I find the overall sound very bass heavy.....anyone else?
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@guitarman The scenario I'm talking about where the sound is at an elevated level and more bass heavy/distorted at first is via the USB cable to the PC (option 1). It happens 100% of the time so I always boot the PC and log in, then turn on the spark amp, then play some sort of audio and stop sending audio to the spark for at least 30 seconds. After that, the sound seems to get reset to what I would call normal levels. The first time I noticed it was when listening to the audio on a Youtube video that had some instructions. The audio was a little difficult to understand because of the extra bass/distortion. I paused it while I was performing some of the steps, then hit play and noticed that I could clearly make out the audio and that the distortion was gone. It's one of those things that you might not notice depending on what the audio is, but once you hear it and know it's there, you pretty much have to "fix" it every single time. I have not been able to replicate resetting the audio by pausing in any other connection type, but I feel like if there was a way to do that the sound would be several times better with the distortion removed. I also think that explains why clean tones sound so good as what I experience only seems to overdrive the lower bass frequencies. It's basically like there is an EQ and somebody turned one of the bass frequencies up way past its limit.
I would have thought this was just my unit but then there are tons of people complaining about the same sort of thing. And the fix is normally related to using some sort of method (replacing speakers, adding some acoustic dampening, using an EQ on the phone, dialing back the bass on the physical dial on the amp, etc) to cut down on the amount of bass. All of which I've done to some degree of success when using the guitar but none of which are required when using the USB to PC connection. In that case, just sending audio, pausing for 30 seconds and then un-pausing the audio cleans things right up.
I haven't narrowed in on the minimum number of seconds required to reset the audio, but I do know that just pausing it for a few seconds isn't enough.
Also I have not tried this on a Mac, but I have some Macs so I might give that a shot out of curiosity. If it happens there to, it's not just a PC thing.Just tested on the Mac and it does not happen there for whatever reason.Update: Since I didn't have to install the ASIO driver on the Mac to get sound, I thought maybe there was a Spark update for the ASIO driver. Downloaded the latest one and even though the version was the same (4.80.0) I uninstalled the old driver and installed the new one with reboots and resets of the PC and amp after uninstall and also after reinstall. Same issue on the PC. Also, was able to narrow the pause window down to some time between 10 and 15 seconds, so waiting for 30 seconds is overkill. You will clearly know it if you are able to reproduce. The volume level difference is pretty large. Nearly twice as loud at first compared to after pausing for 15 seconds and hitting play. And the clarity difference reminds me of the first time I got an HD call on my cell phone. You don't realize how bad highly compressed audio is on a cell phone until you hear it more uncompressed, but the difference is jarring and somewhat similar, although not as pronounced.
More testing for the amount of pause time required to reset the audio. Narrowed it to 14 seconds. Didn't reset after 13, but did get an audio reset after 14 seconds using a stop watch so 30 seconds is overkill for sure. You can just turn off the Spark amp, wait for 15 seconds for good measure, then turn the Spark am on again to reproduce. No PC reboot required.
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@cbrandst Hi again,
did some testing now with USB versus Bluetooth.with USB (PG ASIO Driver) the youtube video sounds excelent for me, good bass level and overall good quality, volume level is very good, no distortion.
paused the video for apprx. 30sec.
Result was relative low volume level and less bass, sounds like spark is at ~30% of power output. no distortion, same quality but less bass.with Bluetooth same good quality but little less volume level than with USB.
pausing the video does not impact the volume level and quality.tried with this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izHB2EdMngg
Best regards,
Guitarman -
@guitarman
additionally I tested with local stored music video from PC (not from youtube), behaviour with usb is the same (after ~30sec reduced music level)
regards,
Guitarman -
@guitarman So you are noticing the volume level is dropping after a 30 second pause then? It's possible my regular volume setting is overdriving the amp when the volume level is elevated. But the tiny little volume control is very sensitive and I have to adjust it to the very lowest setting to get sound that's not way too loud. Then the ramp of from very low jumps really high way too fast. It's like an exponential jump in a range of turning the dial in about 5% of its total range. Regardless, I am hoping for a EQ pedal at some point.
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@guitarman Also, I find this video better for testing as the guys voice has a decent amount of bass in it, plus, the video you linked is distracting me and I'm forgetting what I was testing and just enjoying the scenery. :) But mostly I find I notice the issue more with spoken dialogue by somebody who has a deeper than average voice. For whatever reason I don't pick up on it as much with music.
