Peavey Kosmos® Pro

This article is an editorial and expresses the opinion and experience of the author. Please post comments in the discussion page. Thank you.

Report from Kyle-at-Bose June 2005. Original Discussion: Awesome Bass

The Test

Hi all,

We purchased a Kosmos (pro) from Musicians Friend to try out. Sounded like a good idea since it seemed valuable to some folks here.

I tried it in a two different signal configurations with 4 B1s-

1) Prerecorded music (bass heavy: Sade's Lover's Rock, some hip-hop, some IASCA tracks). The QUAKE and THUD controls did positively effect the sound and the perceived output. In other words, it sounded like it improved the overall bass output if that was what you are looking for.

2) Kick Drum, Live band This time I only heard a marginal improvement of the overall bass output. When I went too far, the result was ugly bass feedback routing through the miked kick drum.

Setup: Used the Insert connector on the PS1 to route through the main in/out in the Kosmos Pro.

What is this doing? From their manual:

kosmos® Pro Sub-Harmonic processor and high frequency enhancement system

The kosmos Pro is the next generation of the award winning kosmos sub-harmonic enhancement system. Through special processes (patents pending), it can provide planet rattling bass while simultaneously adding clarity, definition, and sparkle. Its design puts it at home in any rack of professional gear, where it will soon become the most used piece.

The design philosophy of this unit was to create a processor that would enable a small set of speakers to appear as if they were larger, and large speakers to sound huge, while at the same time improving the fidelity and image. By adding generated bass sub-harmonics and high frequency harmonics that are not present in the original source, these enhancements do not cloud the mix, but add separation.

To keep the sub-bass from walking over other instruments in the mix, it must be precisely created with a defined envelope in a specific frequency range. We call this circuitry QUAKE. It operates by continuously monitoring the input signal for bass content that meets defined criteria, then generates synchronized low frequency material an octave below it. It has a unique feature that is found on no other bass processors- an adjustable dynamics control which modifies the bass tracking parameters from tight to loose. The tight setting provides higher definition and punch, the loose setting allows a longer settling time. The output frequency range of the process can be shifted higher or lower to match the speaker size by using the SUB-TERRANEAN shift switch. The sub-harmonic activity is monitored and indicated by a light and the output level is fully adjustable.

In addition to the QUAKE process, there is an additional bass circuit, THUD, tuned roughly an octave above the sub-harmonic range, which can be used to fill in and fatten out the upper’ low end. A tuning switch removes some of the higher bass frequencies, giving it a deeper tonality. Since the QUAKE and THUD circuits are phase synced, the two adjustments interact, supplying waveform and level adjustment for the bass enhancement process.

High frequency content and stereo imaging can be improved with the three atmospheric controls (XPANSE, BAROMETRICS, and STRATOS), which give increased separation and clarity. The XPANSE works with the BAROMETRICS control to provide phase and frequency manipulation that works especially well with vocals. The STRATOS control adds a high frequency harmonic sheen.

For bass guitar, I believe I saw Hilmar-at-Bose playing bass with it. I'm sure that he has some input on what it did/didn't do for bass guitar with B1 bass modules.

Lastly, damage to B1s when used with the Kosmos? Again, I'll have to defer to Hilmar but I believe that the limiter in the PS1 will guard against any damage to the B1s.

Result

Overall, the L1/PS1 system will provide a "natural" or accurate-sounding output to what ever source material you feed it.

The Peavey Kosmos IMHO accentuated the perceived bass output. As its manual claims, it creates "bass sub-harmonics". In other words, adds more bass. Eek

While this may not be an accurate representation of the source material, let's face it, you and your audiences may dig the bass-heavy sound with the prerecorded material. Applying the Kosmos tone with a mic.. ah.. probably not a good idea. I would recommend running your playback audio directly into the PS1s, channel 1, using 00 preset. Use the channel's INSERT connector to connect to the Kosmos' main I/O. Don't use the Kosmos' subwoofer output and make sure that the SUBWOOFER X-over control is set to OFF.

Run your vocal mic(s) directly into the PS1(s) on another channel. Use those presets for the mics, they help alot!

I only used THUD and QUAKE. The XPANSE, BAROMETRICS, and STRATOS controls alter mostly the high end and in my opinion, really wreaked the crystal clean sound of the L1's high end. Not sure what Peavey is doing there but it didn't help any.

Again, I don't recommend using this for kick drum. For prerecorded material it did add a cool effect.

For those who upgraded to Presets 2.0, don't forget about preset 73. It really adds a nice "loudness curve" to low volume prerecorded music. You DJ's out there may appreciate the sound that that preset provides.

BTW, using the Kosmos won't void the warranty. The only device that may void the warranty would be if someone took a SPEAKER OUT of a amp and plugged it into one of the inputs of the PS1. Ouch!

I hope I answered everyone's questions. Let's chat more if anyone else has something to add here.

Kyle-at-Bose

Original Discussion: Awesome Bass

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