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Noble Amps Preamp
- Thread starter IanMartinAllison
- Start date
I'm pretty sure one of those pre/di comparison threads had something. May your google fu serve you well. 
I’m enjoying my Noble throughly! I know the power supply isn’t isolated but I find it quiet enough for live/studio use. I’m transitioning to an IEM setup now, and I think I’m quite content on how it sounds like through my chi-fi IEM.
I mainly use a Jazz bass with SS strings on the Noble, and I’m mostly on 9:00 on treble, and at 11:00 on bass. I feel like the hpf cuts out too much of the low end for 5 string basses specially on the lower registers, thus making it a little useless. Overall just the right amount of grit, humongous yet defined bottom end, and that sweet high end!
I mainly use a Jazz bass with SS strings on the Noble, and I’m mostly on 9:00 on treble, and at 11:00 on bass. I feel like the hpf cuts out too much of the low end for 5 string basses specially on the lower registers, thus making it a little useless. Overall just the right amount of grit, humongous yet defined bottom end, and that sweet high end!
I love the Noble with my 5 string jazz. I tend to use the HPF but then wind the Bass up to 12-1. I find it’s still fat but doesn’t seem to get in the kick drums way.
Cheers
Ben
Got my Noble Preamp last week. It shipped a few days before the 12 week mark, as promised. I've been playing around with it at home since this past weekend was the first one I didn't have a show since May. I've been running it through the effects return of my B|AMP into a Fearless F112. I think I've settled on the following settings: HPF:ON, Bass: 1:00, Treble: 10:30. My Dingwall has quite a bit of mids so this is working (for now). I also have a few Broughton pedals. The SV-Pre is set to fatten things up for slower country tunes. I find that I barely need compression with the Noble. It also powers all of the pedals, including the Shure wireless. The little grey box in the bottom right corner is a volume. I roll it back a little and click it on when going to series mode on the Dingwall so the volume is consistent with the parallel (or neck) mode.
I was debating using Velcro to mount the Noble on my board but opted to keep it clean and used these little links I bought when I got a Fractal AX8 (sold it). I find they keep bigger pedals in place more securely and doesn't gunk up the pedal. I just ran the 4 corner screws through the links and screwed them on my pedalboard. I made short jumper cables using SP-400/mogami which will keep things really tidy once I get a smaller board. This one is 26x18 but looking at a 20x12 which will be much cleaner. We're headlining a Ribfest with an up and coming country artist tonight. Turns out the soundtech is a good buddy of mine and running a pretty big p.a. I will get honest feedback on my tone. I will be running iem with my SQ6 and can't wait to hear the tone through my iem. Can't wait to hear the Noble live.
I was debating using Velcro to mount the Noble on my board but opted to keep it clean and used these little links I bought when I got a Fractal AX8 (sold it). I find they keep bigger pedals in place more securely and doesn't gunk up the pedal. I just ran the 4 corner screws through the links and screwed them on my pedalboard. I made short jumper cables using SP-400/mogami which will keep things really tidy once I get a smaller board. This one is 26x18 but looking at a 20x12 which will be much cleaner. We're headlining a Ribfest with an up and coming country artist tonight. Turns out the soundtech is a good buddy of mine and running a pretty big p.a. I will get honest feedback on my tone. I will be running iem with my SQ6 and can't wait to hear the tone through my iem. Can't wait to hear the Noble live.
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I used the pedalboard above with Noble for the first time on a festival stage on Friday night. As we do for most festivals, I bring my Allen & Heath SQ6 to control iem for 4 of us in the band while the production company controls FOH and wedges for 2 guitarists. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical as to how much difference the Noble would make. I plugged it in at home via the input of my B|AMP, then via the FX return and through a Fearless F112. I could tell it made a difference, but not exactly what I expected. Now my basement is not the best sounding for bass.
So Friday night.... From the first note I heard in my iem, I was floored! Never have I had a piece of gear make that much of a difference. My drummer and fiddle/guitar player are both studio guys and have really good ears. They are also on iem. They looked at me and went "wow!". For reference, I have been on iem since 2003. I have always used good buds, first UE7 and now JH13v2. For years, my 2 main basses were Lakland and Sadowsky and sounded pretty friggin' good. I now play a Dingwall SJ5. I have gone through VT Bass, Darkglass, fea Labs, Fractal Audio, and now all Broughton, and always get really good comments on my tone. When I told my bandmates I had the Noble coming, they were wondering how my tone could get better. Well... it did!
