the motown DI doesn't emulate a b15. not sure where you are getting this. it's an old transformer that's it, no tubes, no eq, nothing at all like an ampeg. the noble has nothing to do with an ampeg either, it's modeled after the fender bassman tone stack (diametrically opposed to the ampeg tone stack).
the RNDI doesn't contain character at all, just cause it has the neve name doesn't mean anything. Rupert's RND products are all designed to be free and clear of character and are very transparent sounding devices.
Actually, I knew that about the Motown DI, but since that Motown sound is so often associated with the B15, thought it to be sufficient shorthand.
As for the Noble, I did not know that. I know it has bass and treble knobs, and most of the times I've heard it I'd say it had a B15ish character. Also a friend who's a gear snob sold his REDDI for a Noble, and if it doesn't have that B15 feel, he doesn't want it.
So i learned something today.
That said, I will declare for the rest of my days that the RNDI is the best DI that man will ever make. When I said it brings out character, I simply meant it is cleaner and cleared than any other DI I've ever used.
I A/B'd a Radial J48 and the RNDI, and with the RNDI I heard nuance in my tone that didn't come through the J48.
BTW, that Motown DI is trash, not because of how it sounds, but because of the legality of its existence.
Long story short, the guy who made the DI box that the Motown cats plugged into, upon which the Motown DI is "based", agreed to do a limited run for Acme using the original transformers. His circuit, mind you. Wolftone DI, i think they called it.
After that run, Acme swapped in different transformers and marketed it as the Motown DI, without the original designers permission.
That's not cool in my book, so I couldn't ever recommend the Motown DI, ever.
