It seems TC Electonic has a resident bass lover, Uffe Hansen, VP of Business Management. He spearheaded the amp project, seeking to develop a rig that incorporates bass players’ favorite features while offering versatile tone and a thoughtful, attractive design. The initiative began with the head, with the cabinets following as a natural complement to the resulting sound. The RH450 is essentially a medium-weight solid-state head with a switchmode power supply and Class D power amp. Its special features include a 4-band semi-parametric EQ with user-selectable and savable frequency centers, three programmable EQ memory locations, the multi-band SPECTRACOMP compressor, and the tube-emulating TUBETONE circuit. It has the typical I/O, but it also offers a 96kHz/24 bit digital output in the AES/EBU format for truly direct recording to digital media.
The RS210 and 212 cabinets are no less striking visually than the head. Rather than the typical carpet or Tolex, the cabs are coated in a rugged textured material—sort of like an aftermarket pickup-truck bed liner. The cabs are built from 18mm plywood, but their distinctive rounded corners are made from carved hardwood. In acknowledgement of what is usually the de facto approach of most players who use 2x10’s or 2x12’s, TC intends its RS cabinets to be oriented vertically on their own. But, going beyond the typical approach, TC suggests that players who have two TC cabs also stack them vertically to maximize dispersion.
The RH450 has the sort of design continuity and attention to detail that bodes well for a product. The whole package comes off well, particularly for the openminded sort willing to appreciate the big built-in handle, curved corners, and multitude of front-panel LED’s. The head is dense but fairly light, although at 450 watts, I’m wasn’t that impressed with its weight, considering there are now seemingly weightless heads with twice as much power. I did dig the chassis design; the big handle was great for gigging, and the side-feet made for stable vertical positioning. As an inveterate sitter-on-my-cab at small gigs, I appreciated this flexibility. Most of the TC’s components felt tough, but the plasticshafted jacks and pots were concerning. One spin of the pot and its obvious this is a high-tech head—they rotate 360 degrees. The RH450 may take the prize as the head most obviously devoid of user-serviceable parts inside; its numerous Torx screws and additional fasteners say “don’t touch!” loud and clear. The rear-panel offers nice connectivity, including a Neutrik combo-jack speaker output, a 5-pin jack for the RC4 foot pedal, the DIGITAL OUT, stereo RCA AUX IN jacks, and effects loop, and the transformer- balanced DI.
On power-up, the RH450 LEDs spring to life. Each knob is ringed with them, and as the knobs are rotated, the LED rings light up in proportion to their position. The handy chromatic tuner is always active. I found it grabbed pitch quickly, but it was tough for me to get the in-tune- indicating circle rather than the flat or sharp triangles—a touch finicky, but still cool nonetheless. TC Electronic did an excellent job designing an interface that artfully manages the head’s involved feature- set. To begin, the simplest approach was to dial in the gain using the clip-light, rotate the four EQ controls to shape tone, and add dirt—if desired—with the TUBETONE knob. Going beyond this was easy, though. Once I dialed in a tone I dug, pressing one of the three MEM buttons for a few seconds locked my setting into memory, and the LED indicators changed to match each patch’s settings instantaneously. Pressing the SHIFT control accesses the head’s secondary features, including the SPECTRACOMP compressor’s intensity, the center-frequency of each EQ filter, and the preset level of each stored patch.
The RH450’s compressor and TUBETONE circuit are both more sophisticated than what’s typical in bass heads. The compressor utilizes a complex multi-band scheme to mitigate the relative amplitude inconsistencies between low- and high-frequency transients, rather than subjecting the full-spectrum signal to the same compression parameters. The result is a more natural-sounding and responsive circuit. In SHIFT mode, the GAIN knob adjusts the circuit’s intensity and the LEDs indicate gain reduction for finding the sweet spot. TUBETONE seeks to emulate the entire sound of a tube amp, not just the grit of an overdriven preamp tube. The circuit straddles the EQ section in the signal path, and was definitely among the most musical sounding tube emulators I’ve heard.
SOUND
I played the RH450 with the RS cabs as well as a variety of reference cabs, including models from Bergantino, Aguilar, Warwick, and Ampeg. Similarly, I tested the RS cabs with the TC head, as well as a handful of others.
With the controls set for the flattest response, the RH head was beautifully textured and fast, with warm and supple mids, taut lows, and a mellow top. The treble-extension was relatively shy with the RS cabs, probably because the cabs use a coaxial Eminence driver for the highs, as opposed to the more conventional and brash horn. I dug the cabinets’ high-register response, finding it smooth and refined, but true sizzle-heads will probably want a touch more glassiness. Overall, the TC rig felt detailed, balanced, and resilient to aggressive techniques. Digging into the B string at the highest possible volume seemed to overtax the speakers, but until this admittedly abusive point, the low-end response and bloom of the system was commendable. The SPECTRACOMP compressor worked as advertised, adding a confidence-inspiring push to my slap lines, and it never pumped with artificial intensity.
The rig was particularly fun when I exploited its memory capability. I could, with a tap on the awesome footswitch or a frontpanel button-push, alter my tone utterly, going from bright-and-scoopy to thick-andthuddy instantly. Going a step further and adding the TUBETONE further sold me on the real-world utility of the TC’s programming protocol. The TUBETONE circuit was juicy and useful through its range. Low settings are just a touch fuzzy, like an Ampeg B-15 getting a high-volume workout. As I turned up the dial, the tone became increasingly dirty, but the overtone personality of the distortion was sweet and musical. The circuit’s dynamic sensitivity was especially striking: It was easy to milk, sitting on the clean/dirty threshold, using my fingers as the determinant. For all its adjustability, the EQ was fairly subtle: even extreme settings didn’t sound uselessly abrasive. Adjustability over the filters’ center frequency is cool, although without any numeric indication of the frequency selected, the adjustment process seemed unnecessarily random.
At 450 watts, the TC’s only real weakness is its power output. Back in the day (like two years ago!), 450 watts was plenty, but new technologies are pushing the envelope far beyond that. The RH450 was loud enough to hurt my ears and work for most gigs, but it didn’t convey that ultra-ballsy assault that’s only achievable with a mega-big power amp. I know TC Electronic is committed to this product line, so here’s hoping they up the power in Version 2.0. As it is, the TC offers programmability and top-notch tone with a new level of coherence and flexibility. They’ve nailed everything else; a power bump would make the head a wicked-hip wonder.
TC ELECT RONIC RH450, RS210, AND RS212
Street RH450, $1,000; RS210, $500; RS212, $600
Pros Excellent design with cool programmability; superb compressor and tube-emulation circuit; digital output
Cons A bit more power would have been the cherry on top
Contactwww.tcelectronic.com
TECH SPECS
RH450
Input impedance 1MΩ
Power amp & Power supply Class D with switchmode power supply
Power rating 450 watts RMS @ 4Ω
Direct output Transformer balanced
Additional inputs/outputs REMOTE IN, AES/EBU DIGITAL OUT, RCA AUX IN, q" INSERT PREAMP I/O, LINE DRIVER OUT
Weight 9 lbs
Made in Thailand
RS210/RS212
Type 2x10 w/ coaxial tweeter; 2x12 w/ coaxial tweeter
Power handling 400 watts
Impedance 4Ω
Speakers Custom-designed Eminence Weight RS210, 46 lbs; RS212, 55 lbs
Made in Malaysia
Warranty One year limited