This weekend, the Noble blew me away. I engaged the HPF and set the bass at about 1:00 and treble around 11:00. The result was full, fat with zero mud. The higher strings sounded fuller, yet the lower strings were clear and not boomy or overwhelming. The sound engineer was also very happy. He said my strip was flat, which rarely happens. His words were "I unleashed your bass. It sounded great!"
Bonus: it powered all my pedals as well as the Shure GLXD-16 without a problem. Now I can remove the Shure transformer from the board.
For those of you on the fence, especially those using iem, do not hesitate. Jump in with both feet. This little box is the cat's meow. I can't wait to use it again. Glad I have more shows and festivals every weekend until early October.
Thanks Jack and everyone who had a hand in designing the Noble Preamp/DI. You hit it out of the park!
R
So Friday night.... From the first note I heard in my iem, I was floored! Never have I had a piece of gear make that much of a difference. My drummer and fiddle/guitar player are both studio guys and have really good ears. They are also on iem. They looked at me and went "wow!". For reference, I have been on iem since 2003. I have always used good buds, first UE7 and now JH13v2. For years, my 2 main basses were Lakland and Sadowsky and sounded pretty friggin' good. I now play a Dingwall SJ5. I have gone through VT Bass, Darkglass, fea Labs, Fractal Audio, and now all Broughton, and always get really good comments on my tone. When I told my bandmates I had the Noble coming, they were wondering how my tone could get better. Well... it did!
This weekend, the Noble blew me away. I engaged the HPF and set the bass at about 1:00 and treble around 11:00. The result was full, fat with zero mud. The higher strings sounded fuller, yet the lower strings were clear and not boomy or overwhelming. The sound engineer was also very happy. He said my strip was flat, which rarely happens. His words were "I unleashed your bass. It sounded great!"
Bonus: it powered all my pedals as well as the Shure GLXD-16 without a problem. Now I can remove the Shure transformer from the board.
For those of you on the fence, especially those using iem, do not hesitate. Jump in with both feet. This little box is the cat's meow. I can't wait to use it again. Glad I have more shows and festivals every weekend until early October.
Thanks Jack and everyone who had a hand in designing the Noble Preamp/DI. You hit it out of the park!
R
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I also had my first Noble with IEM Friday. We played three sets. To A/B the difference I played the sets with different monitor set up. First set was with my regular amp and floor monitors, this is my usual set up so nothing special. Second set with IEMs and amp still pushing volume, and I was smiling the entire time cause I could hear the entire band like nothing before. I’m sold already by the 2nd set. 3rd set was played like the 2nd set but with one mistake. I didn’t notice till the end of the set that the amp is on mute the ENTIRE time!! That’s the brilliant thing about the Noble, and what sold me to it. I didn’t notice the difference between my amp tone and my IEM tone! It’s essentially a tone capsule for every rig you play.
I also am using CCA C10’s which I think worth more than its $40 retail price. Great set of IEMs for cheap!
It powers 6 of my pedals, Line6 G30 > PolyTune > Cog T-16 > Aftershock > Cali76 CB 18v > MS-60B. Which to be honest was quite convenient!
Here’s a photo of my noble rig:
I also am using CCA C10’s which I think worth more than its $40 retail price. Great set of IEMs for cheap!
It powers 6 of my pedals, Line6 G30 > PolyTune > Cog T-16 > Aftershock > Cali76 CB 18v > MS-60B. Which to be honest was quite convenient!
Here’s a photo of my noble rig:
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I really like the combination of the Cali76 CB and the Noble. To be sure, the Noble is great by itself, but the Cali76 CB adds something very sweet to the mix. I use my Cali76 CB in a pretty light, parallel (aka New York comp) mode.
Agreed!
The only “always on” boxes on my board are the Cali76 CB and the Noble. And I use the Cali76 with about a 50/50 blend of compressed and dry signal and the HPF (on the Cali76) about halfway up, so it doesn’t hit the low end too hard.
Sweet combo indeed!
Jon — what does the Cali76 CB do for you that is not immediately provided by the Noble itself?
Parallel compression. It’s subtle, but it just helps even out my dynamics without losing all the transients. I’m doing mostly musical theatre pit gigs these days, and keeping my levels consistent throughout the show is desirable.
To be honest, I’ve never really tried that type of gig without the compressor, so who knows... maybe the Noble CAN do all the heavy lifting on its own.
I played a gig with the noble going into the input of a EA doubler head. I had the noble volume on about 11 and the head was clipping alot and the sound was quite distorted...
How should I setup the volumes when playing like this? Noble quieter and the head louder or something else?
How should I setup the volumes when playing like this? Noble quieter and the head louder or something else?
I would offer a brand new REddi in the box purchased this month and cash for a Noble if anyone is interested.
