This is a new discussion for those of us who have first hand experiences with the 
B2 Bass Module to share with the community.
The posts marked “Moved Reply” originally appeared in Introducing the Bose® L1® Model 1S and Bose® B2 Bass Module
I just picked up a B2. I have another on order. This is a game changer folks. WOW!!! Even on Normal I notice a huge difference in prgram material. It sounds like a nice big powered sub. Of course your EQ settings should be able to control the low end. I just installed the update but \i have to go out I’ll check out the eq swtiches when \i get back
OK so I’ve updated both my PS2s. I didn’t want to figure out which one would work with the B2. Plus as I said when I picked this one up I ordered another immediately.
I got a little bit of a chance to run some recorded music through it and switch through the 3 settings. You might think normal would equal what you would get with a couple or 4 B1’s but it’s still more bass heavy than you would be used to using B1s. I am thinking that’s why it’s recommended for bass guitar and kick drum. It really thumps.
on the " " setting even more low end it’s unbelievable what a difference this thing makes to the model II system. I think the DJs are all going to be very happy campers now. No one os going to be talking about adding this or that powered sub anymore. The B2 is here.
And the beauty of it all? You can still put it on the “-” setting and get a more balanced type sound that you are used to. I was initially concerned because I really do like to be able to control the bass for things like acoustic guitar where some of those lower strings can start really resonating in certain frequencies. I’m not sure if the “-” setting is the equivalent to B1 type bass response or if it’s somewhere between “-” and normal but at least it can be tamed down nicely before you even have to start touching any EQ. And speaking of which if you put it on “-” but then put it on DJ High Volume it still kicks out really nice bass and DJ Low Volume kicks out even more bass. I just tried those two settings and flat. I never touched the EQ at all. So there are lots of combinations now to dial in the bass sound you want before you even touch EQ.
Like I said a few posts ago this is a real game changer, the B2 really delivers the bass I am hugely impressed, I can get my familiar L1 sound but I have the option to kick out loads more bass.
As I said I have another on order. I am going to see how just 2 sound one with each L1 and then maybe 2 on one side and 2 B1’s on the other before I decide what I will finally want I would need a second packlite if I end up with a total of 4. I would love it if I only needed 2 total. There was that write up that was linked last night(??) in which it stated that 1 B2 could replace 4 B1s. I’m inclined now to think that is totally within the realm of possibility but it would be great to get an official word on that from Bose, or more likely ST, who gives us most of the valuable info the quickest.
Lastly I have a gig at a decent sized club tomorrow night, it’s always packed and noisy there so I’ll be able to really see what this can do for us. At this club the manager just gives us an ipod filled with dance music to play through our system between sets. I’m just going to play it through my side with the B2 and crank it and see how the bass fills the club, I may flip the switch for that, although at the club I won’t be able to experiment with that after the music is going. When you flick the ’ ’ ‘Normal’ ‘-’ switch the sound is muted for a second or two while the Bose does it’s internal magical adjustments. I’ll report back after the gig.
awesome report Litesnsirens! Not even technical data can replace the eyes and ears experience you get from using the system first hand. very excited to see how your first gig with the B2 turns out!
Ok so there’s 2 threads with this title. I read through the other one and saw that ST actually said that the " " setting is equivalent to 4 B1s. This is exciting news. I may have a chance to test out that theory tomorrow and see how close it is. To my ear at least with recorded music, the B2 kicks out more low end thump that 4 B1s but I wasn’t sure how it would carry since I’m testing this out in my house. Maybe this close up it’s more bassy but as you get out farther it will be comparable to 4 B1s.
Tomorrow night I will have 4 B1s on one side and 1 B2 on the other. If we can get a half decent sound check in I will try the electronic kit through one side then the other and try to listen from different distances to see what I can figure out. I will be crazy happy if 1 B2 really can do the job of 4 B1s just imagine what 4 B2s could do. Maybe those big outdoor gigs become a possibility. ???
Well I’m back from the first gig with the B2. It’s late but I’m excited and I want to get this out of my system before I hit the sack.
If I had to make a 3 word review on the B2 it would simply be “THANK YOU BOSE”.
This one addition to my model II’s revolutionized the sound of our band and I can’t wait to get another one for the other side. We had a great gig tonight mainly because we had the best sound ever. I had the B2 on my side and 4 B1s on the other we set up the drums as quickly as possible and I switched the drums between the L1 with the B2 and the L1 with the 4 B1s. I set everything on the T1s identical.
The official word is that with the B2 on " " mode you get equivalent performance to 4 B1s. Let me tell you, with electronic drums anyway, the B2 out performed the 4 B1s in normal mode, plus mode and was equal in “-” mode. IMHO Bose is being modest when they give the estimates of “-” = 1 B1, “normal” = 2 and " " = 4. Needless to say the drums went through the side with the B2. Seriously, no comparison. We ended up putting the drums through DJ flat. We did put the B2 on " " mode and although it might sound counter intuitive dialled the bass back on the zEQ probably about 5db. It still gave a nice heavy thump to the kick drum but nice punch as well and it made all the other drums nice and clear too. So it was my vocal mic, the drummers vocal mic, the drums and my guitar through the L1 with the B2. The other guitar, the bass guitar and the bass guitar player’s vocal mic through the other L1 with 4 B1s.
