Why don't the VU Meters Move? (1 Viewer)

[Brett DiMichele]

Hey Folks,

A while back I posted that I purchased a Behringer
Tube Ultra-Q and I was fairly certain the unit was
defective. I checked my wiring with Behringer and
with some of the knowledgeable forum people and I
confirmed my wiring was okay. I sent the unit back
and after waiting for more than a month ( I will
never do buisness with Musicians Friend again.) I
have the new unit at home and set up.

This unit unlike the last one, works flawlessy! But
I have a question..

There are 2 VU Meters one for each channel and they show
the amount of "warmth" the Sovtek Triode tubes are adding
to the signal. These VU meters barely move unless I crank
the volume up to the earbleeding point (in other words, so
loud I can't bear it!).

It says in the manual something about a 6Db correction the
unit applies to the input signal when using unbalanced XLR
Connections. I am assuming it's -6Db at the input. Could
that reduction and possibly too little pre amp output
voltage be the culprit?

What can I do to remedy the problem? I am guessing that I
just have to live with it... The unit is obviously working
as the parametric EQ works fine and I know the tubes are
imparting thier harmonics onto the signal because when I
defeat the unit (turn it off and it hard bypasses) I can
most certainly hear the difference (and it sounds much
better on!)

Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreicated!

Thanks a million!

 

[Joel X]

It is possible you are not sending it enough signal to get it to do its processing. I had a similar problem with my Ultra Bass Pro that I use for my Bass Shakers. What I did to fix it was run the signal through a small mixer that I purchased for mic phantom power. After I was able to boost the input signal the problem went away.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Joel,

I don't think it's a case of not enough signal for it to
process because the Parametric EQ Section *is* functioning
correctly. And when I defeat the EQ section and just use
the Tubes if I turn the tube section off also there is a
very noticeable difference in sound.

I think my problem is that I am using the PreOuts which
are connected to the volume gain on the receiver and this
varries the pre out signal. If I was to set the volume to
full and use the input Boost/Cut on the Tube-Q then the
meters move big time.. The problem is that I then have no
way to control the volume other than using the Tube-Q's
Input gain controls which I don't want to use...

My Power amp has a gain control but it's on the back of
the unit and it's not exactly easy to use that as a volume
knob

If the output voltage of the Pre Outs was a tad higher I
think I would be okay with the VU meters, I would probably
even have to back the gain down on the inputs of the Tube-Q
but there is no way to boost the Preouts short of another
Pre Amp inline between the Reciever and the Tube-Q and I
am not putting another device in the chain...

Ohh well, no big deal really...