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@de_cunny Another reason for the complaints from some about the bassy sound of the amp while others find it very good has to do with personal taste and everybody's hearing ability. We don't all perceive the same sounds in the same way.
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@dhbailey Which is why an EQ would be awesome!
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@cbrandst Indeed, and I hope that everybody who is unhappy with the sound from their amp as well as everybody else who feels an EQ would be a great thing to include is using the Contact Support at the top of this page and adding their voice to the many who are already asking for an EQ -- the more people who ask for a feature, the more likely it is that the development team will consider including it, if it's at all possible. I've already submitted my request for it!
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@dhbailey Sumbitted a ticket for it instead of just complaining about it here just now. :)
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Update: I was asked by support to upload a video showing the issue. Here it is in case somebody else wants to see/hear for themselves what's happening. The short pause at the start is me waiting for the Spark to initialize after turning it on. The 15 to 20 second pause in the middle is me waiting for the Spark to reinitialize the sound after I pause the video/audio. I dug out my old sound meter to show the differences are fairly large and that it's not just a subjective thing. (You have to watch the video in at least 720p to see the needle on the SPL meter. And I've noticed that Auto 720p is really running at 360p. Manually selecting 720p fixes that.)
Break out the popcorn and enjoy!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CH7kZeHmp5ENMYrgJyi92p2LmQIBw9PC/view?usp=sharing
It would be nice to know if others are having the same issue. It's not a huge deal but I feel like it's contributing to the heavy bass sound as the bass levels seem to come back to normal levels after the pause, wait 20 seconds, restart shuffle. (Although I don't have any equipment that can verify that part.)
Here's the video I used in the test.
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I too find it is way too bassy. Though I found if I keep at adjusting the bass/mid/treble controls, continually turning them down and back up again, after a few moments I get some treble increase response... Seems like there is a problem with these specific controls, the other controls seem to work fine but not the bass/mid or treble. Has anyone else been able to reproduce this on theirs?
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On thing I wanted to mention about the elevated bass issue. That doesn't happen when listening to headphones plugged into the amp. Also, the 15 second pause that fixes the elevate audio when listening to the amp goes away with headphones. I've also reported this to support but I feel like if they fix their firmware issue, the overall sound of the amp would be much improved and the would be less complaint in general of bass heavy/muddy sound.
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@cbrandst said in I find the overall sound very bass heavy.....anyone else?:
On thing I wanted to mention about the elevated bass issue. That doesn't happen when listening to headphones plugged into the amp. Also, the 15 second pause that fixes the elevate audio when listening to the amp goes away with headphones. I've also reported this to support but I feel like if they fix their firmware issue, the overall sound of the amp would be much improved and the would be less complaint in general of bass heavy/muddy sound.
There is just too much bass, no treble! Now here is what I found and how I have come to resolve this issue.
- If I connect the guitar to the guitar jack on the amp, then start the amp up. There is too much bass, no treble.
- I then try and adjust the tone levels using the knobs on the amp, there is no effect, they seem to be disabled, there is no change at all in the tone. Though I am able to adjust the reverb, delay, modulation and output volume controls, but still not the tone controls.
- If I connect the app from my iPad, I then try again to adjust the tone using the knobs on the amp, still no change.
- If I then use the app and adjust the tone on the iPad app, the tone now changes, I can get more treble and lower the bass to something that sounds a bit more reasonable.
- Now after connecting the amp and adjusting the tone on in the app, the tone knobs on the amp are then enabled, they now work! I can also see the position they are in inside of the app and as I adjust turning the knob on the amp they are also adjusting the amp image of the tone knobs in the app.
- Once I find a sound that I'm satisfied with, I hold down one of the presets, this saves the tone to one of the presets.
- The next time I switch on the amp the preset is saved, However, the tone knobs are still disabled until I connect the app with the amp and slide the tone control in the app on the virtual amp.
Surely, I see this as a bug.
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@jim-6 I tried replicating what you mention and for whatever reason, I'm not seeing the same sort of issue. In step 2 I adjusted the bass, mid and treble and they are definitely having an affect on the sound. To make the affect more pronounced, I put my hand on all 3 dials and rolled them down and up at the same time and the overall volume level went up and down as I did that.
