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DSMnoisemaker & Humboldt Electronics Simplifier Bass Station

#181
How sturdy/roadworthy is the Simplifier Bass Station? Anyone have any tales for this unit?

I briefly owned a DSM OmniCabSim Deluxe and unfortunately, the 9-volt inside was able to flop around and it took dislodged a few capacitors from the board they were fixed to... a real letdown. I wish it had a clip or some sort of device to lock down the battery. I wasn't impressed.

I watched this Simplifier video on YouTube... at 1:15 when the hand adjusts the mic position knob, the knob jiggles around like a loose tooth. Maybe it was just a freak occurrence... but after my OCSD experience, I wonder.




mezatron said:
Since this thread is a bit older at this point, I was wondering how everyone feels about it now that they’ve had some experience with it. I bought mine mostly for headphone practice. I know that’s overkill and there are a ton of other options, but I got it for $175 on Reverb and couldn’t pass it up. Anybody figure out any magical formulas? So far, I really like the clean tone a lot. I think the EQ is pretty mild (I use a Sansamp Bass Driver DI as my main preamp) and I like the change but I’m very tepid on the overdrive from the gain knob. Definitely gonna want to mix in a separate OD.
Click to expand...
 
#182
roller said:
How sturdy/roadworthy is the Simplifier Bass Station? Anyone have any tales for this unit?

I briefly owned a DSM OmniCabSim Deluxe and unfortunately, the 9-volt inside was able to flop around and it took dislodged a few capacitors from the board they were fixed to... a real letdown. I wish it had a clip or some sort of device to lock down the battery. I wasn't impressed.

I watched this Simplifier video on YouTube... at 1:15 when the hand adjusts the mic position knob, the knob jiggles around like a loose tooth. Maybe it was just a freak occurrence... but after my OCSD experience, I wonder.

Click to expand...


That 9v issue is lame. Live and learn though, if you ever see something like that again put some stuffing inside or use tape to keep the battery in place.

I have a few DSM products. All feel very solid, especially the Simplifier; every knob, switch, jack are tight & robust. That’s something I’m picky about too. Pretty sure I could roll it down a staircase with no damage to it.
 
#183
I had 2. One on my pedalboard and the other on a console in studio. I gigged with the one on my pedalboard for a year with no issues. The one in the studio took a nasty fall when a frustrated bassist threw his bass in a couch after the 53rd bad take. (No, it wasn’t me… lol)

The gain knob pot took the brunt of the fall and bent. I was able to bend it back to mostly straight.

I eventually traded a local guy this unit plus a little cash for a SLO MKIIIS… the other one is velcroed to my console…
 
#185
With the Simplifier Bass Station, I want to use a different preamp as well as Simplifier's effects loops and cab sims.

Should I put the "other" preamp in the Simplifier's preamp effects loop, and the bass into the Simplifier's input, while keeping the Simplifier's preamp as flat as possible? (suggestions for the best settings for keeping Simplifier's preamp flat would be appreciated)

Or should I have the Bass plugged into the "other" preamp's input, while plugging the preamp's output into the Simplifier's preamp FX loop Return? (from the block diagram, it seems to me that would bypass not only Simplifier's preamp, but also its Parallel FX Send)

Or should the "other" preamp be in the Parallel FX loop?
 
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#187
macmanlou said:
With the Simplifier Bass Station, I want to use a different preamp as well as Simplifier's effects loops and cab sims.

Should I put the "other" preamp in the Simplifier's preamp effects loop, and the bass into the Simplifier's input, while keeping the Simplifier's preamp as flat as possible? (suggestions for the best settings for keeping Simplifier's preamp flat would be appreciated)

Or should I have the Bass plugged into the "other" preamp's input, while plugging the preamp's output into the Simplifier's preamp FX loop Return? (from the block diagram, it seems to me that would bypass not only Simplifier's preamp, but also its Parallel FX Send)

Or should the "other" preamp be in the Parallel FX loop?
Click to expand...

I’m not sure you can just use the cab sims, other than by setting the EQ flat and engaging the cab sims.

I haven’t explored the routing options. There may be some form of settings or routing that separates the EQ section from the cab sims. If so, have a listen for what sounds flat. Probably at the center detents.

Ultimately the cab sims are a form of EQ, so it seems to me that once you get your desired sound output it makes no difference whether you used cab sim switches, blend, drive, or regular bass/mid/treble EQ - or a combination like most do - to get that sound.
 
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#189
amper said:
The only way to use just the cab sims is to plug into the FX loop return, which bypasses the preamp section.
Click to expand...

That also bypasses the Parallel loop as well, no?
SimplifierBlock.jpg
 
#191
amper said:
The Parallel loop is completely separate from the preamp of the Simplifier. It's simply a fork of the input, before the preamp stage, that can be blended into the cabsim, or taken straight out.
Click to expand...

Yes, so if the "other" preamp is only plugged into the Preamp FX Return, it looks like the fork to the Parallel Send is bypassed as well as the Simplifier's preamp. Correct?
 
#193
amper said:
Yes, very much so.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I appreciate your help with this.

To use both FX loops as well as the cab sims, I'll either use the "other" preamp before the Simplifier's Input, or I'll put it in the Preamp (Main) FX loop.

The SVT uses a James or Baxandall type tone stack, so finding flat-ish settings for the Simplifier's preamp shouldn't be too difficult.
 
#194
Can anyone tell me, when using the 500hz lpf, is the signal going to the preamp only 500hz and up? That would make the overdrive more smooth and gritty. Or, is the preamp signal still full range but, with the option of blending in more of the low passed signal? Thanks!
 

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