Darkglass Microtubes X7 vs Alpha Omega/Omicron

[tonymcbony]

Hi folks,

Just wondering which of these you’d pick for a grindy, always on overdrive that sounds close to natural without the bass getting farty?

 

[bjelkeman]

Hi folks,

Just wondering which of these you’d pick for a grindy, always on overdrive that sounds close to natural without the bass getting farty?

At low drive, both can work.
Check these out for X7 with low drive.
Official Darkglass Club: Welcome to the Darkside

Maybe this for the Alpha Omega. Darkglass A/O ultra VS. vintage ultra v2

 

[Veldar]

For natural probably neither

 

[fasterpussycat]

Vintage Ultra

 

[keatz]

I actually find ao to be rather natural at low gain

 

[mam1862]

I’ve been looking at these myself and I’m going back and forth between the vintage microtubes and the omicron. Based on some videos I checked out the vintage is definitely more subtle but the omnicron seems it can be subtle get nasty. Again I’m just basing this on the videos I checked out.

 

[Matt Dean]

I’ve had the AO and AOm, along with the X7 and the X7 remains. Nothing beats the X7’s crossover for clean lows married to grindy top by minister comp.

 

[sunbeast]

I think the X7 is capable of sounding more transparent (if that is what you mean by natural) because you are literally able to choose the frequency spread effected by the drive. The Alpha-Omega (I have the Ultra, but had an Omicron first, still applies) can sound very organic and amp-like in a pleasing way, but it’s drive is much more voiced so not great for transparency. They can both get pretty grindy (using the Bite switch on the AO, or using the EQ/crossover choices on the X7), but I think the X7 is more versatile in that regard. I have both and can’t make myself give up either...

 

[tonymcbony]

By more natural, I’m not meaning that it doesn’t change tone at all, more that it’s not a chalk and cheese change.

I think the X7 is capable of sounding more transparent (if that is what you mean by natural) because you are literally able to choose the frequency spread effected by the drive. The Alpha-Omega (I have the Ultra, but had an Omicron first, still applies) can sound very organic and amp-like in a pleasing way, but it’s drive is much more voiced so not great for transparency. They can both get pretty grindy (using the Bite switch on the AO, or using the EQ/crossover choices on the X7), but I think the X7 is more versatile in that regard. I have both and can’t make myself give up either...

How do you find the AO run into the X7? Was thinking of the X7 always on for a touch of grit, and smack that around with an AO

 

[FaithNoMan]

For natural probably neither

I think they sound perfectly natural.
I use an Alpha-Omega as my main tone, with an X out front to sharpen up the edge.

Too many folks hear an active bass using a "metal" tone and think that's all they can do. That's my opinion, at least.
The whole reason I use Darkglass is because of the amp-like overdriven tones.
The amp tones I like come from brighter tube amps and SS heads that overdrive nicely, and I haven't found anything better than Darkglass for those tones for me. And they sound great stacked.
It used to be the VMT/B3K, then the Tech21 Oxford/Alpha-Omega now it's the X/Alpha-Omega

I doubt anyone would go "sounds like pedals" to these tones.
VMT/B3K:


Oxford/Alpha-Omega(The Alpha Omega is pulling most of the weight of the dirt here, where I'm mostly using the Oxford as an eq before it)
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Lastly, the X into Alpha-Omega, with 2 year old Hi Beams:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[tonymcbony]

I think they sound perfectly natural.
I use an Alpha-Omega as my main tone, with an X out front to sharpen up the edge.

Too many folks hear an active bass using a "metal" tone and think that's all they can do. That's my opinion, at least.
The whole reason I use Darkglass is because of the amp-like overdriven tones.
The amp tones I like come from brighter tube amps and SS heads that overdrive nicely, and I haven't found anything better than Darkglass for those tones for me. And they sound great stacked.
It used to be the VMT/B3K, then the Tech21 Oxford/Alpha-Omega now it's the X/Alpha-Omega

I doubt anyone would go "sounds like pedals" to these tones.
VMT/B3K:


Oxford/Alpha-Omega(The Alpha Omega is pulling most of the weight of the dirt here, where I'm mostly using the Oxford as an eq before it)
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Lastly, the X into Alpha-Omega, with 2 year old Hi Beams:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Love these! Musically and tonally.

I think I like the X7/Omega the most a poopie over the Oxford/Omega

 

[FaithNoMan]

Love these! Musically and tonally.

I think I like the X7/Omega the most a poopie over the Oxford/Omega

Thanks! That’s just an X and A/O. Btw- I’m getting even better recorded tones with it now. Someone didn’t realize their mastering track had a multiband comp on it and were only compressing the very lowest band

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

Of the two, I prefer the X7. I find every sound I like from the X7 I can get just as well and more easily from the X, but of course YMMV on that.

