackmount Power Amplifier
20 lbs
200W Per Channel at 8 Ohms
No 1/4 outs
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/2 ... Power.html

American Audio VLP-300 Power Amplifier
25 lbs
$179.99
300W RMS @ 8 Ohms
No 1/4 outs
http://www.guitarcenter.com/American-Au ... 1155802.gc

Bose Packlite
$400
4 lbs!
Bass boost. It's a bass amp.

Phil Jones Cub/Super Cub
Cool amps, but they come with crappy 5 inch speakers! Meant for acoustic guitars and jazz.

Pyle Mini
Very small, but no wattages above 100

Stewart Audio Sub Compacts and Half Rack Space amps
Very small, but low wattages
 
Hey man, good to hear!!!!

I was considering the Carvin TS-100 power amp since I was thinking I need the tubes to get the feel and push and cut live. I see guys using the Atomic amps in this way. But, I am hearing nothing but good things about the Velocity! Plus, it is light!

How come you don't use a full range speaker so you can use the cab sims? There are lots of neutral speakers(yet guitar voiced) that work great with cab sims such as the Line 6 Vetta speakers, Celestion Classic Lead 80s or Ear Candy Green Machines.
 
Ochanomizu said:
axel said:
I am ordering the Carvin DCM200L also (only a 10 day trial) to do an A/B comparison.
Click to expand...

Hi, just wondering how the comparison with the Rocktron Velocity 300 and the Carvin DCM200L went? I'm currently using the Art SLA-2 into a 1x12 boogie cab.


Cheers
Click to expand...

Never did get the Carvin for comparison, but unlike several others have posted, I wasn't that impressed with the Rocktron V300. My little monoblock tube amp sounded much better (to me). I do have to say, that for a SS amp, the V300 did have a more tube-like feel than some of it's counterparts. It just didn't have enough punch for me, but I guess it depends on what your comparing it to. I'm guessing it may be a step up from the SLA-2.
 
I would stay away from solid state to avoid having cut issues live.

I was considering the Carvin TS-100 power amp since I was thinking I need the tubes to get the feel and push and cut live. I see guys using the Atomic amps in this way. But, I am hearing nothing but good things about the Velocity! Plus, it is light!

How come you don't use a full range speaker so you can use the cab sims? There are lots of neutral speakers(yet guitar voiced) that work great with cab sims such as the Line 6 Vetta speakers, Celestion Classic Lead 80s or Ear Candy Green Machines.
 
I can certainly see the appeal of these 1U power amps. That said, it isn't suprising that some folks have complained about the brittle top end of these units given their relative price point - I would imagine they may run out of juice on the low end as well if you are really pushing some big cabs. Not all SS is created equal, and there is a minimum dollar/power threshold you need to cross (which will vary depending on the brand) to get rid of the aforementioned artifacts. Once you get into some quality SS amps, there shouldn't be any tonal differences between brands once they are gain matched.

Since I also play bass, I already had some pretty nice poweramps to pair with the AxeFx, and I can assure you that there are no issues with cut, brittleness in the top end, or lack of balls in the low end. With the Axe, I actually prefer my SS amps to my tube power amps (and I had a pair of the biggest daddies of them all, the Aguilar DB728 (400 watts of tube power!). I would imagine for a lot of folks that it is difficult to scrape up a lot of $$ for a power amp after buying the Axe, but given the quality of the unit (and the results), it really deserves/needs to feed some good power to sound it's best. In the end, some folks may still prefer tubes, but I wouldn't jump to that solution until you have tried a good SS amp. In my case, since I like to play loud, and am driving cabs that like a lot of power (300 watt EV 12L's), SS really works out well, and I couldn't get there with tubes.

JR
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom