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DSMnoisemaker & Humboldt Electronics Simplifier Bass Station

#161
WhoopingHonky said:
Less, but still noticeable on my unit. I had actually taken it off my board entirely, but just recently got a USB rechargeable headphone amp, and run the DI out of the Simplifier into it. It is another piece of kit, but it only cost about $30, and the DI out on the Simplifier is dead silent. I think the other features of it are worth the price tag even without the headphone amp involved.
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Could you share more info on the headphone amp? Sounds interesting!
 
#163
AxelF said:
I had the OmniCabSim a while ago - it was a good bit of kit but had to get rid of it as the headphone amp was just far too noisy to use for IEMs. What's the noise like on the Simplifier?
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At any volume I can pshysically stand, mine's quiet in the 'phones.

Maxing the volume, there's obvious hiss but at a frequency not as terribly irritating as most. Power filter might clean some of that up, but I think it's predominantly in the preamp (same with bass plugged into the unit or not).

Again, this is at head-cracking volume using over-the-ear mid-level 'phones.
 
#171
@Dsmnoisemaker Resurrecting this old thread but I just picked one of these up. So far, I'm impressed. Can you tell me anything about why mine has the bass and treble knobs reversed from what I've seen online? At first, I thought it was messed up when I was tweaking the knobs but then I looked at the label and figured it out. Were these a specific year or country release?
 

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#172
mezatron said:
@Dsmnoisemaker Resurrecting this old thread but I just picked one of these up. So far, I'm impressed. Can you tell me anything about why mine has the bass and treble knobs reversed from what I've seen online? At first, I thought it was messed up when I was tweaking the knobs but then I looked at the label and figured it out. Were these a specific year or country release?
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Just had a look at mine - seems the same. Never really thought about it, but it does now seem a little unconventional having the EQ ‘reversed’.
Mind you, I use a Marshall VBA400, which is laid out the same way…..

I got the Simplifier really early after it was released, so maybe there have been revisions since?
 

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#174
mezatron said:
@Dsmnoisemaker Resurrecting this old thread but I just picked one of these up. So far, I'm impressed. Can you tell me anything about why mine has the bass and treble knobs reversed from what I've seen online? At first, I thought it was messed up when I was tweaking the knobs but then I looked at the label and figured it out. Were these a specific year or country release?
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Mine’s same as yours, and the others who’ve posted. The differing version you’ve seen online may be a computer rendering, or possibly a prototype.
 
#175
StayLow said:
Mine’s same as yours, and the others who’ve posted. The differing version you’ve seen online may be a computer rendering, or possibly a prototype.
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I think you are right. Earlier in this thread, there was a photo of one and that’s what I was basing it off of.

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.

Also, I agave two basses I want to run through it. A MIM passive Fender Jazz bass and an active Schecter Session T. For some reason, the Jazz bass has a very loud hum/buzz that only goes away when I’m physically touching the metal in the unit or cable. Meanwhile, the Schecter is super clean with no hum. Anyone have any issues like this with their unit?
 
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#176
mezatron said:
I think you are right. Earlier in this thread, there was a photo of one and that’s what I was basing it off of.

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.

Also, I agave two basses I want to run through it. A MIM passive Fender Jazz bass and an active Schecter Session T. For some reason, the Jazz bass has a very loud hum/buzz that only goes away when I’m physically touching the metal in the unit or cable. Meanwhile, the Schecter is super clean with no hum. Anyone have any issues like this with their unit?
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Love it. Fantastic piece of gear. Wish there were a simplified pedal version of the Station / Simplifier.

You’ve got a grounding issue on that passive bass. Does it also go away when you’re touching the strings? Great tutorials to troubleshoot and fix it exist, just search here and online on obvious terms like “eliminate jazz bass hum”.
 
#177
StayLow said:
Love it. Fantastic piece of gear. Wish there were a simplified pedal version of the Station / Simplifier.

You’ve got a grounding issue on that passive bass. Does it also go away when you’re touching the strings? Great tutorials to troubleshoot and fix it exist, just search here and online on obvious terms like “eliminate jazz bass hum”.
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interesting. I’ve owned this bass since 2004 and never had an issue with hum until I plugged it in to the Simplifier. Thanks for the advice, I’ll be sure to check it out
 
#178
@StayLow So I was doing some research and I think I found the culprit! I have Black Beauties that are coated on my Jazz bass. I don’t have other strings to test but I thinking that my amp is already kinda noisy so I never noticed it but with the Simplifier, it’s totally noticeable. Thoughts?
 
#180
mezatron said:
@StayLow So I was doing some research and I think I found the culprit! I have Black Beauties that are coated on my Jazz bass. I don’t have other strings to test but I thinking that my amp is already kinda noisy so I never noticed it but with the Simplifier, it’s totally noticeable. Thoughts?
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Yep, makes sense. If you love the strings, grounding & shielding can help (or more of it), or maxing volume of on both pickups.
 

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