"Best" Preamp around ? ReVolt ? Darglass Vintage ? Else ?

[SlowpokeJoe]

For what it’s worth, both Amos Heller’s and Jayme Lewis’ videos with the Darkglass ADAM (which was a pedal I would never in a million years have considered) completely overturned my perception of Darkglass preamps and how they can be used and sound. Jayme Lewis’ “buy my merch” song made me audibly gasp in astonishment when he put the bass track in the mix.

Amos Heller has single handedly turned me from a Darkglass detractor to a fan.

Prior to his videos I thought that Darkglass was limited to (Insert very unflattering description of modern metal bass tones here), but his demos highlighted just how versatile those pedals really are.

 

[InkCow]

Amos Heller has single handedly turned me from a Darkglass detractor to a fan.

Prior to his videos I thought that Darkglass was limited to (Insert very unflattering description of modern metal bass tones here), but his demos highlighted just how versatile those pedals really are.

Exactly how I was! Maybe Darkglass has their marketing strategy all wrong and instead of the metal crowd they should be looking at the legions of Swifties!

I am kidding but maybe not.

 

[HKSHAMAN]

I am new to the DI/Preamp arena. I got the Darkglass Programmable Series (all 3, Microtubes Infinity, Alpha Omega Photon and the ADAM). I even went and purchased the Ultra series of all Darkglass (B7K Ultra/ Alpha Omega Ultra/ Vintage Ultra/ Microtubes X Ultra). I also purchased a ReVolt by Two Notes. Revolt is great because of the tube. That being said I think Microtubes (all) have a "truer" tube sound than the ReVolt (with a real tube). The programmable series from Darkglass are more expensive (except ADAM - new price drop to $350 USD) than the ReVolt but you get so much more from the Darkglass than the ReVolt (IMHO). Good luck

 

[bassbrad]

With new offerings seemingly every week the goal posts are constantly in flux. I don't want or really expect a perfect "end all / be all" one box solution as much as I understand players looking for simplicity. One tone is not enough to keep me satisfied no matter how good that solution might be. I appreciate the flexibility that having several choices offers.

 

[gtirard]

Have you already made your decision?
I'm surprised I haven't seen any suggestion for Ampeg's new SGT-DI.
I think it checks all your boxes beautifully, including you budget.

 

[chiphaleonbass]

Have you already made your decision?
I'm surprised I haven't seen any suggestion for Ampeg's new SGT-DI.
I think it checks all your boxes beautifully, including you budget.

This hadn't been released when the thread started but... yes this is the correct answer

 

[HKSHAMAN]

Hi everyone.
I am currently looking for a preamp for these uses :

Play without my amp :
- Play with headphones only (late at night)
- Record myself with an interface (late at night)
- Play live without bringing my V4B and 212

In other words :
-I need a DI out
-I need a headphone out
-I want to fully bypass the preamp when needed ; and a True bypass.
-I want a ground lift switch

-Cab sim is a plus to simulate my V4B
-parallel output is a plus
-tuner output is a plus
-Eq and/or Comp integrated is a plus
-Effects Send/Return is a plus

-High current draw is not an issue (Thanks to DESS MP10. Marvelous)
-I would like not to exceed €/$ 500ish (no Noble for instance).

About me :
-I play clean most of the time (Funk, Soul and Jazz). A very light distortion may be interesting but I don't need an integrated death fuzz.
-I dislike LCD screens and ipad looking pedals. Knobs are fun and easier !

My choices :
-As of now, I like the ReVolt a lot (AMAZING look!!) clean channel is an SVT and cab sim a 810... Perfect as an Ampeg player. I just dislike the 2 bands EQ on the Clean channel. Weird choice.

-But I also like Darglass Vintage Ultra V2. Is it really meant to be played solely on the clean channel ? No distortion ? It looks like Darglass preamps are mostly engineered to be played with the Drive ON. Maybe, Marketing is leading me to think this way and this is absolutely wrong.

Questions :
Any preference between the ReVolt and the Vintage Ultra for a clean use ?
Any other preamp suggestion the would fit my needs ?

Thanks a lot !

I have both. The ReVolt is great, just got mine last week. I became fascinated/obsessed with Darkglass in September 2022. Darkglass released the Microtubes Infinity. I went down the rabbit trail and purchased multiple pre-amps/DI's. The Microtubes Infinity (Darkglass Microtubes Ultra/ Vintage are inside) is my favorite. The clean sound is really tasty. Really warm. Darkglass has made me realize you don't need the tube (I love my ReVolt though). The Microtubes Infinity is a little more than the Vintage Ultra but not a whole lot more ($60-70 more I think). Hope this helps.

 

[Akiyama]

I settled on the SGT-DI. The box isn’t perfect. But, I am quite pleased with the purchase. Recommended as a serious contender in the all-in-one category.

