I've had enough time with the DiVision to confidently say that it is a fine product. You can't beat the form factor, that's for sure. It will easily fit on almost any pedal board. It is also powered by 9 volt center negative pin and 350ma minimum making it easy to power with most pedal board power supplies. Yes, it does sound tubey with its small Nuvistor tube.
I love devices that have polarity switches because I can hear a difference between the two positions. Depending on the bass, one or the other position always sounds better to my ear. I realize this isn't the intended use of the feature but to me one position will always have more "air" and "heft" for lack of any other way to describe it.
The box is very quiet. Honestly, it provides enough color that you could pretty much just connect bass to it and connect it via XLR to FOH and be good to go. It isn't wooly or muddy at all. I'd describe it as articulate but with more fullness and warmth — what you want in a good DI as the foundation for your sound transmitted to the board.
The Vision circuit is interesting. Don't think of it like a shelving EQ. Rather, it is more like a tone control where rotating it fully clockwise adds more "air" to the tone. Mike at Lightning Boy describes it as centered at 10khz which is pretty high. It's like a shimmer effect which is very nice for fingerstyle playing. It isn't an in-your-face dramatic effect but feels nice. With it fully up you get the warmth of the tube but with more articulation and air at the top. Nice.
A very pleasant surprise was when I connected a 2020s between my bass and the DiVision. Wow. Really nice. Not sure the best way to describe it other than just more gooder. More presence might be a way to say it. Let's just say I didn't want to remove the 2020s from the front. Since I have two 2020s devices I added another... which just make it even that much more fun to play through. Maybe warmer (but in a good way) is an appropriate way to put it.
I emailed Mike about my discovery and he responded saying he was hoping people would catch on to that.
Good minds think alike I guess. Since I can see where users might want the DiVision and a 2020s I asked Mike if he might consider a discount for Talkbass members on a DiVision and 2020s bundle and he said yes! So use promo code TBD20S until July 1, 2021 and get both for $400. The Lightning Boy website says only 68 will be made and I believe the 2020s is also a limited run so I imagine he'll sell out pretty quickly. No, I don't get any commission on sales so I have no skin in the game. This is all about cool gear and the Talkbass community. Mike sent me a prototype to test and I must sadly send it back to him soon here.
It's great having the volume dial on a DI, especially with passive basses. While the DiVision isn't really a preamp per se it is actually quite versatile with the volume control and Vision control. It provides a great foundation from which to build on. I love running just bass into compressor into 2020s into DiVision. It is an excellent fundamental. But it works real well with pretty much anything I threw at it placed in front of it.
What might be drawbacks to the DiVision? Honestly, not a whole lot. Well, it isn't a preamp with full EQ controls but that's not what it is intended to be. It might not be the most "tubey" of all tube DI's out there but that little Nuvistor sounds great and this thing is way more pedalboard friendly than most. I'm not sure what would be the closest competitor — it is sort of in a class of its own. Think your inherent bass tone with more body [fundamental], warmth, punch and wider sound scape. I'm quite happy with it.
It is super light weight too. Might actually be one of the lightest devices you'd add to your pedalboard.
Feel free to ask questions... I'll probably share more as I have more time with it but I know people are interested in this one so I thought I'd share quickly.
and now planning a wedding
