Amp in a box DI Shootout

[Zbysek]

Probably only my respect. Not worth much

Respect means a lot for a man of certain age...

I've just gone and listened to the clips again with headphones and whaddya know. I think I like 1 and 6 - so my beloved THDI gets a vote. I would run mine with a little less drive and touch more treble but in headphones clip 1 definitely has the AGS going on.

Yeah. The distortion from TH pedal with AGS on is specific... and I like it! It's the reason why I bought the TH pedal...

Edit: I agree-I would either decrease gain slightly or cut low mids a bit. Boosting either treble or high mids might help too..

 

[BaltBass5]

1. Tonehammer DI
2. Sansamp Bass Driver DI
3. HELIX Floor - Alex Strabala SVT Preset
4. Stomp XL - Jonah Lane Preset
5. Sansamp VT Deluxe
6. HELIX Floor - Alex Strabala SVT Preset thru an Telefunken TDA-1 active DI.

I don't know that I would call #3, #4 and #6 "common all in one amp in a box solutions" but they may become more common after this thread.

 

[mouthmw]

I picked the BDDI out of the recording, but it sounds like the scooped v1 version here (also with blend all the way, or close to).

 

[JKos]

@chechunka ,
Any reason you did the Strabala preset on the Helix and the Lane preset on the Stomp?

 

[chechunka]

The tone hammer and sansamp are pretty recognizable on this imo. I probably should have rolled off some lows on the SA to hide more of the scooped SA tone and fool folks more. I couldn't hide the TH at all. The AGS circuitry is so instantly recognizable I just decided to let em be what they are the EQ settings were at noon on both to try and display the natural voice of the box.

I used the Jonah Lane Stomp preset because it came in the stomp I had at the time. I REALLY regret not doing the David Curran and Alex Strabala presets as well while I was doing this. If I had what you would have found is that the stomp simply doesn't have the processing power to compete with the floor due to its limited number of blocks.

I really wanted to include a Origin Effects Super vintage in this experiment but the one I got arrived DOA..

 

[chechunka]

I picked the BDDI out of the recording, but it sounds like the scooped v1 version here (also with blend all the way, or close to).

Blend was at noon actually, but always recognizable for sure.

 

[Zbysek]

The AGS circuitry is so instantly recognizable I just decided to let em be what they are the EQ settings were at noon on both to try and display the natural voice of the box.

Do you remember the position of the Gain knob on TH?

 

[mouthmw]

Blend was at noon actually, but always recognizable for sure.

Was it the v1 version (without the mids knob)?

 

[charliethomas]

Well now that I know the actual boxes, #5 is sounding really good

Ignoring bias, it was really hard to pick a favorite. Might be easier to pick in a full mix, but I could see use cases for any of those sounds (yes, even #4)

 

[chechunka]

Was it the v1 version (without the mids knob)?

It was the programmable model with presets.

 

[amper]

I tried out 6 of the common all in one amp in a box solutions. Just going for your standard rock p bass with a pick tone. I was working fast so it's sloppy, but hope this is helpful or at least fun for some of y'all.



Will post the DI's in a few days.

(NB: Listening through Sony MDR-7506 headphones.)

Honestly? None of the above. Track it again without the distortion.

But, assuming you want the distortion, I'd have to hear it within a fuller context to decide. However, I will say this, in the absence of a wider context:

1 is missing lows, but it's probably the most balanced of them.
2 has the most lows, but also a really annoying buzzy upper mid character.
3 is buzzier than 1, has a little more lows, but also a little more mud.
Definitely Not 4. Way too muddy.
Definitely Not 5. Way too bright and anemic with no lows to support the mix.
Probably Not 6. Not as bad as 4, but still muddy.

 

[amper]

I tried out 6 of the common all in one amp in a box solutions.

1. Tonehammer DI
2. Sansamp Bass Driver DI
3. HELIX Floor - Alex Strabala SVT Preset
4. Stomp XL - Jonah Lane Preset
5. Sansamp VT Deluxe
6. HELIX Floor - Alex Strabala SVT Preset thru an Telefunken TDA-1 active DI.