It's about setting your gain stage properly. I used the Noble into my Bergantino B|AMP input this weekend as the backline for a fair where I was running sound. I had the volume on the Noble at noon and set the gain on the amp for every bass player and then turned up the volume (on the amp) to taste. If you were overloading your Doubler, I would simply turn down the volume on the Noble. I had the iAmp800 before and if I remember correctly, there was also a "Gain" control. Just make sure to set it where your loudest note makes the clip light come on and back it up a little. Should be extremely clean if you set the gain correctly.
Hope this helps.
R
Don't plug the Noble directly into the EA instrument jack. Plug it into the Effects In jack. that will bypass the EA's preamp and let you use the Noble to control output. Much better that way to gain full advantage of the tubes etc. in the Noble.
Further to post above, I rented out my bass rig as backline for this small town fair on Saturday and Sunday (5 bands each day). I wasn't too worried as I was there running sound and I knew most of the players. I was able to keep an eye on things. I had the B|AMP powering a Fearless F112. I was debating whether or not setting up my pedalboard as I have about $4K (Cdn) on there (mostly Broughton), but I really wanted to hear the Noble through my Danley p.a. I am so glad I set it up.
I mixed a variety of basses, '60s P-bass with flats, Dingwall SP, Fender Jazz deluxe, '77 P-bass (converted to PJ), Gibson EB-1. I also ended backing up an acoustic act with my Dingwall SJ5. WOW is all I have to say. I had the HPF engaged, bass around noon and treble around 11:00 on the Noble. Nobody touched a thing on the amp (flat). I had the bass strip completely flat and no HPF on the mixing desk and they all sounded fabulous. Most of the bass players took note of the Noble, some wrote down the name and will be looking into them.
I must say, I was a bit skeptical when I ordered it back in May. When it arrived, I was still unsure after I plugged it in at home. But from the first note on a festival stage using IEM, I knew it was the best bass tone I had ever had. I also used it on a couple more festivals in front of a TC Electronics backline and same thing. 3 FOH guys so far have told me my bass strip was completely flat in FOH.
I had to give it a good cleaning yesterday (country fair dust), but I don't think I'll ever see myself getting rid of that little magical black box. Thanks Jack!
I mixed a variety of basses, '60s P-bass with flats, Dingwall SP, Fender Jazz deluxe, '77 P-bass (converted to PJ), Gibson EB-1. I also ended backing up an acoustic act with my Dingwall SJ5. WOW is all I have to say. I had the HPF engaged, bass around noon and treble around 11:00 on the Noble. Nobody touched a thing on the amp (flat). I had the bass strip completely flat and no HPF on the mixing desk and they all sounded fabulous. Most of the bass players took note of the Noble, some wrote down the name and will be looking into them.
I must say, I was a bit skeptical when I ordered it back in May. When it arrived, I was still unsure after I plugged it in at home. But from the first note on a festival stage using IEM, I knew it was the best bass tone I had ever had. I also used it on a couple more festivals in front of a TC Electronics backline and same thing. 3 FOH guys so far have told me my bass strip was completely flat in FOH.
I had to give it a good cleaning yesterday (country fair dust), but I don't think I'll ever see myself getting rid of that little magical black box. Thanks Jack!
Correct. Good point. But I would try it both ways. I assumed since the OP is using a Doubler that he might be playing upright also. In that case, it might be good to go through the input of the AMP to provide more flexibility (ie. EQ for feedback). I ran mine in the input of the B|AMP this past weekend so guests could have access to the EQ, but when I'm using it, I prefer it directly into the FX return, even if the B|AMP is pretty transparent with all controls at "0".
Looking for that consistency, too. I just bought a WD-800 and a Subway 2x10 and am trying to use my Noble as the preamp and get the same tone as I get from the DI. If I go Noble directly in the return, the sound is pretty close to the Noble-as-DI sound that I know and love, but there is a hardness in popped notes, for example, in the upper mids, especially on-axis. They bark in a way I don't dig. If I bypass Noble, and go in the WD-800, I really don't like the "flat" sound of the WD preamp. It barks like a MF—even worse than Noble-into-FX-Return.
Interestingly, I can get a great sound just through the WD alone by turning EQ knobs and getting creative, and the cab sounds amazing in this way. But it's as though I have to re-voice or "correct" the cab by cutting a little mid EQ with the WD in order to pave the way for the Noble tone to come through. I wonder if you hear the same thing, although I don't know what you're using for cabs. Ideally, I'd want a setup that simply passes Noble tone and little else.
I'm beginning to suspect this 2x10 isn't voiced in a way that I want, and that the WD-800 is also more mid-forward than I like. Still experimenting during my 7-day return period.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,963
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- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
