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Post by Micawber51 on Nov 15, 2020 6:06:45 GMT -7
Just received new air brake. Using it with Z Wreck. Z Brake at bedroom settings with bedroom control at lowest out put amp is still very loud. Amp volume is at 7-8 o’clock position. Which is almost at no volume level. Any higher on amp volume will rattle my windows. Is it me or possibly an issue?
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Post by Rockerfeller on Nov 15, 2020 6:23:02 GMT -7
I don't have an air brake, but I do have a brake light and a Z wreck.
What you're describing to me sounds like the Wreck without any attenuation on it at all. If I set the volume to nine o'clock and the brake light on four clicks it's much "less" loud.
At 9 without any attenuation it's rattling the pictures on the wall for sure.
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Post by Micawber51 on Nov 15, 2020 6:33:23 GMT -7
I’ve done a test with air brake connected and with it not connected. It does reduce the volume. But not much. If I put volume at amp at 9 o’clock it is ridiculously loud. While keeping air brake at settings described in earlier post.
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 15, 2020 8:43:31 GMT -7
Something doesn't sound right. I used to use my Ghia at our headphone rehearsals with the Ghia volume maxed and Airbrake on bedroom and max attenuation. The Ghia's half the power unless you're popping on your half power switch. I would describe my rehearsal volume as soft where you could easily talk over it. Our drummer's wife never complained about volume. These were headphone rehearsals where I was the only one creating noise outside of our singing. Have you watched Dr Z's demo video to get a feel and give yourself a sanity check? I'm guessing you're wired in right and also noted that the bedroom level knob is backwards in that max attenuation is all the way left. When I just watched the video, at times it's not a great volume difference between clicks. At the same time, they're 2 dB. I remember my brother telling me we start to hear volume differences at 3 dB (although I do hear changes when using my Airbrake clicking from 0 through 4 and bedroom). But, there is a huge difference when you're on bedroom and you dial it in from 'min' to 'max'. If you're not hearing that difference, something doesn't sound right.
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Post by lowbudget on Nov 15, 2020 9:27:07 GMT -7
Is it "new new" or just new to you?
If not the former it might have been adjusted internally.
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 15, 2020 9:36:01 GMT -7
Is it "new new" or just new to you? If not the former it might have been adjusted internally. Excellent point. If you want to open it up, take a look at how the clamps are set up inside. You can use the Airbrake manual as a guide: drzamps.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Air-Brake-10-26-20.pdf The 'Bedroom Setting' clamp should be on or near the far end using the manual which points to 'more attenuation'. The manual doesn't show the entire innards. I found a photo on this site which would be a good reference to do a sanity check that a previous owner didn't make their own adjustments: www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dr-airbrake-attenuator-946851234.
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Post by Micawber51 on Nov 15, 2020 10:49:35 GMT -7
I purchased new from sweet water. Not sure if it matters but I noticed that the bedroom level knob has what looks to be a small chip at about the 9 o’clock position. Mine doesn’t have that. I did rotate thru the full range on the dial max was the the quietest. But still very loud as I described above. I also did watch the video.
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 15, 2020 11:58:29 GMT -7
I think the chip you're seeing in that picture is just the old design vs the new.
I had a feeling you had everything right. I wonder if someone else can chime in. Volume is relative. I'm wondering if I'm overselling how quiet it is since that was in my drummer's studio which has a lot of carpet and sound absorption and is a good size. Plus, I'd only hear the amp for a short time before popping my earbuds in.
I'd like to plug it in here at home to see what my perceived volume might be. However, we have a sick cat and the Mrs would not be happy with me making noise. If you don't get anyone chiming in, you can always call Sweetwater for input. They have good tech support. Based on your description, it still sounds like you're not getting the attenuation you should.
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Post by Micawber51 on Nov 15, 2020 12:40:53 GMT -7
Thank you all for the help. I might try calling Dr z also. I’ve heard they helpful as well. I had questions on the Z wreck and they responded quickly. I have two senior dogs so volume control is important. I will post my findings. Thank again
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 15, 2020 12:45:29 GMT -7
Chiming in again. I figured if what I said was true above, then my guitar shouldn't be louder than my acoustic. I just plugged my Maz Jr in. I'll take back what I said that you can easily talk above the volume. It's not that quiet. Volume and master volume were both set to about 2:30. I didn't go much further because the volume was not quiet. I apologize for steering you wrong earlier. Perception and memory are funny things. I suppose that still doesn't answer your question as to whether it's doing its job or not. I'll have to plug in my Ox at max attenuation to see how its volume is.
Quick Update: I swapped over to the Ox with max attenuation. It is quiet enough to easily talk over. In fact, I could hear my strings from my strat as well as hearing the sound from the speaker.
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Post by Micawber51 on Nov 15, 2020 13:14:27 GMT -7
Im comparing to a tone king imperial with built in iron man. I know the imperial has 2 6v6’s verse the z wreck having 4 el84’s. But I could max out volume on the imperial and not rattle the windows.
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 15, 2020 14:32:43 GMT -7
I think your Iron Man provides more attenuation vs the Air Brake not only based on what you're saying, but also the specs. It looks like the Iron Man's max attenuation is -36 dB per the manual. Dr Z's description says you can take a 100 watt (or less) amp and get down to 1 watt which would only be -20 dB. Don't know if that statement is meant to be exact or approximate. But, if it's in the ballpark, then the Iron Man definitely will get you quieter. I did my own measurements with my Ox and it looks like it's also around -36 dB which was pretty quiet.
You have a good reference with the Iron Man. I do think Dr Z or Sweetwater will get you set.
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Post by Micawber51 on Nov 15, 2020 15:03:36 GMT -7
Agreed very good past experiences with both sweet water and Dr Z Thank you again
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 19, 2020 8:48:52 GMT -7
Karma? So, I kind of hesitated asking Micawber51 whether he might have stuff plugged in backwards because I'm sure that's one thing he would have checked first. And, he didn't.
I didn't share that when I went to do my Air Brake experiment, I turned up my Maz Jr, played a few notes while carefully turning up volume and then seeing I had plugged my Air Brake in backwards. Doop!!!! To top it off, I was plugging into my Ox yesterday and was getting zero sound. I tried a different amp with the same result. I finally checked my cables and realized I had swapped speaker/amp on it after doing the Ox bedroom experiment. Ugggghhhh!
I can't remember ever plugging in backwards previously. And, I've had the Air Brake for 10+ years. Again. Karma?
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Nov 19, 2020 9:26:19 GMT -7
This is why is used colored electrical tape to mark critical connections - I have to make them “DaddyElmis”-proof
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Post by GuitarZ on Nov 19, 2020 10:15:44 GMT -7
This is why is used colored electrical tape to mark critical connections - I have to make them “DaddyElmis”-proof Hmmm. You can still teach old dogs some new tricks. That's an excellent idea especially for my Ox. The 'amp' jack is RED. Common sense should say that it's critical and that it's the amp jack. However, red on the cable end might just give me an extra reminder. I like it!
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