I think your definition of "common" and mine are very different.

Now that I know what the units are, I can definitely say that I would choose either 1 or 2, and probably use very different settings than you are using. Less Drive on both, more Bass and Treble EQ on 1.

FWIW, the next bass drive pedal I plan on buying the the Tech21NYC SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2, the new anniversary edition, if I can get it, because I like the color.

And that will likely be the last bass drive pedal I ever buy, as I already have a Boss BB-1X Bass Driver, a Boss GT-1000Core, a One Control BJFe Blackberry Bass Overdrive, a One Control BJFe Sonic Blue Twanger, a tc electronic MojoMojo overdrive, and a tc electronic Spark booster, all of which are good on bass.

 

[CoreyI35]

I just have to point out what a difference there is when listening through different speakers. I have set of cheap presonus "monitors" in my home office that I got my first impressions from. There was a dramatic change in what sounded good to me when listening with my laptop speakers. Listening to them again through my Yamaha HS8s so I could hear the bass, I had different favorites again. This little exercise just re-reminded me how drastic a change there is when you get or don't get all the frequencies.

 

[sunbeast]

The tone hammer and sansamp are pretty recognizable on this imo. I probably should have rolled off some lows on the SA to hide more of the scooped SA tone and fool folks more. I couldn't hide the TH at all. The AGS circuitry is so instantly recognizable I just decided to let em be what they are the EQ settings were at noon on both to try and display the natural voice of the box.

I used the Jonah Lane Stomp preset because it came in the stomp I had at the time. I REALLY regret not doing the David Curran and Alex Strabala presets as well while I was doing this. If I had what you would have found is that the stomp simply doesn't have the processing power to compete with the floor due to its limited number of blocks.

I really wanted to include a Origin Effects Super vintage in this experiment but the one I got arrived DOA..

Since I have a Stomp and my clear favorite in your clips was the first Strabala Helix preset, I perused his page- maybe I'm off here, but it seems like the main part of the preset is just a compressor at the front before a split parallel path with SVT amps on each side and either cab-sim or EQ or something else in each path (just based on blurry Helix photo). This should be totally doable with a Stomp. As far as I could see all the extra blocks were for several distortion block options, an octaver, and a chorus. He offers a package of 2 Stomp presets that include all the extra effects on the side that can be entered into the main preset (until presumably you've used up all the blocks). Of course the Stomp has been updated (possibly since you had one?) to include more blocks as well as not taking up blocks for things like parallel splits, etc.

Was your clip using any of the extra distortions or just the amp emulation blocks?

 

[Spidey2112]

And that will likely be the last bass drive pedal I ever buy...

 

[-Stingray]

As the other mentioned, I would need to see how the pedals were set. 5 sounded too trebly, but a simple adjustment of the EQ would likely fix that. These were not dialed in very similarly so it's really hard to know which unit I prefer.

The other issue would be that I need to hear how these sounded cranked through a PA (dialed in to my liking) before I could choose (I rarely record). I want my bass to thump like a mofo in a live mix. What might sound good through headphones doesn't necessarily translate to what sounds good live.

 

[Parzival]

I just have to point out what a difference there is when listening through different speakers. I have set of cheap presonus "monitors" in my home office that I got my first impressions from. There was a dramatic change in what sounded good to me when listening with my laptop speakers. Listening to them again through my Yamaha HS8s so I could hear the bass, I had different favorites again. This little exercise just re-reminded me how drastic a change there is when you get or don't get all the frequencies.

That's key, the speakers. I would love to hear all those through our band's big huge array PA speakers. That would be the ultimate ear test to me. I'm going to bookmark this one for next time our band plays.

 

[JKos]

If I had what you would have found is that the stomp simply doesn't have the processing power to compete with the floor due to its limited number of blocks.

What, if any, blocks are you using (on/active) in the Strabala Helix preset that are not in the Stomp version of the preset?

 

[tpa]

Thanks, @chechunka it was fun.

 

[rstephens]

Before I look to see if they've been identified, #1 would work for me as is, with 3 & 6 being good for a little cleaner sound. The others were too bright for me.