My bass player was quite disappointed that he didn’t get to play through the B2. He commented that even the vocals sounded better though the B2 side. I have to agree, admittedly I dialled back the bass on the zEQ on both mics and my guitar as well as the drums to compensated for being in " " mode but it worked great and we seemed to have a lot of headroom. There’s just so much bottom end on tap.
I’m really glad that I ordered another B2 when I picked up this one yesterday. I don’t imagine I’ll be taking more than 2 B2s to any gigs I think one per side will kill and it will definitely be faster set up and tear down. And a smaller footprint on the stage.
So again “THANK YOU BOSE”
Litesnsirens: Thanks for taking the time to give us the real-world A/B test update. Really appreciate it… I love it when they under-promise, and over-deliver. B2 - I think I’m sold!
ST - Thanks for all of your work, and updates, especially while waiting for at-Bose-guys to respond. I know they’re always swamped during new product launches, and I just really appreciate you running down answers and solid info for us.
Hi Litesnsirens,
Thanks for your review, following your posts these last two years, I find your observations to be right on track.
Do you think the B2 offers any more of that elusive “chest thumping frequency” that so many ask for?
I ask because I remember back in the day when the Packlite/2-B1 package came out, and gave us drummers more bass “boom” rather than punch, and it seemed out of control until the advent of the T1’s Kick Gate.
I would prefer NOT to use the kick gate, as it cuts off too much of the envelope, and I wonder if we had more of the ‘punch’ frequency, could we do without the gate.
I realize your review was with E-drums, which is a different animal, but just from what your ears told you, is there more punch?
quote:Originally posted by shawn smith:
Litesnsirens: Thanks for taking the time to give us the real-world A/B test update. Really appreciate it... I love it when they under-promise, and over-deliver. B2 - I think I'm sold!
ST - Thanks for all of your work, and updates, especially while waiting for at-Bose-guys to respond. I know they're always swamped during new product launches, and I just really appreciate you running down answers and solid info for us.
Shawn, no problem. I am ecstatic about this new product so it wasn't really a bother to do the review, it was more that I couldn't contain myself.
I would also like to thank ST for all his hard work, it's unbelievable how much he gives of himself to this forum. All the work to update the wiki and how fast all that stuff went up there blows my mind. I'm thankful to everyone on here for all the great advice and tips I have received in the last 2 years since I went Bose. But ST goes above and beyond. So thanks again my friend!!
Hey Pete, absolutely more punch. That said, as opposed to a gate we wound up dialling back the bass on the zEQ to get more definition from the kick. I noticed the chest thump right away but my other guitar player was the first to voice it.
I’ve asked in previous discussions about how to get good kick sounds when we used to mic an actual kick. I’ve also mentioned that while my drummer has gone along with the Bose thing because in weighing it out the clarity on everything else and the ease of use out-weighed what he always thought was lacking in the drums. And he has been playing through 4 B1’s for over a year now. But last night he was in heaven. He was always trying to get me to aim the 4 B1’s kind of in his direction and I would always be telling him I don’t the those frequencies are directional enough to make any difference. OR he would be trying to get himself set up far enough forward to try to hear it better.
This isn’t an issue with the B2, what he was looking for all along was the feeling of that bottom end power, we didn’t have to do any point of speakers or anything special all we had to do was use the B2. So from a drummer’s perspective I think the B2 is a must. As I said before, I think the DJs are going to be very happy with the B2 as well. I think even DJs using Model Is or Classics are going to be happy in normal mode the B2 will crank out chest thumping bass far better than 4 B1s.
Thanks for that extra information Lites, and I’m with you guys in saying…thanks to
quote:ST for all his hard work, it’s unbelievable how much he gives of himself to this forum. All the work to update the wiki and how fast all that stuff went up there blows my mind. I’m thankful to everyone on here for all the great advice and tips I have received in the last 2 years since I went Bose. But ST goes above and beyond. So thanks again my friend!!
I had a chance to compare the B2 with the B1 on a couple of occasions since it’s release. Unfortunately, the bass I heard from the B2 module sounded muddier than the B1 setup. No doubt there was more bass, but it wasn’t as smooth sounding as the same setup with 2 B1s.
B2 Bass Module compared to 4 B1s.
I just spent an hour playing my trusty old 77 Musicman Stingray Bass. It’s fretless with a D-Dropper.
I set things up so that I could easily switch between
- One B2 on a Model 1S
- Four B1s on a Model II
o - Two B1s attached directly to the Model II Power Stand
o - Two B1s connected via the Bass Line OUT and the PackLite amp
Connections
- Bass Guitar to T1® number 1, Channel 1
- T1® number 1, Channel 1 Preamp Out to T1® Number 2, Channel 1
- I used the Prefs / Input Level to set the input the levels the same on both T1®s
- I used the Prefs / Output Level to set the output levels the same on both T1®s
- Set both T1®s to Preset: Active Bass
- Switched between the 4 B1s to the B2 by alternately muting the input channels
Here’s what I heard:
- The B2 on the Normal setting sounded very similar to 4 B1s, but without test instruments, I can add only that the B2 seemed a little louder.
