interesting comparison between my VOX NuTube hybrid & USB-interface

[Killed_by_Death]

I've had my VOX a few years now & I really love it:

VX50BA

• Killed_by_Death
• Oct 31, 2018
• 3
• vox

There's been an Ibanez Mikro bass in the house for a long while now, & I've always plugged it directly into the amp, but today I plugged it into my PC through a USB-interface.

Here's the thing about playing bass through my PC, it's more transparent than the amp, because there's zero processing, I just turn on the Mic as so:

^Listen to this device

Over the Bose speakers my SR1800E sounds fan-bloody-tastic!
It's as if you can 'hear the wood', makes me think of the Himalayan throat-singers, there's more than once voice at once. The extra voice is 'throaty', like a Himalayan throat-singer.

Plugged in the Mikro this way for the first time yesterday & with the Gain up all the way it's distorted, undefined. It clears up by dialing the Gain back a little, but the throatiness is gone.

So, I've revised my original opinion about Ibanez's Dynamix pickups. They're OK, but they're just not great. However, for the price-point, they're damn good.

BTW, I usually play my VOX with the integral compressor turned OFF, but it seems to me there's some 'natural compression' or something that's helping the Mikro sound better than it actually is, any thoughts?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

When I realized the difference between Ibanez pickups and others is when I got my SR1200L with Nordy's. The difference is night and day. But the Mikro is still a lot of fun. Might swap out the pickups one day, then again maybe not. It's an economy bass and good for what it is.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

My dilemma throughout instrument ownership is not being able to amalgamate them all into The ONE!
I'd love to have the short scale of the Mikro with Big-Singles loaded in it.
Yeah, I could get close, maybe even with a DiMarzio P/J set, but nothing growls like those Big-Singles!

 

[Treblefree]

I am one who changed theirs out pretty shortly after buying it. I found them to be undefined or somewhat muddy compared to my other basses with a very fine line between growling and distortion. They weren't terrible or anything, just not defined as you said. And I always wanted to try out a pair of Aguilar pickups so I changed them.

I've had professionals tell me they like my Mikro bass tone the best (I play in church every week and rotate all 4 of my basses).

 

[rudy4444]

I've had my VOX a few years now & I really love it:

VX50BA

• Killed_by_Death
• Oct 31, 2018
• 3
• vox

There's been an Ibanez Mikro bass in the house for a long while now, & I've always plugged it directly into the amp, but today I plugged it into my PC through a USB-interface.

Here's the thing about playing bass through my PC, it's more transparent than the amp, because there's zero processing, I just turn on the Mic as so:

View attachment 3983961

^Listen to this device

Over the Bose speakers my SR1800E sounds fan-bloody-tastic!
It's as if you can 'hear the wood', makes me think of the Himalayan throat-singers, there's more than once voice at once. The extra voice is 'throaty', like a Himalayan throat-singer.

Plugged in the Mikro this way for the first time yesterday & with the Gain up all the way it's distorted, undefined. It clears up by dialing the Gain back a little, but the throatiness is gone.

So, I've revised my original opinion about Ibanez's Dynamix pickups. They're OK, but they're just not great. However, for the price-point, they're damn good.

BTW, I usually play my VOX with the integral compressor turned OFF, but it seems to me there's some 'natural compression' or something that's helping the Mikro sound better than it actually is, any thoughts?

You're probably hearing whatever VOX incorporated into what they call "Nutube" circuitry. Tube amps by nature have at least a small amount of natural compression, so that's probably baked into the Nutube circuitry.

 

[Killing Floor]

My dilemma throughout instrument ownership is not being able to amalgamate them all into The ONE!
I'd love to have the short scale of the Mikro with Big-Singles loaded in it.
Yeah, I could get close, maybe even with a DiMarzio P/J set, but nothing growls like those Big-Singles!

What you are describing sounds like GAS.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Right now I'm closer to selling it all than I am to buying anything else.
Actually, not just right now, it's a constant feeling for me for a few years.

