US Amps Bass Mekanik VLS-1 Bass Processor
Described as a ‘quantum bass processor’ the blurb reads: ‘Want more bass in your sound system? Bass Mekanik and U.S. Amps are both synonymous for producing high output, ground pounding, low bass frequencies. Together, they are proud to introduce the Bass Mekanik VLS-1; a 1-band, low frequency, quantum digital processor. Now your bass can sound the way it was envisioned by the artist. With controls at your fingertips, you decide when, how deep, and how much.’
Now, while that’s emotive stuff, it doesn’t tell me a damn thing about what it actually does. I grasp the BBE process and believe in the MaxxBass system, even if I don’t really understand it and the Epicenter from Audio Control and the dbx120xds ‘boom box’ studio processor are familiar too. The latter are a variety of program-dependent bass synthesisers, that ‘hear’ and interpolate’ by division of frequencies ‘seen’ and re-injection into the signal path of greater amounts of low frequency information.
The box looks complex and filled with electronic components under its snazzy printed see-through case yet has a very minor interface. Just one knob on a phone wire.
– Digital Bass Reconstruction Processor
– Wired Remote Control
– Max Input (VRMS) 5.5v
– Max Output (vpeak 10vac) 7.0v RMS
– Freq Response 20Hz-60kHz
– THD 1khz <.002%
– Balanced in Noise Rejection Not balanced in
– Input Impedance 15k Ohms
– Output Impedance 100k Ohms
– Power Supply Self oscillating Series Regulated
– Current Draw 0.275 Amps
– Fuse Rating 09.5 Amps
Review by Adam Rayner
This is a minimalistic thing as far as your need to understand is concerned. It doesn’t even bother with marking the in and output terminals as left and right or red and white. You simply make sure that you use the same terminals at each set and let the amp and signal outputs tell which is which. (Most users will be in mono, of course.)
Also, the stuff about ‘As the artist envisioned’? Are you insane? In their most nutty moments there is no way the average producer could ever ‘envision’ his work with such an astonishing subsonics-rich, rippling undercurrent of lows. That the madness works so awesomely well is why so very many TV tunes and other popular ditties have been given the ‘Bass CD’ treatment over the years. (One of my faves is the Pink Panther theme tune done with absurd deep lows.) and also, the range of adjustment of the bass is huge.
I set it up to play the Focal Spirit of Sound #6 CD as this has lovely recordings but are not made to break bass bones. I connected the freshly reviewed SPL Dynamics XTR 300D2 subwoofer in the sealed box from Acoustic Wood. This has rounded edges and a foamed liner as well as using pro audio connections that I love. The PowerBass XA3000D amplifier was running it in mono at around a thousand watts and it was powered from the Odyssey battery, still utterly stonking a full year and a half after getting it. The VLS-1 was wired into the power system and the knob connected.
I experimented with different amounts of gain at the amplifier and tried the Bass EQ function on the amp. We are familiar with the boosting effect of a bass lift but what this does is different.
Like the dbx120xds, like the Boss bass guitar pedal, like the Epicenter, this is a bass frequency interpolator. Unlike say a Phoenix Gold Bass Cube that just tweaks at the frequency your installer sets in the fitting bay (before sealing it up and treating you like you can’t be trusted to mess with it ever again) this device ‘listens’ to the bass and according to how tweaked the one knob is, will add more and deeper bass into the signal.
The different devices do it differently. The recording studio dbx box had two models, the best one had bands you could adjust separately through different areas of the bass spectrum. The AudioControl Epicenter process is incredible and is frequency dependent and also patented in modus operandi.
The Bass Mekanik VLS-1, though, is different to the Epicenter in that as far as I can tell, it changes the depth of the interpolative-added-bass as well as the amount of it as you turn the knob up. The details of both processes would be lovely to have laid out before me but they are somewhat commercially sensitive items.
I know the man for whom this product is named The Bass Mekanik, one Mr. Neil G. Case of Florida USA, (grew up in Jamaica and was born in Croydon! www.bassmekanik.com) and he is an absolute Bass God. I reckon that from what I can hear the ridiculously-able-for-the-money XTR 300D2 SPL Dynamics subwoofer doing, that the VLS-1 process is even more bonkers than that of the Epicenter.
Which of course means I must test an Epicenter which I will do as I have a virgin-in-a-box one in the shape of an EPIC 150, a half-DIN unit with an SPL meter and the circuit in its guts. (It’s old as this machine was upgraded by ten decibels of metering and has been the EPIC 160 for some time now.) Right now back at the bass cave I can relate that the Bass Mekanik VLS-1’s signal to noise ratio is a paragon of silence. ‘Noise ‘ and hiss tend to be upper frequency artefacts but the huge input and output voltages of VLS-1 make this not even the remotest issue.
I tried the booster EQ knob on the amp, very familiar. Then, turned down the gain on the bass amp, cranked up the volume of the main headunit-driven-in-rig ovals and tried different levels on the VLS-1’s knob. Each and every step-notch was relevant and added at first a deeply sonorous yet tight underpinning of depth and profound weight which became bigger and ever yet insanely bigger as each notch was turned.
Warnings about being careful with the controls are CRUCIAL, as the woofer you use will be asked to do some really challenging stuff, even if you start with chart pop music. Be very, very careful.This is Hardcore Class A Mother-Loving Lunacy and it will implode your equipment if you are not cautious.
Bass Mekanik as a brand is about ground pounding savagery of the most extreme kind and about all kinds and powers of bass. So the device is also built to cater for those with truly offensive amounts of low frequency power. It can add just a touch of mass or else create seismic disturbances. I was seriously impressed, not only by the performance but also by the looks. Pretty enough to feature with a tiny knob in a box with a classy finish, it’s a super wee package and worth very penny it costs. Just don’t go getting one if you do not own a subwoofer system capable of pushing a great deal of air around. Unlike MaxxBass which is about getting more from less cone, the VLS-1 is as uncompromising as a Great White Shark and you must give it the same respect. If you don’t spot the dorsal fin, you may find your sub or amplifiers intestines hanging out.
This is State of the Art for the bass head.
Sound Quality 10.0
Ease Of Use/HMI 10.0
Flexibility 9.0
DSP Power 10.0
Value For Money 9.0
Overall rating 9.6 