Active/Active VS Passive/Active

[Andrew O]

sorry, im not going to use the search function!!

anywase, what is the main SOUND difference. Which gets louder without being distorted? The only perk i know off is that my bass will make it through the "gig" (assuming i get one) without batteries with passive/active. but i prefere my active/active to my passive/passive bass cause my active is louder than the passive, and the active has more bottom. will going passive/active solve this problem?

 

[Grgzilla]

You still need the battery mate.Without it,your active pre wont work.
I'll refrain from trying to answer the rest of your question on the grounds it'll make me look like a twit. :wink:
Cheers Andrew.

 

[Ian]

Hmmm... When you have an active preamp and passive pickups, if you switch to passive by pulling the volume knob, you can take over the battery and it'll work.


BUT with active/active, it won't work.

 

[Grgzilla]

Hmmm... When you have an active preamp and passive pickups, if you switch to passive by pulling the volume knob, you can take over the battery and it'll work.


BUT with active/active, it won't work.

When you said,"take over the battery",did you mean,"take out the battery"?
The pre still needs it's battery to complete the circuit. :wink:

 

[Doog]

If you stick with totally passive you don't have to worry about batteries at all. If you replace the battery regularly rather than waiting for it to die (in my experience this happens way more often in practices than in gigs) then you won't have to worry about batteries at all. Bottom line is go for the sound you like.

As for volume, will actives be louder overall? No. A higher output bass will just overdrive the preamp section of your amplifier earlier than a lower output bass. Yeah you might find that an active bass is as loud at volume 1 as a passive at 2, but it just means the amp will start to clip at 5 rather than 7. In fact you'll find a lot of amps will have inputs for passive and active basses (guitars too I'm guessing, but I've not seen a lot of active guits) or switches for active/passive. May be labelled high output/ low output. Know what that is? An attenuator circuit. It knocks down the signal from the active instrument to a level the preamp is happy with.

A 200 watt amp will ONLY produce 200 watts output regardless of the input, and the speaker tranlates that to sound.

 

[Andrew O]

If you stick with totally passive you don't have to worry about batteries at all. If you replace the battery regularly rather than waiting for it to die (in my experience this happens way more often in practices than in gigs) then you won't have to worry about batteries at all. Bottom line is go for the sound you like.

As for volume, will actives be louder overall? No. A higher output bass will just overdrive the preamp section of your amplifier earlier than a lower output bass. Yeah you might find that an active bass is as loud at volume 1 as a passive at 2, but it just means the amp will start to clip at 5 rather than 7. In fact you'll find a lot of amps will have inputs for passive and active basses (guitars too I'm guessing, but I've not seen a lot of active guits) or switches for active/passive. May be labelled high output/ low output. Know what that is? An attenuator circuit. It knocks down the signal from the active instrument to a level the preamp is happy with.

A 200 watt amp will ONLY produce 200 watts output regardless of the input, and the speaker tranlates that to sound.

so...a passive bass will allow the amp to get louder? and i am aware of the active/passive inputs on amps, but i have a vintage ampeg with a bright and normal input. back in '69, there was no such thing as an active bass.

 

[Ian]

Hmmm... When you have an active preamp and passive pickups, if you switch to passive by pulling the volume knob, you can take over the battery and it'll work.


BUT with active/active, it won't work.

When you said,"take over the battery",did you mean,"take out the battery"?
The pre still needs it's battery to complete the circuit. :wink:

Why on earth did I write "Take over" ? FFS ! I know it's take out.

 

[Grgzilla]

If you stick with totally passive you don't have to worry about batteries at all. If you replace the battery regularly rather than waiting for it to die (in my experience this happens way more often in practices than in gigs) then you won't have to worry about batteries at all. Bottom line is go for the sound you like..

Yes,good advice here.Go with what YOU like.
Active just gives you more headroom,not to be confused with volume.
As for batteries.These preamps drain batteries at a very low rate.In 3 years I've replaced 1 battery & that wasnt even flat,it was just a precation & I had a new one lying around.If you prefer active,go for it.Dont worry about the battery draining unless you leave it plugged in 24/7. :wink:

 

[Doog]

so...a passive bass will allow the amp to get louder? and i am aware of the active/passive inputs on amps, but i have a vintage ampeg with a bright and normal input. back in '69, there was no such thing as an active bass.

Okay, bottom line is an amp will only go so loud. A passive bass will allow you to turn the volume knob up more and hear a difference. If the preamp in your amplifier can handle really hot input signals you might find that after hitting 4 on the volume knob you hear no change in volume, cause you've maxed out the amp. After that you just add distortion. With a lower signal from the bass you might max out the amp at volume knob setting 6. But there will be no difference in volume.

Now with a vintage amp not designed to handle an active input signal? Keep the master volume on 11, and keep the preamp volume as low as possible. Better yet do not connect an active ANYTHING to it again until you have a dedicated attenuation device and can take the input signal down. Unless you wanna fry the preamp.

 

[Grgzilla]

so...a passive bass will allow the amp to get louder? and i am aware of the active/passive inputs on amps, but i have a vintage ampeg with a bright and normal input. back in '69, there was no such thing as an active bass.

Okay, bottom line is an amp will only go so loud. A passive bass will allow you to turn the volume knob up more and hear a difference. If the preamp in your amplifier can handle really hot input signals you might find that after hitting 4 on the volume knob you hear no change in volume, cause you've maxed out the amp. After that you just add distortion. With a lower signal from the bass you might max out the amp at volume knob setting 6. But there will be no difference in volume.

Now with a vintage amp not designed to handle an active input signal? Keep the master volume on 11, and keep the preamp volume as low as possible. Better yet do not connect an active ANYTHING to it again until you have a dedicated attenuation device and can take the input signal down. Unless you wanna fry the preamp.

Usually on active preamps,there's an ajdustment trimpot that can reduce the signal if needed. :wink:
*edit.Or solder a resistor onto the input jack,if that's possible with this particular amp.

 

[Andrew O]

so...a passive bass will allow the amp to get louder? and i am aware of the active/passive inputs on amps, but i have a vintage ampeg with a bright and normal input. back in '69, there was no such thing as an active bass.

Okay, bottom line is an amp will only go so loud. A passive bass will allow you to turn the volume knob up more and hear a difference. If the preamp in your amplifier can handle really hot input signals you might find that after hitting 4 on the volume knob you hear no change in volume, cause you've maxed out the amp. After that you just add distortion. With a lower signal from the bass you might max out the amp at volume knob setting 6. But there will be no difference in volume.

Now with a vintage amp not designed to handle an active input signal? Keep the master volume on 11, and keep the preamp volume as low as possible. Better yet do not connect an active ANYTHING to it again until you have a dedicated attenuation device and can take the input signal down. Unless you wanna fry the preamp.

hm...
ive been using it with my corvette, and it hasn't been serviced for 20 years! there are some pictures of my amp, ill try turning it up all the way, but leaving my bass volume down. btw, the nemesis controls are unpluged.

 

[Stroud]

so...a passive bass will allow the amp to get louder?

NO!

the preamp section in a bass amp has one main purpose. to boost the input signal to the level what the amp is made to work at.

you can have the quietest bass and the loudest bass in the world and the preamp is used to bring them both to the same strength. thats why if you have no "pad" the gain will be set low with the loud bass, and high with the quiet bass.

the "hotness" of a basses output really doesnt matter at all. the amp will react the same and sound like its at the same "volume" with all basses...as long as you set the preamp up propperly