What I wondering is if the issue you mention happens to you only when you are using the speakers of the amp as an output and not when you plug headphones into the amp. Because for whatever reason, the sound issues I'm having go away when using headphones, and the fact that so many people same the amp sounds WAY better with headphones leads me to believe what I'm seeing is not just an issue with my amp. But if you issue goes away when you use headphones, support needs to report that to the devs as well as it could all be related.
I'm running the app on an Android phone instead of an iPhone, so that is a difference, but you don't even get to the phone before you notice an issue in step 2. Not sure why that would be unless there's some issue/defect with your specific amp. It's possible others are having your same issue for whatever reason, but it's just not happening to mine.
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@cbrandst said in I find the overall sound very bass heavy.....anyone else?:
@jim-6 I tried replicating what you mention and for whatever reason, I'm not seeing the same sort of issue. In step 2 I adjusted the bass, mid and treble and they are definitely having an affect on the sound. To make the affect more pronounced, I put my hand on all 3 dials and rolled them down and up at the same time and the overall volume level went up and down as I did that.
What I wondering is if the issue you mention happens to you only when you are using the speakers of the amp as an output and not when you plug headphones into the amp. Because for whatever reason, the sound issues I'm having go away when using headphones, and the fact that so many people same the amp sounds WAY better with headphones leads me to believe what I'm seeing is not just an issue with my amp. But if you issue goes away when you use headphones, support needs to report that to the devs as well as it could all be related.
I'm running the app on an Android phone instead of an iPhone, so that is a difference, but you don't even get to the phone before you notice an issue in step 2. Not sure why that would be unless there's some issue/defect with your specific amp. It's possible others are having your same issue for whatever reason, but it's just not happening to mine.
good point... I don't know if there is any service for this amp here in Melbourne Australia I can take it to, I don't have an android other than the stereo in my car. It could too be something to do with BT in iOS too, and I only have BT headphones which I'm certain won't pair with the amp as an output option
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I use to feel the same. But turn the gain all the way up on the amps you select in the app and work from there. I feel this made a world of difference.
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Also, play the output at 12. May be loud depending on where you are. But I feel it brightens up. Perhaps run a line out through headphones if that works at you want the sound that way at a lower volume.
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Hi all, I did a very simple reversible mod.
-Remove the front panel
-Unscrew both speakers from the cab
-Pull both speakers out so the cab is empty and your hands can reach in
-Get a piece soft car wash sponge or acoustic foam
-Reach in with the sponge until you are able to lay the sponge against the back panel. At the same time squeeze the middle of the sponge so it is able to fit in between the bass reflex port back panel thereby plugging the bass port
To my ears it removed the boominess while maintaining a tighter bass
Cheap DIY mod and easily reversible. -
I find it very bassy and muffled even with the bass turned to zero on the amp or amp models, and the treble whistles with volume up, not enough mids or lower mids when you crank them up on the amp models or with the fuzz dimmed. It has more of a subwoofer type sound no matter where I place the amp. Hope this can be fixed with a firmware update.
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@yes9310 I'm an audio engineer for three decades now. Every day is spent equalizing things, and I have to say I actually laughed out loud when I heard how boomy and bassy this was when I first plugged in. It's not just bass, there's a total lack of treble above 2K. And the bass is boomy because of the speakers and the cabinet being enclosed and ported. I merely turned the bass all the way to zero and the mid-range to 0, treble up to full. There is still no sparkling high-end above 1 or 2k - only mid-range. The bass is incredibly emphasized even when it's turned off. Without a doubt, I like the models and the sound of it is basically good, but it's really a poor design if the EQ on the amps itself can't drop the bass to near zero.
This means that the speakers they chose are muddy and dark, and the cabinet being ported emphasizes that fact. you shouldn't doubt your ears or that the Bluetooth speaker also sounds muddy and boomy, this is the sound of this rig. Yes, it's a shame no one on YouTube mentioned this when they reviewed it, because it's blatantly obvious, unless they changed out the speakers in production since then.
of course the company could write new models and so forth but it's possible that with the bass all the way down, a new model won't help or fix this problem at all, that it's hardware.
Without a doubt I'm going to keep it as I feel it's kinda a good design, but it has this huge flaw, no high-end and too much bass boom at all times.
I'm going to look into opening it and changing out the speakers because it's starting to drive me nuts...