 

[sunbeast]

By more natural, I’m not meaning that it doesn’t change tone at all, more that it’s not a chalk and cheese change.



How do you find the AO run into the X7? Was thinking of the X7 always on for a touch of grit, and smack that around with an AO

I personally can't speak to any of these pedals as distortions that I turn on or off, I've used all my DG pedals as preamps that I leave on all the time...
I actually haven't tried alot of stacking them- my plan when I picked up the X7 was to keep one of them, so I really had no plans to stack, then I just ended up liking them both too much in different ways (now my X7 is out of commission while they figure out an update to an issue the early ones had). The versatility of the X7 is endless, and being able to compress the Low band separately and to taste really opens up a ton of cool tones from Motown to Modern. I find the EQ to be necessary to really get the best grindy/bright tones too, but haven't tried the regular X to compare. The AO has a few very particular baked-in tones that you can tweak, but which are some of the most organic aggressive tones out of the box I've heard- they really did a good job of nailing a "produced" sounding tone with minimal tweaking.

 

[tonymcbony]

Thanks! That’s just an X and A/O. Btw- I’m getting even better recorded tones with it now. Someone didn’t realize their mastering track had a multiband comp on it and were only compressing the very lowest band

Nice! Not sure how I triggered the word filter to make such an awesome sentence but there you go.

Is it an X7 and an Omega?

 

[FaithNoMan]

Nice! Not sure how I triggered the word filter to make such an awesome sentence but there you go.

Is it an X7 and an Omega?

It’s just the regular X with Alpha Omega.

The word filter, like the one on your phone? My phone is intent on making me say inappropriate sentences.

 

[keatz]

I think they sound perfectly natural.
I use an Alpha-Omega as my main tone, with an X out front to sharpen up the edge.

Too many folks hear an active bass using a "metal" tone and think that's all they can do. That's my opinion, at least.
The whole reason I use Darkglass is because of the amp-like overdriven tones.
The amp tones I like come from brighter tube amps and SS heads that overdrive nicely, and I haven't found anything better than Darkglass for those tones for me. And they sound great stacked.
It used to be the VMT/B3K, then the Tech21 Oxford/Alpha-Omega now it's the X/Alpha-Omega

I doubt anyone would go "sounds like pedals" to these tones.
VMT/B3K:


Oxford/Alpha-Omega(The Alpha Omega is pulling most of the weight of the dirt here, where I'm mostly using the Oxford as an eq before it)
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Lastly, the X into Alpha-Omega, with 2 year old Hi Beams:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Im going to be Mr unpopular here but my favorite is the oxford/ao, then vmt/b3k, then x/ao.......but then again I do play and love an orange terror bass so maybe it just has that flavour I dig.

 

[FaithNoMan]

Im going to be Mr unpopular here but my favorite is the oxford/ao, then vmt/b3k, then x/ao.......but then again I do play and love an orange terror bass so maybe it just has that flavour I dig.

I got a really mean tone with the Oxford and Alpha Omega But it’s a sloppy clip(I think it’s named “sloppy clanky clip” on my Soundcloud).
But yes, those two paired well.(Oxford and Alpha Omega).
I liked the VMT/B3K one as well.

I can now remember what amp I used on each as well.
VMT/B3K was my GK800RB
Oxford/AO was my SS Peavey head.
And the X/AO one was my Mesa Bass 400 at a relatively low volume.
All the amps were clean tone.

All though an Eden 210T

 

[Crystalman85]

The alpha omnicron would be a good choice for a heavy grind. if you want more of a warm heavy sound, the vintage series(like the vintage microtubes or the vintage deluxe) would be right up your alley.

 

[mb94952]

I think they sound perfectly natural.
I use an Alpha-Omega as my main tone, with an X out front to sharpen up the edge.

Too many folks hear an active bass using a "metal" tone and think that's all they can do. That's my opinion, at least.
The whole reason I use Darkglass is because of the amp-like overdriven tones.
The amp tones I like come from brighter tube amps and SS heads that overdrive nicely, and I haven't found anything better than Darkglass for those tones for me. And they sound great stacked.
It used to be the VMT/B3K, then the Tech21 Oxford/Alpha-Omega now it's the X/Alpha-Omega

I doubt anyone would go "sounds like pedals" to these tones.
VMT/B3K:


Oxford/Alpha-Omega(The Alpha Omega is pulling most of the weight of the dirt here, where I'm mostly using the Oxford as an eq before it)
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Lastly, the X into Alpha-Omega, with 2 year old Hi Beams:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

THANKS for making this HELPFUL post 'Man !