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Matrix D18 Bass Bins

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Goodvibetribe View Drop Down
Young Croc
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    Posted: 30 August 2014 at 12:30am
So a couple of weekends ago we had 4 of Matrix's new D18' Bass bins to play with on a trial basis.

Originally we had intended to use them on one of the three stages we were supplying kit for at Surround Festival in Stroud. But sadly just after we had collected the bins, on the way to start the build, i had a phone call from the organisers saying the event was to be cancelled after a tragic death involving a tele-handler during the construction of one of the stages. 

Whilst this was incredibly sad and my sympathies and thought were with the deceased, this was also incredibly frustrating as it was to be one of the biggest events we would have done so far, Certainly in terms of logistics and the amount of kit we had there and had needed to sub hire.

Obviously i wanted to use the opportunity to have a real good play with these bins especially as they would be outdoors and we were on site a couple of days before the punters arrived. Luckily though we had a couple of events the following weekend where they could be used so i have a couple of pictures of them for you. Sadly due to working at other events, i didn't actually get to spend much time with them, and it was my colleague who did most of the work setting them up at the events. Although i did spend a very brief amount of time with them in our lock up with Smaart, just so i could measure the horn length and see where the peaks and troughs were. From this very brief time spent with them i do have a couple of thoughts to share. 

Essentially the Bin is a 2x18 USB style cab which is pretty much the same size as an F218. It was loaded with a pair of 1000w 8ohm drivers (I did peek inside but couldn't tell what they were from the front, Robin?) giving each driver a total of 2000 watts (AES) at 4 ohms. We were also kindly lent a pair of MF7ks in which to power these with. In all instances, they were use with our EV TX2152 cabs as the mid/hi section. (I'm not the biggest fan of these, however i have got them to sound very nice and smooth, despite the terrible and cheap construction.)

From what i did heard/ observed and gathered from Smaart, a single cab will drop to about 50hz and all four in a mono block meant they would drop to about 45. I found they need a bit of a boost at 50-45 to get a more rounded sound and to stop them from starting to drop off higher. If you had a Sub underneath these then you wouldn't need to do that. I started off with them crossed over at 90 as the 15s in the tops i was using happily handle the kick upwards from that. When doing this i found they peaked a bit at 70hz which i then flattened off. Realistically, you'd be wanting to use these bins to play higher than 90, so i then tried (and stuck to) crossing them over at 160Hz.  They sounded a bit better when doing this and i think this opened up some more potential and needless to say made them kick a lot harder, I did notice the 70hz boost they had shift up to around 80 as well, which some people may like to keep in, but I flattened it off. In terms of EQ, that was all i felt was really needed and Smaart seemed to agree that they were fairly flat within the frequency band i was running them at. 
Generally i would say that they were incredibly smooth sound, Far less 'one note' sounding compared with an F218, but maybe not as much punch. (one be really good to properly a/b the two sometime) That said i never got to run them very hard in the lock up, as even during some low volume tests i had an angry man run over to me telling me it was like 'trying to live in an earthquake in his house' and that i had 'unsettled his cat'. (Take that as a complement Matrix)

Appearance wise i think that they look good, the routed logos are pretty cool as is the bracing. Generally they also seem to have been built pretty solidly. The handles are good as is having the input panel at one end, making it look very neat. (also god knows how or where the cable going to the driver at the opposite end has been hidden) 
My only niggles are that the paint seemed to come off, and become marked and scratched very easily. I understand that it was Warnex though and PU or two part paint would probably be a better option if these are going to used on the road or as hire stock. There were a few small gaps between the cabs and the access panels, the cabs were still sealed but it didnt look that professional. Also the curves in the centre of the cabs at the end of the throats are made of polystyrene which isnt great for the sake of durability. This is not really noticeable though, and there is going to be a grille covering the end of the throat just in front of these, similar to the ones available on the similar F1 bins. These are the first 4 of these bins to be made so i'm sure all these will be ironed out in the very near future. Generally though its a big thumbs up from me though. Heres a couple of pics. 


