It wasn’t all that long ago that you had to actually go to a warehouse or a club to really experience the rave. These days you can go to a festival and drop all the dollars to do so but that can come at a serious price. Thankfully these days if you don’t have the funds or are even just too damn old to keep up, you can just stay home and stream it with a good connection. Heck, most every single major festival this year has been available for viewing for streaming. That said, anyone who’ll tell you that it’s like the same thing as going is just not telling the truth or they’ve probably taken too many mollies to be able to tell you the difference and must be perma-fried. Today, that’s where the SubPac comes in.
The SubPac is a portable bass system made for a personal experience. More specifically, the SubPac is a subwoofer that you can place in your chair while producing, mixing, or just even listening to music and truly feel all the frequencies; frequencies that would otherwise go unnoticed or heard without the presence of a high-end monitor and subwoofer system in place. We both know you’re just not getting that deep bassweight from your old DMZ records without a true system and that’s pretty damn expensive. The SubPac, which is priced at under $400, is still expensive, but for those who are truly seeking something to enhance and compliment their sound system situation, is definitely worth exploring.
The SubPac has numerous benefits. The first of which of course is that it gives the user a much more accurate gauge of what a track’s bass would actually be like in the club. This is invaluable for you producers and DJs out there and an an added benefit for the most indulgent of audiophiles. For those looking for something extra to add on their home-listening experience and have a couple bucks to burn, this is most definitely a dope product.
With the ability to hook it up to an iPod, iPhone, computer, or nearly any sound system, the SubPac could represent something of a new development that could one day be an everyday thing for music aficionados looking to step their game up. For now, the price will be a bit prohibitive for many and understandably so. It’s a new technology and it will take time for the masses to catch on; but they will.
Flying Lotus, Kode 9, Datsik, Richie Hawtin, and Plastician are just some of the names counted among supporters.
As the limits of music production and sonics are continually stretched to new heights, music today is much more 3D than in the past in that it’s not just about a great melody or some catchy lyrics, but the confluence of all the traditional aspects that make great music alongside an ever-raising standard in production values. That said, this SubPac could be used for casual listening, but I found that even with the ability to adjust bass and have it at my desk, I found that it often was too much of a change of pace and interference with the rest of my workflow that I had to relegate it to primarily just chill-status activities. This was the case at least when I was listening to some bass-heavier, darker music. Changing it up though with some lighter fare like Coyote Kisses’ Thundercolor EP and adjusting the bass (yes, there’s a little knob for intensity) It’s rightfully hard to focus.
Overall, this is an amazing product that any producer, engineer, DJ, and music aficionado needs to get their hands on. The steep price is 100% worth it and I’m going to have to cough up the funds to get one myself.
DISCLAIMER I was provided with a SubPac to try out and returned it once I was done.