- The B2 on the setting sounded louder than it did on the Normal setting.
Let’s put this in context: I’m not a bassist, nor a connoisseur of bass tones, so that’s why I don’t want to use words like fuller, punchier, smoother, clearer, or muddier.
Also - it was a fretless bass and so the attacks as I was playing were soft.
What I can tell you is that if I were a bassist, I would definitely want to check out the B2. It is (to my ear) at least as loud as four B1s with respect to volume, when on the Normal setting, and quite noticeably louder when on the plus setting.
If I was a drummer, I would want to spend some serious time checking this out too.
@musicnmotion
Yes, it’s true there is more bass to deal with and if you are just using settings as you did with the B1(s), you probably aren’t going to get the optimum sound. I think this is reasonable, it’s no different than if I had a guitar amp head plugged into a single 10" speaker cabinet tweaked it and used it and then plugged it into a 4 X 12" speaker cabinet. I wouldn’t expect that I would be getting the optimum tone without touching any of the controls on the amp head. It stands to reason and I fully expected it. I reduced the bass on the zEQ for every channel I had going through the B2. My other option would be to use “-” mode if I simply wanted bass response similar to the B1s. You can enjoy the added bass response the B2 offers in ‘normal’ and ’ ’ modes but you have to be prepared to tweak some settings to get it focused. And I might add for the most part some simple twists on the zEQ will do the trick. But I’m not ruling out that finding a more appropriate tone match setting might be another option. Who knows maybe there will be tonematch updates designed for use with the B2.
@AJ
1) You have a few options - you just use the B2 in “normal” mode
2) Borrow a friend’s tonematch to update your powerstand firmware with it
3) I believe ST posted earlier in this thread that GC and other Bose dealers are offering Bose users to bring in their power stands to be updated. (page 2 of this thread 3rd post down)
Ok now here is a question that has been kind of gnawing at me. My bass player, drummer and myself all felt there was an improvement to our vocal sound when using the B2. It was evident right when we plugged in and started checking levels.
But vocals don’t seem to be in the range that could benefit from added bass output. So is it placebo effect? Could it be an increase in headroom? Does the voice create inaudible lower overtones that added bass output would affect? Is there some other reason that I’m not thinking of?
Hi Litesnsirens,
Great question.
quote:Originally posted by Litesnsirens:
Ok now here is a question that has been kind of gnawing at me. My bass player, drummer and myself all felt there was an improvement to our vocal sound when using the B2. It was evident right when we plugged in and started checking levels.
But vocals don’t seem to be in the range that could benefit from added bass output.
The crossover between the Cylindrical Radiator® and the B1 or B2 is at 200 Hz.
200 Hz is pretty much your open G string on your guitar. Do your vocals go below that? Mine do.
Your open low E string is about 80 Hz. G on the low E string is about 100 Hz. Does that help to put things in perspective?
quote:
So is it placebo effect?
I think that you are hearing something real.
quote:
Could it be an increase in headroom? Does the voice create inaudible lower overtones that added bass output would affect? Is there some other reason that I’m not thinking of?
Does that help?
Check this out.
–?8T? Please click the picture for more details ?T8?–
Well that makes me feel better. Thanks ST. That’s a really interesting chart and I guess it stands to reason if A 440 sounds as high as it does that I should have been able to put the vocal range of humans into perspective.
I think I knew that crossover range but I think it just plays tricks with your thinking when you think “sub” woofer. Most subs from most companies cross somewhere between 100 and 200 but I never put into perspective what my lower range might cover. And certainly if the voice can hit notes that low there are harmonic frequencies that would be affected be the subs most of the time during a vocal performance.
Back when I first got my Packlite/2-B1 package, I noticed that my E-drum snare/toms sounded way fuller with the added low end.
In an odd way, even the cymbals sounded better, so I’d agree that yes, everything benefits from the added low end.
I did have to roll a bit of lows off my Audix OM5 when using 4-B1s, but I’ve now found that I like my vocal set that way even with two.
Backup vocals blend better without all the low end.
Glad you joined in Drumr, it’s good to find others have similar experiences. I rolled of the bass on the vocals based on what I had to do to the drums thinking all things equal, that was the amount to get sort of the eq curve that I am used to. I like a nice tight sound, nothing to flubby, but I really do appreciate the bigger, pumped up on steroids, sound that the B2 brings to the model 2.
I may play with the vocals a bit more going forward maybe they will be fine with a little more bass. It was really just a guess as it was really a last minute decision to use the B2 on the " " setting. Another thing I wanted to be cautious of is that even when I am not singing the green light on my channel is lighting up so I’m sure Kick Snare and all other loud instruments are coming through my mic and going back into the system again. So maybe rolling off the mic helps keep the low end of the original drums sound clean??
I’ll play around as I get more experience with the B2, all I know is that I can’t wait to get the second B2 and get out there and play more gigs I’m really stoked about the sound of the L1 now more than ever before.
7000 words