Here's two of them when i gave them a quick go  in our very cramped lock up. 


A rubbish phone pic of all four of them in  local venue for a drum and bass night. We have put a huge variety of cabs in this venue for this client, and he said that it was the best it had sounded with these.


A pair being used at Cardiff Arms Rugby Stadium for a small Welsh Rugby Union event. - Again some very positive feedback about the sound quality here. We have already have more events lined up with WRU just from that. 


Hopefully at least some of you found this interesting, and hopefully i'll get more time to play with them sometime soon! Nice one and a massive thanks to Robin and everyone else at Matrix for letting us borrow and test these out in the first place. I've no doubt you'll do well with them! 
George c - www.gorilla-audio.co.uk facebook.com/gorillaaudiohire
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote spongebob Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2014 at 12:38am
polystyrene?! Are you sure?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goodvibetribe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2014 at 12:49am
Originally posted by spongebob spongebob wrote:

polystyrene?! Are you sure?
From what i could tell. It certainly isnt wood. 

If anyone wants to see these for themselves i believe they will be at BPM in September. 
George c - www.gorilla-audio.co.uk facebook.com/gorillaaudiohire
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KidCreole Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2014 at 1:47am
Matrix following in qsc footsteps? Concentrate on getting the amplifiers spot on dudes
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dylan-penguinmedia Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2014 at 7:51am
They're doing really well with their guitar cabs after the amps took so well with the AxeFX lot, so I assume this is a follow on from that.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote burningbush Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2014 at 2:46pm
Nice review, thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.Thumbs Up
music is the message
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KidCreole Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2014 at 3:09pm
Great review. i don't believe we have had a review like that on here before. Tells it our it is with no favourites
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goodvibetribe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 August 2014 at 4:03pm
Originally posted by dylan-penguinmedia dylan-penguinmedia wrote:

They're doing really well with their guitar cabs after the amps took so well with the AxeFX lot, so I assume this is a follow on from that.


This. They have been building amp cabs for a while now so already have all the tools, machines and part suppliers in place. I think they are just testing the water with these, and like I said I think they have done a good job so far. They do Sound good and certainly look the part.

Edited by Goodvibetribe - 30 August 2014 at 4:04pm
George c - www.gorilla-audio.co.uk facebook.com/gorillaaudiohire
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KonanSS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 December 2014 at 10:14pm
Robin has just sent these down to me in devon, will be using them to there full capability. :) anyone wants a listen give me a shout!

Edited by KonanSS - 15 December 2014 at 10:18pm
KSS - Devon based always wanting to learn more
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GorillaAudio Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 December 2014 at 3:42pm
Originally posted by KonanSS KonanSS wrote:

Robin has just sent these down to me in devon, will be using them to there full capability. :) anyone wants a listen give me a shout!

Ah Wicked. Post up what you think of them, would be good to have another opinion. 
George C - www.gorilla-audio.co.uk
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote KonanSS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 December 2014 at 5:40pm
I will do when I have had a full play with them. :)
KSS - Devon based always wanting to learn more
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RobinMatrix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 December 2014 at 2:19pm
Enjoy ... :)

As others have said, we already build a lot of cabs for the guitar side of the business, (typically in batches of 100 at a time) including a lot of "full range" cabs, such as 2x12" + 1" comps  so we thought we would try a few PA cabs as well. 

Our little 15" bandpass sub and mid-top satellite system got regular compliments in the demo room at the BPM show, regularly coming out in the top 3 of 20+ systems, which we were quite pleased with. The D18's are our first foray into larger cabs.

To us, since we have the facilities (and have just purchased our 2nd CNC router ...) it makes sense to build these, especially as we can offer them as package deals with amps. During 2015 you will see a few more additions to the lineup too.

Watch this space ...
Matrix Pro Audio ::http://matrixproaudio.com/"
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