New Power Station PS100 owner here with a couple questions. First, I’m very impressed by this unit so far, very transparent, and very heavy! I think it will probably delay deafness for me for sure, because my 100W amp is very loud!
In the manual where the reactive load voicing switches are discussed, it states that " the response of the Reactive Load and its interaction with the load amp changes at different volume settings." In this statement, are you referring to the Source Amp’s volume settings, the PS100, or both?
I’m using the Victory super sheriff. I previously had some rack effects in the effects loop of my Victory VS100 Super Sheriff 100W head. I tried the same effects in the loop of the PS100. Interestingly, I get a ground loop unless the effects level of the PS100 is in high position. Is this normal? I tried the ground lift switch on the PS100, but that made no audible difference, but interestingly, by engaging the “Hi” setting for the effects loop, the hum goes away.
Note: Victory states, “The Super Sheriff VS100’s effects loop is set to between instrument and line level - it will depend on the amount of gain set, as this will influence the voltage from the Send socket - set with lower gain settings you’re in the 100mV range, and up to 1.1V at maximum - this will give you enough range to use instrument or line level based FX. The impedance is 2K7 Ohm on the SEND, and 1M Ohms on the Return.”
The Line Out 1/4" jack is described in the manual as “frequency compensated.” What frequencies are adjusted here and what is the reason?
Similar to #3 above, does the XLR line out jack on the PS100 have the same “frequency compensation” that the 1/4" line out jack has? If so, how would you say the output of a Suhr Line Out Box compares to the XLR Line Out of the PS100? I’m planning to use the XLR line out of the PS100 to drive stereo wet effects into stereo cabs in a Wet/ Dry /Wet setup in case that helps you understand the reason for my question.
I read somewhere online that unity gain for matching the PS100 to the source amp volume is around 10:30 or 11:00, which I have found to be true when the level switch on the front panel is set to high. How about the presence and depth controls, is there a unity setting I should start with to most closely match my source amp, or will this all vary depending upon each source amp and PS100 volume, and this is all done by ear?
I think this is saying that depending on your playing volume, you hear lower/higher frequencies differently, and you can use the toggle switches on the PS-100 to help compensate for that. They are not EQ toggles; they are literally changing the impedance curve seen by your amp, so it reacts differently depending on those settings.
The PS-100’s FX LEVEL switch has two positions: LO (for guitar/pedal level, -10 to -20 dB) and HI (for line level, +4 to 0 dB) . When you set the PS-100 FX LEVEL to HI , you’re telling the input stage to expect a stronger signal and match it appropriately. Just experiment with that; the “correct” setting there could change depending on what volume level you want, etc.
I don’t believe the line out is frequency compensated anymore, I think this might have been a modificaiton of the user manual from an earlier model. I will check.
The XLR out is simply a balanced copy of the 1/4" lineout, so yes they will be identical.
Surely there will be some settings that achieve what you want with presence and depth, but it is the kind of thing you measure with test equipment. Our advice really is just set these so it sounds good. They are tool to tweek and they are subtle. I find the toggles have more of an impact to the sound, But you can easily A/B between your amp and the PS-100 by switching from BYPASS/STANDBY. Just do this until you are happy and can’t hear any difference.
Thanks for your helpful answers to my questions, and please let me know what you learn about question #3 as to whether the line outs are still “frequency compensated.”
My intent is to use the PS100 line out to route to a Lehle P Split III, then to two separate stereo rack effect units, and then into a Stereo Line Mixer, and go from there into a Fryette LX-II and two guitar cabs (for stereo wet).
Just wanting to confirm that the line out of the PS100 is well-suited for this purpose?
I did a test case routing from the line out to a Lehle P Split III to stereo effects to a Rolls mixer to floor monitors and it works out great for cleans, but lots of sizzle in the floor monitors with dirty tones since floor monitors are not designed for dirty guitar tones I presume. My understanding is that a lot of guitar cabs roll off everything above 5 kHz, and my floor monitors go to 20 kHz.
I’m assuming adding an LX-II and some proper guitar cabs would make the line out of the PS100 more workable for driving wet stereo cabs, just want to confirm before. I buy the LX-II.
Yes, that sounds about right; their efficiency really drops off to nothing at some point, between 5kHz and 10kHz.
I think taking a line out and running it as you plan is fine. The P Split III is isolated, so it is ideal for breaking any ground loops that might occur with the other equipment. The PS-100 XLR Line out is balanced and isolated, so you have other options too. But if you already have P Split III then the unbalanced sounds are fine.
So you are not really using the re-amp capability of the PS-100, just the reactive load to get a line-level signal. You don’t need to use every feature of a product but yes it will work. But you could consider a PL-IR but as you already have the PS-100 and want Wet/Wet you need a decent stereo power amp. The LX-II is indeed an amazing choice.
Thanks Dan. I only intended to use the PS100 for attenuation and the line out. I always intend to record with amp and speakers and nothing direct. I only need the PL-IR if I intend to record direct out of the PS100, correct? Just want to make sure the line out can go to stereo wet effects and amp and guitar cabinets without need for an IR.
PL-IR has the same reactive load technology as PS-100 and PS-2A, but it does not have any built-in tube amp. Instead, it has a lot of line levels and outputs for direct out, IR out, analog cab sim out, etc. So it is a really good tool when all you need is a line level output. The direct out of the PL-IR tap the same point in the signal chain as the Line out in the PS-100. So I don’t think you will gain anything from getting a PL-IR in your case. It’s more of an alternative to a PS-100 because you don’t need the PS-100’s tube amp. But yes, to answer your question, you can get a direct out on PL-IR that does not go through any IR processing.
Dan, thanks for clarification the PL-IR. Were you able to confirm with your research whether or not the line out of the PS100 is still “frequency compensated?”
