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Location: Columbus, OH | Gigged with my new Elite T LX tonight. My first one came with the OP30 and this one has the OP Pro. I plugged the OP Pro into my rig (some pedals and a Bose L1) and immediately noticed that the output level of the OP Pro is much lower than the OP30. I had to turn the OP Pro all the way up to get volume similar to my OP30 at half way up. Is this normal?
I didn't check the battery on the OP Pro as the light wasn't flashing, the tuner display was bright and the guitar worked fine throughout the night.
As for tone, it seemed to me that there was less travel of the tone controls and I actually needed to tweak more from flat than I do with the OP 30. Frankly, I don't think it sounded any better than the OP30 but it's supposed to be better. It could be that I've been gigging with the OP30 for 11 months and that's what I'm used to.
Any thoughts on the differences between these two preamps? |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | I remember at the tour there was some talk about how the Studio and the VIP addressed the drop-in-volume experienced with the OpPro, so I guess it's a widely known thing.
IMHO, the OpPro is sort-of a re-packaged and tweaked Op30. I've had an Op30 and I have an OpPro. Somehow...w/o a notch filter...I never get feedback with the Pro. I also like the layout of the Pro, and the black rather than silver. I also added XLR to my Pro which you can't do with the Op30.
I think a lot of the changes have to do with making things easier on the manufacturing end. Using the same preamp and can for XLR v. non-XLR applications is a good thing for them.
If anyone thinks anything I've said is stupid, I'm willing to change my mind. John <>{ |
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Location: NJ | vol loss was corrected in the op pro studio.
just crank up those bose and you will be fine dave. |
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Location: Columbus, OH | Ah, but I don't want to change settings on the Bose since I could be using both guitars on one gig. Seems to me that the volume levels shouldn't be so drastically different for practical purposes.
I just adjusted the gain control on my Boss AD3 that I run through. It's important that I send a loud enough signal to my AD3, my looping pedal and my DD5 delay.
I do like the tuner display on the OP Pro. |
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Posts: 51
Location: Arizona | Spec-wise, the Op-30 is a much better unit than an Op-Pro.
Op-Pro vs Op-30 (from Ovation's website):
SNR: >86dB vs >92dB
-3dB response width: 10Hz-7.5kHz, vs 50Hz-100kHz
I'd argue that neither of those response widths make much sense.
Op-Pro EQ:
Preshape EQ:
+3.3dB@70Hz
-7.44dB@500Hz
+0dB@7.15kHz
Op-30 EQ:
+3dB@60Hz
-6dB@390Hz
+3dB@10kHz
The high-frequency responses listed for the Op-Pro are pretty low, almost like they were thinking it's going to be transmitted over a cell phone or something.
I'm not sure how the thing really behaves, but just looking at the specs it seems like one would really want an Op-30 more than an Op-Pro. My Elite T has an Op-Pro but I've not used an Op-30 before. |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by Slartibartfast:
The high-frequency responses listed for the Op-Pro are pretty low.
You're quoting the pre-shape frequencies there, but either way it's not that simple. They are just the frequency centres, bandwidths are not quoted in the spec.
The actual spec for the HF control on the OpPro is 3.6KHz versus 15Khz for the OP30. Personally I've always found the Op30 over bright. 3.6KHz with a wide-ish Q makes sense and is going to sound warmer |
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Location: Hiram, Georgia | I run my op pro thru my l1 with the volume all the way up. I consider this normal now, although at first it was annoying. You should try the Yamaha MagicStomp Acoustic on your rig, I think you'll like it! I also us a little behringer mixer with effects to add reverb for vocals and more channels.
Like you, I was so accustomed to my old stuff, and my old sound, that it was frustrating trying to duplicate that sound. I had to experiment a couple mos to find out what my new stuff could do. New stuff, new sound! Newer is Better!!! :D |
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Posts: 51
Location: Arizona | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
Originally posted by Slartibartfast:
The high-frequency responses listed for the Op-Pro are pretty low.
You're quoting the pre-shape frequencies there, but either way it's not that simple. They are just the frequency centres, bandwidths are not quoted in the spec.
And 86dB SNR for the Op-Pro vs 92dB for the Op-30 is pretty glaring. As far as I can tell from the various specs on the Ovation site the Op-Pro is technically the worst pre-amp that they make, and noise in the pre-amp gets amplified throughout the subsequent stages of the system.
That being said, mine is functionally fine and I don't have any complaints about it in practice. I don't have another Op-x with which to compare it, though. |
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Location: the Netherlands | To me it's not clear: Is the Op Studio already available (in Europe) or not??! |
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Location: Scotland | Originally posted by Slartibartfast:
The overall flatness spec for the Op-Pro has a 3dB rolloff at 7.5kHz compared to 100kHz for the Op-30. Neither makes much sense, but at least the Op-30 is flat throughout the audible spectrum. The low EQ center frequencies for the Op-Pro high-band (as you point out) means it's tough to recover that HF rolloff with the EQ.
