Preamp decision.

[Krause]

Hi guys, I am looking at going with a power amp preamp setup and an looking at purchasing one of two preamps, and would like to get some opinions on which one you guys think I should purchase. I know in the end it is entirely my decision, but I would like to hear what you guys think.

Option #1
MAGMA 1.0 Bass Preamp - " W E** S P E A K** V O L U M E S* . . . "

Option #2
Demeter Amplification - Products

I play jazz as a hobby but my main band is a death metal band.

[johnk_10]

those are two completely different animals.
IMO, while demeter's are super nice sounding, they don't do distortion, so if you want both clean, dirty and somewhere in between, i think that the monolith magma would serve you better.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by Krause

Hi guys, I am looking at going with a power amp preamp setup and an looking at purchasing one of two preamps, and would like to get some opinions on which one you guys think I should purchase. I know in the end it is entirely my decision, but I would like to hear what you guys think.

Option #1
MAGMA 1.0 Bass Preamp - " W E** S P E A K** V O L U M E S* . . . "

Option #2
Demeter Amplification - Products

I play jazz as a hobby but my main band is a death metal band.

I haven't played the Magma, but it looks like a completely different monster from the Demeter, which I have touched. The Demeter does modern-yet tube really well. The Magma with CMOS I’m guessing places the emphasis on clean until you use that drive channel... Two individual channels, with the ability to combine is pretty cool, but for me would be of limited interest. If you’re serious about the Demeter, and you like the tube thing you should also consider the Kern IP-777, which is a different take on a high quality tube preamp than the Demeter. The Kern is a modified Fender style tone stack but has the ability to do a modern hi-fi thing too. The Demeter is a Baxandall tone circuit if I remember correctly. Also if you’re really feelin’ like something that’s a few steps over the line, look into the Jules “Monique” I’ve heard nothing but raves about it and it being about two steps beyond what anyone else has done with a tube pre.

[cnltb]

Whichever you like better.
Noone else is going to hear the difference I'd recon.
The magma has no XLRs for the direct outs?

Based on that and it's size(two units vs. the Demeter one) I'd go with the demeter. Based on the magma being solid state I'd go with that.
Based on the guy demoing the magma I'd go with the demeter.
Is he saying that he in clean mode at the beginning of the vid????
Based on the background comments in that video I'd also go with the demeter.

Overall from the video the magma doesn't sound any good to me so based on that, I'd go with the demeter overall..if I liked tube pres.
So really I'd extend my search.

Whichever you like should be the one you get, really.

[BurningSkies]

But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me. . Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

[father of fires]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me. . Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

I don't say LOL very often so consider this a gift. LOL.

[father of fires]

Originally Posted by Krause

Hi guys, I am looking at going with a power amp preamp setup and an looking at purchasing one of two preamps, and would like to get some opinions on which one you guys think I should purchase. I know in the end it is entirely my decision, but I would like to hear what you guys think.

Option #1
MAGMA 1.0 Bass Preamp - " W E** S P E A K** V O L U M E S* . . . "

Option #2
Demeter Amplification - Products

I play jazz as a hobby but my main band is a death metal band.

A bunch of guys from TB just bought the Magma so wait a few weeks until their reviews come in. Also, Monolith has said they will give any TB member a discount.

[pacojas]

Demeter HBP-1 is working like a charm for me!

(but i'm the only one who cares)

[bongomania]

I think the OP may have made a very common mistake: thinking that tubes always have a certain sound, particularly overdrive. The Demeter is all about clean/warm. The Monolith is all about stoner-doom fuzzy distortion.

[tom-g]

That Magma reminds me very much of this:


http://sunn.ampage.org/site/museum/b.../IMG_0004a.JPG
http://sunn.ampage.org/site/museum/b.../Img_0009a.jpg


Edit: And so do the sound samples.

[father of fires]

Originally Posted by tom-g

That Magma reminds me very much of this:


http://sunn.ampage.org/site/museum/b.../IMG_0004a.JPG
http://sunn.ampage.org/site/museum/b.../Img_0009a.jpg


Edit: And so do the sound samples.

That's the point.

[Krause]

Originally Posted by bongomania

I think the OP may have made a very common mistake: thinking that tubes always have a certain sound, particularly overdrive. The Demeter is all about clean/warm. The Monolith is all about stoner-doom fuzzy distortion.

I did. Please explain how?