 

[AmyTwonotes]

I have both. The ReVolt is great, just got mine last week. I became fascinated/obsessed with Darkglass in September 2022. Darkglass released the Microtubes Infinity. I went down the rabbit trail and purchased multiple pre-amps/DI's. The Microtubes Infinity (Darkglass Microtubes Ultra/ Vintage are inside) is my favorite. The clean sound is really tasty. Really warm. Darkglass has made me realize you don't need the tube (I love my ReVolt though). The Microtubes Infinity is a little more than the Vintage Ultra but not a whole lot more ($60-70 more I think). Hope this helps.

Hi HKSHAMAN,

Amy from Two notes here! We're really happy to hear the ReVolt is working out for you

 

[Romain909]

I kept the Darkglass and will keep it for some time but it feels pretty useless most of the time.

when I play on my V4B, it is bypassed since it doesn’t add anything to the clean sound. The filters only affect the saturated sound so it’s pretty useless if you use a amp.I sort of expected this.

However, with no amp, the clean sound has nothing exceptional. Pretty OK but not the great bass sounds that make you want to wake up at 2AM and play the bass haha.

I am slowly changing my criterias, like having an headphone output.

I am considering getting a Noble. Clean, effective, simple, warm, pedalboard friendly,
But pricey, and I won’t use the power outputs since I have a high quality power box already.

 

[Amajew]

I've gotta say, the Genzler 4 on the floor sounds great to my ears. I recently stacked it with the 35th anniversary pedal with low drive and it sings!

 

[Romain909]

You might all want to check this out.

Do it sincerely.
Tell us what you like

 

[HKSHAMAN]

Hi everyone.
I am currently looking for a preamp for these uses :

Play without my amp :
- Play with headphones only (late at night)
- Record myself with an interface (late at night)
- Play live without bringing my V4B and 212

In other words :
-I need a DI out
-I need a headphone out
-I want to fully bypass the preamp when needed ; and a True bypass.
-I want a ground lift switch

-Cab sim is a plus to simulate my V4B
-parallel output is a plus
-tuner output is a plus
-Eq and/or Comp integrated is a plus
-Effects Send/Return is a plus

-High current draw is not an issue (Thanks to DESS MP10. Marvelous)
-I would like not to exceed €/$ 500ish (no Noble for instance).

About me :
-I play clean most of the time (Funk, Soul and Jazz). A very light distortion may be interesting but I don't need an integrated death fuzz.
-I dislike LCD screens and ipad looking pedals. Knobs are fun and easier !

My choices :
-As of now, I like the ReVolt a lot (AMAZING look!!) clean channel is an SVT and cab sim a 810... Perfect as an Ampeg player. I just dislike the 2 bands EQ on the Clean channel. Weird choice.

-But I also like Darglass Vintage Ultra V2. Is it really meant to be played solely on the clean channel ? No distortion ? It looks like Darglass preamps are mostly engineered to be played with the Drive ON. Maybe, Marketing is leading me to think this way and this is absolutely wrong.

Questions :
Any preference between the ReVolt and the Vintage Ultra for a clean use ?
Any other preamp suggestion the would fit my needs ?

Thanks a lot !

I have both. The Vintage Deluxe and the ReVolt Bass. Vintage Deluxe can do clean and pretty aggressive distortion to. I lean towards Darkglass. If you look on Reverb you can maybe find a Microtubes Infinity, used for around $500. Don't quote me on that. It's a great all around pedal, DI, Cab Sim and can be your interface for your DAW. It has the the whole Microtubes line under yhead (so to speak) and is simply superb. I'm still playing around with all these due to me just falling down the rabbit hole of DI's (particularly Darkglass). I'm going to admit to a bias to Darkglass obviously, but frankly the ReVolt is an amazing pedal too. Sorry I couldn't be more decisive. Good luck. Clean tones on all are absolutely amazing. I just love the Darkglass distortion circuit a lot more than the ReVolt distortion. The modern distortion tone on the ReVolt is close, but no cigar (imho).

 

[Romain909]

You might all want to check this out.

Do it sincerely.
Tell us what you like

missing link. sorry lads

 

[Romain909]

I have both. The Vintage Deluxe and the ReVolt Bass. Vintage Deluxe can do clean and pretty aggressive distortion to. I lean towards Darkglass. If you look on Reverb you can maybe find a Microtubes Infinity, used for around $500. Don't quote me on that. It's a great all around pedal, DI, Cab Sim and can be your interface for your DAW. It has the the whole Microtubes line under yhead (so to speak) and is simply superb. I'm still playing around with all these due to me just falling down the rabbit hole of DI's (particularly Darkglass). I'm going to admit to a bias to Darkglass obviously, but frankly the ReVolt is an amazing pedal too. Sorry I couldn't be more decisive. Good luck. Clean tones on all are absolutely amazing. I just love the Darkglass distortion circuit a lot more than the ReVolt distortion. The modern distortion tone on the ReVolt is close, but no cigar (imho).

I eventually purchased the Darkglass. It's good. Not phenomenal. The clean is just clean, nothing crazy about it.
I eventually accepted to lose the headphone out (and the dirt I never use) and ordered a Noble. The tone is phenomenal.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

No one could argue that the NOBLE for a clean tone is not impeccable. It is. Never owned one, probably never will.