And 86dB SNR for the Op-Pro vs 92dB for the Op-30 is pretty glaring. As far as I can tell from the various specs on the Ovation site the Op-Pro is technically the worst pre-amp that they make, and noise in the pre-amp gets amplified throughout the subsequent stages of the system.
[/QB]
I don't wish to appear smartass or churlish, but I used to teach this stuff to post-grad level and I'm struggling a little with your terminology.
I respectfully suggest that it is absolutely impossible to arrive at your conclusions purely from the specs published on the Ovation website. Can you qualify your statements any further? Why do neither frequencies make sense? What do you mean, in this context by the term "high band"? What do you mean by "recover the HF rolloff"? Please define "Flatness spec" in terms that an acoustician could relate to. Please explain the "glaring" signal to noise ratio problem with the OPpro in terms that the non-technical members of the OFC may grasp.
All current Ovation preamps work perfectly. They all sound a little different, but so do the guitars. As do the players, the sound systems they are played through and everything else in the signal path. In the grand scheme of things a few Db or couple of Khz variance between the various Op preamp models amounts to not much. The end users seem to make'em work and I don't expect the factory have had many returns because the OpPro is "technically the worst" preamp they make. |
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Location: Keller, TX | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
I respectfully suggest that it is absolutely impossible to arrive at your conclusions purely from the specs published on the Ovation website. Can you qualify your statements any further? Why do neither frequencies make sense? What do you mean, in this context by the term "high band"? What do you mean by "recover the HF rolloff"? Please define "Flatness spec" in terms that an acoustician could relate to. Please explain the "glaring" signal to noise ratio problem with the OPpro in terms that the non-technical members of the OFC may grasp. So I can CLEARLY not choose the wine in front of you! |
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Location: NJ | Churls 'R Us |
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Location: Columbus, OH | Originally posted by philmax:
I run my op pro thru my l1 with the volume all the way up. I consider this normal now, although at first it was annoying. You should try the Yamaha MagicStomp Acoustic on your rig, I think you'll like it! I also us a little behringer mixer with effects to add reverb for vocals and more channels.
Like you, I was so accustomed to my old stuff, and my old sound, that it was frustrating trying to duplicate that sound. I had to experiment a couple mos to find out what my new stuff could do. New stuff, new sound! Newer is Better!!! :D I actually have the big Yamaha acoustic pedal, but I like what I have on my board. The idea was to be able to use the two guitars at a gig (one being a backup) without there being a drastic volume difference between the two. |
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Location: Warren,Pa. | Any time Temp gets into it I can't tear myself away from the conversation (even though I can't follow it after a while).
The only thing better is tten briliently quoting one of my favorite movies! Thanks for the great entertainment guys!
John <>{ |
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Location: SoCal | I read thru all of the above and arrived at the decision that I want to go make fun of Clifford instead.... |
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Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
I don't wish to appear smartass or churlish, but I used to teach this stuff to post-grad level and I'm struggling a little with your terminology.
Can you qualify your statements any further? Why do neither frequencies make sense? What do you mean, in this context by the term "high band"? What do you mean by "recover the HF rolloff"? Please define "Flatness spec" in terms that an acoustician could relate to. Please explain the "glaring" signal to noise ratio problem with the OPpro in terms that the non-technical members of the OFC may grasp. Screw all those questions. We'd like you to tell us what 'churlish' means, and if it has anything to do with 'folk' festivals. |
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Location: Scotland | Wabbit, it means discourteous, kinda. Now go folk yourself. |
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Location: south east Michigan | Mr. Templeman...IMO your knowlege and willingness to share it is a great asset to this board.
Please continue.
Sometimes I can get lost in the science of it but if I keep reading, eventually I catch on...a little... sometimes. :) |
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Location: Scotland | No problem. The correct way to go folk yourself is.............. |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Get Plugged In to what? I'm still working on why I can't see the Phantom power. |
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Location: Lebanon, TN | ...Insert one digit in the orifice of your choice and whine in a dirge-like fashion just like Ewan McColl taught us!
for the illinformed please see 'dirge' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirge |
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Location: Scotland | Ewan Mcoll can be forgiven all of his finger in the ear dirge-like whining just for being Kirsty McColl's dad. Kirsty was one of the finest English songwriters ever. Up there with Richard Thompson, Nick Lowe, Ray Davies and Boo Hewerdine. |
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Location: Alberta, Canada | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
No problem. The correct way to go folk yourself is.............. I saw this Peter, Paul, and Mary movie once...
Ooops, wrong forum. :o
Edited: Then again, on reflection of some of what I've read here...perhaps not!
:) |
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Location: Lebanon, TN | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
Ewan Mcoll can be forgiven all of his finger in the ear dirge-like whining just for being Kirsty McColl's dad. Kirsty was one of the finest English songwriters ever. Up there with Richard Thompson, Nick Lowe, Ray Davies and Boo Hewerdine. Touche! and agreed :-) |
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Temp, I hope you haven't frightened slartybartfast off! |
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OP30 vs. OP Pro
