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Can someone explain the Noble DI to me?

dwagner

dwagner

Feb 9, 2013
655
1,556
North Dakota, USA
#1
As I understand, the Noble imparts tube warmth to the signal passed to it.
Does the strength of the signal affect how much tube character you get?
I’ve seen people run Bass -> Noble and I’ve also seen a whole bunch of pedals or a preamp -> Noble.

Does the circuit cause tube “breakup” at any certain point or is it just providing warmth no matter what the signal level provided?
 
#4
My Noble stays clean, even when I hit it hard with my active Sadowsky and Stingray 5 strings.

The valve warmth makes my bass sound silky and polished, with a punchy low end. It never gets farty.

I have experimented with driving it hard with another gain pedal. It distorted for sure, but there are probably other tools better suited to that job.
 
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#5
Phagor said:
My Noble stays clean, even when I hit it hard with my active Sadowsky and Stingray 5 strings.

The valve warmth makes my bass sound silky and polished, with a punchy low end. It never gets farty.

I have experimented with driving it hard with another gain pedal. It distorted for sure, but there are probably other tools better suited to that job.
Click to expand...
The only reason I ask is I am just trying to determine how you get your “money’s worth” from it.

If I have my quiet little passive signal going into it, I am assuming I won’t get nearly as much character imparted as a higher gain signal. Which makes me wonder — is it worth it as a DI if most of the character is out of reach?
 
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#6
Sounds sublime with my passive AVRI P bass and JV jazz. I don't notice less character.

On paper, the Noble doesn't seem to offer much compared to some pres - no mid control, eq is quite broad, doesn't get dirty etc. But I can't imagine gigging or recording without mine - it just adds class to my bass sound.

It works well with pedals (including powering them), so you can add character, grit, drive etc. before. It sounds good with my Bearfoot Blueberry, even my Sansamp VT Bass.

I'm using a HX Stomp into mine, but I don't feel the need for amp and cab modelling using the Noble, even though it doesn't high or low pass filter (unless you use the low cut switch). It seems to warm up dirt nicely.

If there's any way for you to try before you buy, give it a go, as it's definitely more than the sum of its parts.
 
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#7
I just received my Noble preamp and I asked Jack this very question so I can tell you what he told me. The short answer is no, the Noble doesn't add "breakup" to the signal, even when hit hard with a boost pedal (I have a Spark mini on my board). What it does do is send a buffered signal to your amp (usually it's the last pedal on a pedalboard, if that's how you're running it) and to FOH. The volume knob on the preamp only controls the signal for the 1/4" jack. The XLR out is unaffected by the volume knob. What the pedal does do is provide tube warmth, some subtle compression (to my ear), and clarity in the overall sound. You can run it flat with just the volume, or dial in as much bass or treble as needed (there's plenty on tap). It's a fantastic unit and has replaced my Ampeg SCR DI as a nice EQ, tone sweetener, and line out to FOH. I could easily see using this pedal without an amp when the situation calls for it.
 
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#10
dwagner said:
As I understand, the Noble imparts tube warmth to the signal passed to it.
Does the strength of the signal affect how much tube character you get?
I’ve seen people run Bass -> Noble and I’ve also seen a whole bunch of pedals or a preamp -> Noble.

Does the circuit cause tube “breakup” at any certain point or is it just providing warmth no matter what the signal level provided?
Click to expand...
Basically the easiest way to explain the value it is a tube Di like the Reddi which is $775 on its own. Plus you get a 2 band eq and it also powers external pedals so for many people it eliminates the need to buy a pedal power supply.
 
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#11
Switcharoo said:
It’s hard to describe, but the voicing just works so well when placed in a mix. One little trick someone showed me is to engage the low cut, and then crank the bass knob to bring the bottom end back, which also pushes the tubes a little harder, very colourful!
Click to expand...
yeah, I like that Noble tone setting a lot too. I understood it (bass turned up and the HPF switch on) to be the Tim Lefebvre setting
 
#12
Take a look at the new kid on the block.
It is in the $2k range
black 800.jpg
 
#14
villegastx said:
Do I need a cabsim or EQ with a noble? (I have a omnicabsim) or noble is enough by itself?
Click to expand...

That is for you to decide. Many people happily run a pedalboard without a cab sim.
I use a LPF instead of a cab sim, because all I want from a cab is the high frequency cutoff when using overdrive.

My mini board would be Tuner - Comp - Noble on a PT nano. I've not tried that combo live yet, but I like what it does at home.
 
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#15
I’ve read numerous posts on the Noble. Many for it…many have other options…many would like it if they could afford it. My take is that most of the people who own the Noble love it, while most of the people who don’t like it have: never tried it, own something else, etc… Man, there’s a thousand different opinions, but my thoughts are that if you want a really warm, compact, lightweight tube sound and you can’t lug an SVT around, and the PF20/50 isn’t near enough power, buy a Noble and run through a 500-1,000 watt class D amp (of course they cost money also, but if you already own one…)
 
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#17
Chas49 said:
Has everyone seen the new vid comparing DI's? The Noble does pretty well:
Click to expand...


I watched this and it got me wondering about using a BDDI or Q-Strip instead. I feel like my BOSS BC-1x makes for a livelier tone than the bass without it, and I want to send that through an EQ section. The Ampeg in the video does well, but the Scrambler isn't my sound. It also helps that my gig is not playing sessions or in corporate cover bands. So the necessity for a $1200 DI isn't there.
 
#18
I haven't tried one but it is a crazy amount of money for such a subtle result. I've watched so many videos on these and honestly feel that your more simple options like a JDI/rndi/countryman are just as good, if not the same (minus powering external pedals) the Noble doesn't sound like it's $500-600 better.

Maybe it's a feel thing too, but looking at all the high profile players that use them there has to be something to it other than a status symbol. I'd like to give one a go but I'm not lining up to put an order in.
 
#19
Same here… I would love to have one, but the amount of money is too much. I just saw the bass di shootout video and , while I picked the reddi di in the blind test, all of them were functional!

min currently happy with my vt bass and can’t justify the difference. Yet Here I am watching videos… :)
 
#20
The Noble is a very high quality piece of gear. It sounds fantastic but it's very expensive for what you get. There are scores of really good bass preamps out there...both tube and solid state. The digital options have gotten really good too...particularly the Line6 Helix line.

Before you drop over a $1000 on a tube DI....be sure you do some research, listen to some clips, and try a few out yourself. It's a great time to be a bass player.
 
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