Advice \ guidance needed on rack system and ENGL E530 pre-amp

[chrisola]

So, i've currently got a Blackstar HT5 Combo (for about a year), which is good enough and has a nice sound, but i'm REALLY missing my ENGL Fireball -- and i had a Screamber combo aswell and both were sadly sold some time ago due for financial reasons -- i've owned a few amps and ENGL is where my sound lies i think :)

I'm going to sell the Blackstar and get another ENGL, and i've JUST realised they do a rack pre-amp called the E530, which is really well priced new at about £400...i've never seen one for sale or looked as i just assumed it'd be mega expensive like their other pre-amps. I've read all the net info i could find and heard the sound clips and i think it'll be great for me.

Now, at the moment i only play in my house or at my friends, so a low wattage amp i can crank is the ticket, and i know the E530 sounds good just into headphones or via a PC \ monitor speakers \ cab with it's in built amp BUT you can also hook it up to a poweramp and therefore it's pretty versatile if I buy the right bits - i can have it sat on my desk into my PC via my Line6 GuitarPort or i could buy a power amp for when i went round to my friends to play a bit louder. I can also leave the cabinet in one place and just cart the pre-amp which is good.


I've seen Feline and Antag's rigs and like them, especially the little MJW power amp -- a simplified rig like this appeals to me.

Question is - how complex is the whole rack set up deal?  Do you need a dedicated power supply? The E530 manual mentions shielded stereo cables and all sorts of connections and that which is a bit confusing as i'm clueless about this at the moment...any rack knowlegde appreciated!

Also if anyone has any experience the the ENGL E530 please share it :)

[Antag]

Question is - how complex is the whole rack set up deal?

It can be as complicated or as simple as you want to make it :)  The E530 looks fairly straightforward, no MIDI to deal with so it's not going to be much different to having the Screamer head in terms of complexity.

Do you need a dedicated power supply?

No - both Feline & I happen to use a Samson PS10 power conditioner but it's not a requirement.  I have it for convenience, tidiness & portability - all the devices in my setup are powered from the PS10 so I can leave them permanently connected in the rack & just have one power cable trailing across the floor.  If I take the setup anywhere I just wind up the power cable, put the lids on the rack case & it's ready to go - no need to carry a box full of cables or completely disassemble whenever I want to move it).  You could just as easily carry a bog standard multi-socket & as many IEC leads (aka "kettle" leads) as you need for all the devices.

The E530 manual mentions shielded stereo cables and all sorts of connections and that which is a bit confusing as i'm clueless about this at the moment...any rack knowlegde appreciated!

Not half as complicated as it makes out:  All the connections are standard ¼" mono jacks (same as a standard guitar cable).  The bare minimum you need is a lead to go from guitar to preamp & another one to go from the preamp output into a power amp (or other device).  If you want to use the FX Loop you need a few more.  Don't worry about the "shielded" bit - any decent quality cable in the appropriate length will do.  You don't need to run it as a stereo setup, it will work just as well as a mono preamp - it's only really useful if you are using a stereo FX processor & wanted to take advantage of "panning" effects, or are such a megastar that you needed two poweramps to run that wall of 4x12s :)

Had a quick skim of the E530s manual & I'm guessing that you'd use the freq. compensated output(s) to run into the PC or a headphone amp (assuming you didn't use the built in headphone amp) & the standard Line Out jack(s) to run into a power amp.  I'm guessing that the freq. compensated outputs have some sort of cabinet emulation built in so it doesn't sound like a wasp in a jar when recorded direct...

[Antag]

One other thing, I'm fairly sure that Feline actually had an E530 once (seem to remember him selling it in Seconds Out), so perhaps he can chime in witha bit on what the E530 actually sounds like...

[dave_mc]

i have no experience with rack gear, but (and apologies if you're already aware of this) engl is releasing a 15 watt amp (either head or combo) very soon which has variable wattage, and which will also be around your budget. whether it'll do the tones you want, though, I don't know, I haven't tried it. EDIT: it's the gigmaster, it's on thomann and there are a couple of clips on youtube.

[JDC]

if you want some good clips of e530s in a mix I really like this guys clips

http://www.youtube.com/user/fearcomplexmusic

just noticed he done a new one with a SS poweramp o_0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egZTdj1F5Lw

since you got a guitarport you could try running the free TSE 30X guitar sim, probably need to run it through a DAW with a cab sim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dEqbUqbmxM

[FELINEGUITARS]

The E530 was a good bit of kit
Sounds wise it was good and was like Engl's version of a Marshall kind of sound
Engls have a distinct sound and the E530 kind of had it but was also more mainstream Marshally in it's tone to my ears
Was good fun
I wanted the all singing all dancing programmable one as there are a lot of good features that I found myself switching back and forth and with the MIDI version I could have

I only sold mine because I was having a cull of much of my stupidly large stash of preamps and to fund the Egnater and Randall stuff I got

I'm living without it but I so want to get a Randall module modded to be like an Engl


Soundclips here

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=909142&songID=8884127

[gordiji]

nothing to say on the E530, but even at bedroom levels i love my screamer, clean crunch and more, how anyone
can dislike this amp baffles me.                                                                                                                                 even with a low wattage amps if they're  driving a 12" speaker , isn't this gonna be the critical factor at low vol?

[FELINEGUITARS]

The E530 lets you connect direct to a speaker cab and run a 1W power section that is built in - so you can do low volume jamming direct from the preamp

[chrisola]

Thanks for the replies, checking out those soundclips now!

I liked my Screamer too,but i want something which will go to Fireball levels of crunch at reasonable volume.. the E530 seems to offer me that, and it's small and very portable...and flexible.

The GigMaster looks good, but i have a feeling it's like a smaller version of the Thunder...however it does have a built in power soak.. but i can't see it being as flexible as the E530.

There is now a Sovereign on ebay for reasonable money....but it's 100w so i'd definitely need an attenuator, never heard this one though so going to have a look on the net for clips!

[dave_mc]

that's possible (i haven't tried the thunder either :lol: ). if you want fireball levels of br00tz, I think the guy testing the gigmaster in the youtube vid said it wasn't a metal amp, so probably not the best one to go for, then.

[chrisola]

hah...there is an E530 on ebay now...its a sign!


edit:

The manual for the E530 says if you are using the headphone \ cabinet output (which makes use of the on board power amp) you need a 1/4" stereo cable, otherwise it could short one of the preamp channels.  

STEREO HEAD PHONES
1/4" stereo output designed for stereo
headphones. you can also connect
hi-fi speakers or guitar cabinets. When you
connect a conventional guitar cabinet set the
selector switch (24) to ,,Routed to Guitar
Cabinet."
CAUTION! Ensure You Heed The Following:
Always use a 1/4 stereo plug. If you use a
mono plug, it may short-circuit and destroy
the poweramp!

I don't think i've come across a stereo guitar \ speaker cable before (would the cable on a single speaker cabinet just be mono)?


Also

If i wanted to use my Blackstar combo as a power amp and make use of it's speaker, can i just connect one of the E530's normal line outs to the effects loop return on the Blackstar?