 

[Bass Man Stan]

I don't play my mikrobass that often but I do play my tmb30 everyday with the same pickups. It's growl comes with some dirt and a little mud. Spending more on replacement pickups than the bass cost new is hard.
You could switch to playing fast punk with a pick.
Pickups, heck even your bass makes less of a difference . I never really liked punk, but last week the band wanted to play Iggy Pops wild child. Takes 5 minutes to learn and is really fun to let go and get down and dirty. Everyone had fun and big smiles. Big smiles are in short supply in California and so is breathable air.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

There is no switching, I play Motörhead with a V-Pick:

V-Pick Dimension

• Killed_by_Death
• Jul 1, 2019
• vinnie

but only because I hated the Dunlop Lemmy signature picks, which really riled up JimmyM.
Luckily there's no one around to complain about my dislike for them now.

 

[Bass Man Stan]

I've never seen a vee pick before, might have to check them out.

 

[silky smoove]

Over the Bose speakers my SR1800E sounds fan-bloody-tastic!

The baked-in EQ found in most Bose products might be something to consider here. None of their products that I’ve ever seen (I’m not a Bose expert mind you) have all had some pretty heavy coloration as part of their “look how much full sound comes out of this little box” thing. That particular EQ curve might be just the thing for you if you can reverse engineer it and then apply it to whatever you’re playing through when you want that tone.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that, always assumed Bose were flat-response. When I got the Bose home I compared them to my TV soundbar, that Katy Perry song with the big BASS & TBH I couldn't tell them apart in a blind test.



Oh my, that Cleopatra outfit is the bee's knees!

 

[silky smoove]

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that, always assumed Bose were flat-response.

Yours very well might be, or at least close to it since there are very few truly flat-response speakers out there. Even high end studio monitors that claim to be flat are very rarely actually flat, but rather "flat enough." Bose makes a wide range of products. That said, there is a phenomenon in audio engineering circles (specifically the recording studio side of things where I work) called "Bose EQ" which is categorized by a steep high pass of low frequencies, a narrow Q rising midbass response, a VERY wide and gentle midrange EQ cut, a reasonably narrow Q rising response at the very top end of the upper midrange (beyond where it sounds nasal and harsh), followed by a gentle low pass up top. I can't imagine that they bake this sort of thing into all of their products, and you may very well have one such product. It is, however, common enough to become somewhat ubiquitous in terms of audio discussions of their products in the studio world.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Now I want to tear them apart & see if there's any sorcery going on before the signal gets to the speakers.
(besides the obvious volume-knob & headphone-jack)

 

[micguy]

There's been an Ibanez Mikro bass in the house for a long while now, & I've always plugged it directly into the amp, but today I plugged it into my PC through a USB-interface.

Over the Bose speakers my SR1800E sounds fan-bloody-tastic!
Plugged in the Mikro this way for the first time yesterday & with the Gain up all the way it's distorted, undefined. It clears up by dialing the Gain back a little, but the throatiness is gone.

If I'm reading this right, you're plugging 2 basses into your pc, and one sounds better. The input on your PC, if it's not high enough impedance (it most likely isn't anywhere near the right value), will load the passive Mikro A LOT, but not the active 1800. It's very likely that what you're hearing has MUCH more to do with the buffered, lower output impedance of the active bass than it does with the pickups in either bass.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I play my SR1800E in passive mode 99% of the time, including when I plug into the PC.

 

[micguy]

I play my SR1800E in passive mode 99% of the time, including when I plug into the PC.

I suggest you try it in active for that - it may work much better.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

SR1800E sounds more like the Mikro when it's active, it overdrives the input & becomes undefined, if you don't back down the Gain.
I guess that would preclude using AmpliTube if I want O/D.

 

[DJ Bebop]

The baked-in EQ found in most Bose products might be something to consider here. None of their products that I’ve ever seen (I’m not a Bose expert mind you) have all had some pretty heavy coloration as part of their “look how much full sound comes out of this little box” thing. That particular EQ curve might be just the thing for you if you can reverse engineer it and then apply it to whatever you’re playing through when you want that tone.

“No highs, no lows, must be Bose."

 

[BAG]

I play my SR1800E in passive mode 99% of the time, including when I plug into the PC.

Does yours have a tone pot in passive mode?
My SR1200 has a passive mode but no tone adjustment when in that mode. I've found passive has much more top end than in active, even when the active EQ is set flat so if I switch to passive i'd have to play around with the amp quite a bit to get the sound where I want it. Still handy to have if the battery ever dies at a gig.