L.R. Baggs of Sansamp D.I.

[Aarongermain]

Has anyone gotten a good chance to compare and contrast them? I'm testing out the Baggs right now. I mainly want it as a XLR output from my Walter woods for sound guys; but it also seems to help tonaly; particularly with my upright bass and its realist. I know alot of people like the Sanamp but I haven't given it a good shot yet.
Aaron

[PB+J]

I like the sansamp, I used one for years, but i got sick of it. It colors the sound really strongly, it introduces a mid-cut that's hard to get rid of, and the active controls are too powerful IMHO--it's easy to get a very artificial extreme kind of tone. And "flat" is hard to find. If you boost the "drive", which is the tube emulation, the mids get scooped. There's a grainy quality to the high mid and high end that got irritating. It's a well built device, it's extremely versatile, it does a good job emulating the sound of a mildly overdriven tube amp. But I don't miss it

[dkpawlowski]

I've tried several pre-amps and to me the Baggs is the most transparent sounding. The sound is just very clear. But why not just use the DI out of the WW amp or with a decent direct box if you need an XLR out?

[PB+J]

I ended up dropping the sansamp for an Avalon U5, which just sounds great all the time. I sometimes use a fishman pro-platinum bass unit, which also sounds good and is really well set up for bass. But the Avalon just has a better basic sound

[bolo]

This is interesting. My results are a little different.

I've tried using both the L.R. Baggs Gigpro preamp and the SansAmp Bass Driver DI with upright. And I use the SansAmp all the time w/ slab. All that follows is of course just my experience, my gear, opinions, and so on …

In terms of a pure, accurate sound, I think the SansAmp set flat w/ no effects is actually more transparent sounding than my Gigpro.

To my ears the Gigpro colors the tone, and its effect is quite prominent. It’s colored in a musical and pleasing way, kinda “tube like”, a little squashed or compressed, and more mellowed out in the mids.

[ I should point out this is with a Rev SOLO pickup, since I'm guessing the Gigpro may perform differently with different pickups. ]

And although I run my amps with no EQ for upright, I happen to dig PB+J’s "powerful" Bass & Treble EQ capabilities on the SansAmp. However that Bass knob is voiced, oh man! It means serious business, and I really dig it w/ my BGs. It is the great bass equalizer knob for my electrics.

The fake tubes in the SansAmp are shall we say "critically acclaimed" for BG. But for DB, well, I think some people like the effect, and others don't.

Originally Posted by Aarongermain

Has anyone gotten a good chance to compare and contrast them?

Well, I’ll give ‘er a try:

SansAmp
- More transparent sound w/ everything set flat.
- Way more routing options (split a line to the PA, recording).
- Larger, heavier stomp box design. 9V or wall wart.
- No high pass filter.
- Tube emulation (analog).
- Bass and Treble EQ – Like PB+J said, a little goes a long way.

Gigpro
- Not as transparent. Adds color to the tone, but it's fat, thick, and friendly in its own way.
- Single ¼” output.
- So small it can clip on your belt. 9V only.
- High pass filter.
- No fancy effects.
- Bass and Treble EQ.

Oh I got a hankerin’ to try PB+J's Avalon U5 for sure.

[bribass]

Originally Posted by Aarongermain

Has anyone gotten a good chance to compare and contrast them? I'm testing out the Baggs right now. I mainly want it as a XLR output from my Walter woods for sound guys; but it also seems to help tonaly; particularly with my upright bass and its realist. I know alot of people like the Sanamp but I haven't given it a good shot yet.
Aaron

I've been trying out the Baggs Para Acoustic EQ DI. It seems to improve just about any amp that I've tried w/ the DB and a Realist. Sound men have told me that my signal from its XLR is ultra clean & quiet. Lots of tone shaping and notching options. Still experimenting, but on louder gigs on DB w/ my Acoustic Image Focus 2r III it seems to make that amp sound warmer and less clinical and I can be alot more precise when dilaing in just the right midrange. Kinda tightens up and focuses the Polytone Sonic Circuit (newer Mini -brute IV). I haven't tried it w/ my old WW yet, but my geuss is that it will be good as well. In the store I was looking at the Sans Amp as, but the Baggs device seemed alot more acoustic friendly. Maybe it was just the brown paint job. lol. Hope that helps.

BG

[umdenken]

I really like the Sansamp for upright bass. It's solid and gives dependable good sound for me, and so I'll stick with it until I schlep the upright to a store where I can A/B test a whole bunch together. Here's how I use it:

Fishman full circle pickup
Sansamp RBI (rackmount version of the pedal)

Settings for upright bass:
sansamp: full
bass: turned down to 10:00.
mids: raised up to 3:00.
highs: flat.
drive and presence: low (10:00).

This gives a sound I reallly love. Lots of low end, and lots of tone.

I'm then sending this all to both a house PA, and my personal amp which a 1000 watt PA amp with an Agular cabinet - 12" and a tweeter.

[shwashwa]

the avalon is probably the best choice you could have made, but a few points on the sans amp.... the rack mount RBI is great because it has the mis control. the stomp box, the bass driver, is voice for BG and introduces the mid scoop and there is in fact no mid control... they have a new product out, the para drive stomp box. check that one out... it has the mid control, the treble , bass, drive and it has the high impedeance input for piezo pickups. i love it. even if i run it flat, it gives me a nice sound. i dont know why... something in the way it matches impedeances i think. maybe not, but when i try my 2 other preamps with high impedeance inputs (fishman BII and raven labs) i dont get a sweet tone like that when they're flat.

[bolo]

No, I am not a retired gig pro. Not until I stop gettin' calls I guess.

FWIW, I played with the Gigpro preamp just about all morning and afternoon yesterday, and I found that despite the cool high pass filter, tiny belt clip size, and tubey fatness, I really don't like what it does for the sound of my DB after all.

I concluded that now I prefer the sound of my ol' Contra and my EA amp without the Gigpro.

The Gigpro does generate a very smooth sound, but to my ears it just takes too much off the initial hit of each note. That's what sealed it.

And I know others have had good experiences with it and with other L.R. Baggs gear, so I am not dismissing those reviews at all. I wanted to like it, because its color is "musical" in a sense. Maybe I will use it someday to take the edge off a jingley jangley acoustic guitar.

But for now anyway it goes in the spare parts & "maybe I'll use it someday for something" gear bag.

[shwashwa]

similar thing happens with the sans amp para driver with the blend is all the way to the right... takes alittle off the attack. that's why i keep it to the left :-) that pretty much just disengages the drive (distortion) control, but you still have access to the eq section, which is what makes it sound good. and if you play bass guitar, then you have it if you want it....
its really been a godsend to me... i'm pulling pickups out of my spareparts box that i'd never thought i'd use, and they sound good with this thing...