Darkglass is Darkglass in all it's forms. I've played most, I like the "X" series for what it does. It doesn't do everything.

I have the ReVolt Bass preamp now. I have also pulled the super quiet Psvane ECC83/12AX7 out. That 3 Channel is off the hinges! For myself, unusable. I put a nice NOS '65 AMPEREX (Mullard-Blackburn) ECC81/12AT7 in there. It offers more clean headroom and a later breakup with this tube. It's much more smooth, now.

One of the advantages in the 3 Channel is that the MIX /BLEND KNOB sends only the drive signal into the EFX loop. DRY is always DRY and WET can be blended. With more clean headroom and later breakup you can do more in mixing a cleaner wet/dry output. The other two channels sound better to my ear, as well.

Another thing about the ReVolt Bass preamp is that it really takes off with the Torpedo C.A.B. M+ and those added features. Between these two units there is not much you can't do for stage or studio and sound amazing doing it. ($700 +/-)

A word on the earlier issues on the Revolt.

I purchased from Sweetwater and their tech department did the update provided by Two Notes. I had no issues with the headphone volume with a not too expensive set of BeyerDynamic DT 240 Pro cans. (What I happen to own. Luck of the draw, I guess.)

If Darkglass is your thing it's there...but if creating a cutting edge, flexible, feature packed tone monster is your goal. Two Notes has it...

 

[Romain909]

Hi !
Darkglass ain’t really my thing. The Uitra Vintage is usefull as a pre since it does many thing : 4 bands eq, headphones out, DI, aux in, IR, master volume… and OD which I never use. The OD sounds too harsch for le, too colored.

I am still waiting for my Noble to come in March 24.
In the meantime I acquired a Vulcan XL. Weird handling, definitely not a clean preamp, but a smooth overdrive. I might end up using it as a pedal or just get a regular overdrive pedal instead and stick with the Noble.

Thanks for the headsup on the Two Notes though ! It is off my head since I pulled the trigger on the Noble.

 

[HKSHAMAN]

I'm an old player but new to the DI thing. I went a little crazy and bought a ton of Darkglass and a ReVolt Bass. Darkglass Microtubes Infinity is not much more than a Vintage Ultra. The Vintage Ultra v2 is really nice. The ReVolt is fantastic too. If clean is your thing (it used to mine until I got Darkglass religion) ReVolt. Of you want all. I like Darkglass Vintage and of course Microtubes Infinity (has all Microtubes, headphone, DI, cab sim, preset sharing and a whole slew of features I know I'm leaving out). I love a tube soud but I'm shocked at the warm sound of Microtubes. Not all Darkglass is about the fuzz and dirt, there are beautiful tones for all ranges. The Vintage ultra also does preset sharing (so does ReVolt if I'm not mistaken). Hope that helps.

 

[amper]

I like using something such as a Tech 21 Q Strip, and running the DI out to something like a Rolls personal mixer for silent practice.

Since replying to this thread so many months ago, I've decided that I want to give Tech21NYC a try, and so I am planning on getting a SansAmp Bass Driver DI v2, which will be my amp sim, and a Q\Strip, which will be my cab sim/corrective EQ/DI.

I've started hearing some disturbing things about the DSM & Humboldt Simplifiers being a little fragile for road use, and I'm getting worried about it. Mine has yet to leave the house, because I haven't yet returned to gigging, due to the pandemic, but I'm still a little worried. Tech21NYC has a proven reputation for reliability, and their gear sounds great to my ears, so I've decided to at least give them a whirl and see how it works out.

i didn't draw in the signal chain yet, but it will go: bass -> tuner -> BodyRez -> SpectraComp -> BDDI -> Spark mini (might go before the BDDI, instead) -> HOF mini -> Ditto+ -> Q\Strip -> PA or DAW (XLR) and stage amp (1/4"). As I plan to also get a Tascam DR-40X or Portacapture X6 field recorder. that can double as a headphone amp for quiet practice. It's a bit more cumbersome to do, compared with simply plugging the headphones into the Simplifier Bass Station, but I'm willing to live with that, since it also offers additional capabilities. My reconfigured pedalboard will look this, when complete:

I keep my tuner separate from my pedalboard, so it can be used separately. This also allows me to fit one more pedal on the actual board, which in this case is a "Miracle Thaw" 14" x 8" aluminium meat defrosting plate, with 1/2" high rubber feet added to the bottom.

 

[amper]

No one could argue that the NOBLE for a clean tone is not impeccable. It is. Never owned one, probably never will.

The Noble is a great sounding unit, but it's not notably better than any number of other units that sell for a fraction of the cost, and that cost is so high that it would buy everything on my pedalboard at once. So, yeah, I don't see myself owning one, unless I win it in a giveaway or someone gifts it to me. In Philip Conrad's video linked above, I actually preferred the Radial JDI to the Noble.