Thanks for all the input so far. I spent 10 years using the same amp and now it"s time to buy some new stuff. Just want to explore something new.

Thanks
Aaron.

[rodl2005]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me. . Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

Hey, I'm no crim!

Great post.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by Krause

I did. Please explain how?

The deal is that any type of gain stage can be designed to run clean or distorted, to any degree; and tubes are among the most versatile gain stages in that way. Words that people use to describe bass/amp tones like warmth, fatness, bite, grind, fur, give, feel, growl, etc. usually boil down to the amount that a gain stage clips or compresses your signal. And a huge part of that behavior is designed into the circuit, by choosing different voltages, different feedback, and other circuit elements.

So you could make the Demeter distort by feeding it a boosted signal, but it wasn't designed to sound its best that way. And presumably you can run the Monolith fairly clean, but it wasn't designed with that goal.

What you really need to do is identify the sound that you want, and then ask for help picking the right preamp to get that sound. It helps if you post clips (mp3, youtube) of the sound you want. And don't get too hung up on tubes, either! Solid state emulations of tube dirt have come a long way recently.

[Krause]

Originally Posted by bongomania

The deal is that any type of gain stage can be designed to run clean or distorted, to any degree; and tubes are among the most versatile gain stages in that way. Words that people use to describe bass/amp tones like warmth, fatness, bite, grind, fur, give, feel, growl, etc. usually boil down to the amount that a gain stage clips or compresses your signal. And a huge part of that behavior is designed into the circuit, by choosing different voltages, different feedback, and other circuit elements.

So you could make the Demeter distort by feeding it a boosted signal, but it wasn't designed to sound its best that way. And presumably you can run the Monolith fairly clean, but it wasn't designed with that goal.

What you really need to do is identify the sound that you want, and then ask for help picking the right preamp to get that sound. It helps if you post clips (mp3, youtube) of the sound you want. And don't get too hung up on tubes, either! Solid state emulations of tube dirt have come a long way recently.

Thanks for the explanation. I used an Ampeg SVT-4 pro and an 810 for over 10 years. (the only amp I have used, so I have no experience with anything else) But recently I got rid of it all, needed to pay some stuff off. Now its time to start new.

I try to find my own sound, my musical tastes range from The Beatles to Suffocation, Jeff Berlin to Cannibal Corpse. I like Tools bass tone (Justin Chancellor) I know he uses the Demeter. So I was leaning more towards the Demeter. But I like the idea of running distortion and a clean channel at the same time, but also being able to switch between the two. I have 2 distortion pedals an overdrive and a fuzz, so I could do this using a splitter and 2 amps as well.

Are there any other 2 channel pre-amps on the market that I could take a look at.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by Krause

I like Tools bass tone (Justin Chancellor) I know he uses the Demeter.

Ah, I get it. The thing is, JC's tone comes from about a million bucks' worth of equipment, with the Demeter being just one small piece. Search on his name, and "Tool", in the Effects forum for more about how he gets his overdriven sounds.

Ampeg, Pearce, and GK have made two-channel preamps with switchable distortion channels.

[gnjpowell]

From just a quick look at the two products & specs, the Demeter. The Demeter looks very "high-end" and the Magma looks very "consumer".

[bongomania]

No no no, you have misunderstood the Magma completely.

[Krause]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Ah, I get it. The thing is, JC's tone comes from about a million bucks' worth of equipment, with the Demeter being just one small piece. Search on his name, and "Tool", in the Effects forum for more about how he gets his overdriven sounds.

Ampeg, Pearce, and GK have made two-channel preamps with switchable distortion channels.

That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I want to sound like JC from Tool. That was just an example. You asked
"What you really need to do is identify the sound that you want, and then ask for help picking the right preamp to get that sound." And I gave an example. Yeah I know he uses a lot of equipment to get his tone, and just a preamp isn't the only thing that will give you that tone.

The Demeter was recommended to me by a friend of mine, Marty, who plays in Electro Quarterstaff here in Winnipeg, so it wasn't one I was looking at because of JC. I didn't even know he used one at that time. Than I came across the Magma and not knowing much about it, (the Magma not preamps in general) I thought I would ask the experts on Talkbass.

I'll look in to the Ampeg, Pearce, and GK ones you suggested.

Thanks

[Son of Bovril]

You could look at the Fender TBP-1 preamp if you can find one, that has 2 channels (one a blendable overdrive) and does a similar thick clean tube tone to the demeter