Earthquake Sound MB1 Digital Bass Synthesiser

Product Details
Manufacturer: Earthquake Sound
Distributor: Earthquake Sound UK
Website: link
Typical Selling price: £239.99
The Earthquake MB1 is Short for ‘Mega Bass One’ and is described as a powerful Bass Doubler. It has a single input and output on RCA and a socket where the supplied phone type wire is connected, with the remote gain control mounted on the dash as this is a hide away unit. Despite its hide away status, MB1 is fitted with a small clear window and the three large LEDs inside are simply used to indicate a healthy input signal, rather than being like an Input VU meter.
The same easy-release socket system is used for connection of live, ground and switching wire as the half DIN EQ units. Two controls affect 1) the frequency at which the bass is added back in by synthesis of new tones, and 2) for how much of the effect you want. Inside, the unit can be set one notch down or else two notches up in sheer muscle of output in Volts RMS of signal as the MB1 is definitely aimed at Sound Pressure Level competitors.
Oddly, the manual has stuff about a subsonic filter and states baldly that you can alter this from the factory set 33Hz (Which I found amusing for childish and smutty reasons to do with 33Hz being the Clitoral Resonance Frequency CRF – first described by myself in Max Power magazine over a decade ago.) and names five other frequencies you can set the subsonic at. Strange as this unit has no such adjustment inside (I actually opened it to check) and neither does the thousand-units-later example I had Joe Ajii Mr. Earthquake Sound UK, check for me!
But unabashed, I went and plugged it in, using the lovely Clarion APX1301E monoblock, driven by the Pioneer DEH-P88RSII CD deck. It was placed in between the RCA from the ‘˜Sub out’ of the Pioneer and the input to the amplifier.
– Remote wired ‘˜EXL Vol’ dashboard knob-in-a-box and long phone wire supplied to connect to socket on unit
– Controls; ‘Wide’ for width of effect and ‘Sweep’ for choosing the centre frequency used (27Hz to 63Hz)
– Internal jumper adjustment to change output from 5V RMS to 2.5V, 7.5V or 10V for SPL use
– Internal Ground loop isolation jumper system
– Single sets each of Stereo RCA input and outputs
– Maximum Input Level: 15V RMS
– Maximum Output Level: 13.5V peak
– DC Filter circuit to keep Direct Current from getting to and damaging your sub system
– Bass Expander Limiter to prevent ‘˜Burp’ damage
– Frequency Response: 10Hz to 80kHz +/-0.3dB
– Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): 0.001%
– Input Impedance: 10k Ohms
– Output Impedance: 150 Ohms
– Power Draw: 160mA
– Red Power-on indicator LED
– Clear window on top of hide-away box with three large LEDs showing though to indicate healthy input signal
– Dimensions: (HxWxD): 30 x 175 x 137mm
Editor Review : Earthquake Sound Mega Bass MB1 Digital Bass Synthesiser
What a frickin’ Pepperami Job! To start with, though, there were some issues with my rig. At first, I couldn’t get the bass amp to power up and wondered if I had put too many destinations on the one blue wire with powering up 12V trigger signals being sent to two amps and a processor as well. But it was an issue of simply grubby connections on a small switch wire, so after a clean and refit, it all fired up and off we went.
I know the unit has astonishingly high signal to noise ratio performance figures and also, I used a cheap and nasty RCA to send the signal onwards from the unit to the Clarion APX1301E 400 watt RMS monoblock bass amplifier, so was only mildly surprised to find a little induced noise picked up by the Pioneer DEH-P88RSII was getting into the processor. In your install, the headunit will be in a dashboard and the processor in the boot, so I discounted that.
The Ground Zero 12 inch metal coned woofer was still happily in its Acoustic Wood enclosure so I cranked it with some Power Supply and their daft bass CD album called ‘Bass, Boom, Bottom!’ The moment the signal was fed into the MB1, you got all three fat LEDs inside all flashing nicely, which at least told me that the signal was running. Part of me kind of wanted these three lights to be sequential, showing degree of process, but that’s a little silly. The two knobs marked ‘˜Wide’ and ‘˜Sweep’ serve to first decide how far each side of your chosen frequency-boosting centre the effect will operate and then the point, from really low at 27Hz to merely deep, at 63Hz, that the centre frequency will sit.
As soon as the system was fired up, I could feel and hear a superb richness and extra depth and fatness to the already bonkers bass line. It was like it had been given Steroids and Spinach, too. The controls take some getting used to, but I soon found that the Clarion amp and Ground Zero woofer seemed to enjoy a certain deep setting not too far down, this was just one twelve, after all and a nice narrow ‘˜Q’ or width.
However, while the effect is amazingly potent and I was able to balance the system such that it could go full deflection and really throb I wasn’t able to discern the remote control knob doing much at all. If you unplugged the knob-in-a-box, from either end of the wire, the effect turns off and you can hear a perfect A/B comparison and it’s bloody impressive. However, I would have liked to be able to experiment with the level and to that end, the chap from Earthquake UK will be coming over to try the rig and see if I have done anything stupid or to try another knobber!
However, although I do reserve the right to re-evaluate the item once I have had a visit from the Earthquake UK dude, right now, I am happy to issue the test with enough points to happily recommend the MB1.
It has a rich sweetness and fatness and what I’d really love to do, would be to run an A/B RTA and SPL and ear-analysis of say, an AudioControl EPIC or Epicenter and one of these in a badass bass car! Until then, it happily gets a Talk Audio Recommendation, notwithstanding that it’ll have to be proven that I had a faulty knob on mine and that it works..
This was a ‘Position One’ Unit at time of testing, as of course there are only THREE possible settings of any gain control:
1) All The Way On
2) All The Way Off
3) Somewhere In Between
EDITORIAL ADDENDUM! 29/4/11
OK, Mr. Earthquake Sound UK has been to visit and yes, there had been a small fault in the knob-in-a-box. As soon as we tried the knob from another example of the product, it worked a treat, offering lots of control and thus returning Option 3) to you (see above). I could really enjoy a bass system with one of these appended, it’s a brilliant toy!
Overall 8.8
Sound Quality 8
HMI/Ease of Use 10
Flexibility 8
DSP Power 10
Value For Money 8