Thanks for the replies so far! Anyone else have any comments to share? I know this thread is now 109 pages long, but it doesn't hurt to have more info.
OK, you asked for it. Grab a beer and sit down....
I'm pretty sure I've said this (in this thread) already, but I have had the Noble since July. I was not expecting a huge difference in tone. Although expensive, it was a low-risk buy as I could have sold it for the full price in a few days. I'm usually on iem but do use an amp occasionally. I always thought my tone was pretty good in my iem and have always had pretty decent basses (Sadowsky, Lakland, and now Dingwall SJ). I was absolutely blown away the first show I did with the Noble. My drummer and guitar/fiddle player are both studio engineers and are also on iem. We all looked at each other with smiles. It has been the best bass tone any of us have heard in iem. These 2 guys have also headlined arena shows.
Being a soundtech myself, I usually ask the foh guys how my bass sounds if whether or not they need to do much EQing or compressing. Running it flat with no compression has been the unanimous answer since July. One of them is probably the best FOH engineer in these parts and has worked with some "bands you've heard of". He has mixed me on some major festival stages, some country fairs, theatres and smaller halls. He said this is the best my bass has ever sounded.
My settings... HPF: engaged, Bass: 1:30, Treble:10:30
I have also used it in the input of my Bergantino B|AMP as well as in the Effects Return, powering a Fearless F112. I have used it on country and rock shows. For the rock band, I have several pedals in front of it including Broughton Synth Voice (Octaver), Terraformer (OD), MBD-1 (OD/Distortion), APEX (Compressor).
I barely use compression, only to keep loudest notes in check if I get carried away, and to add sustain on ballads. I have never boosted the bass on my amps. I like big, but most importantly, definition. The Dingwall has lots of (musical) mids when ran flat. That's how I've been using it. I'll cut the treble or mids a little when needed on the onboard Glockenglang pre. I used to play more with the onboard EQ, but since getting the Noble, boosting the bass and treble a bit sounds great. Lots of tubey sounding bass, and never muddy.
I've only been in the studio twice since getting the Noble and both times, I turn off the HPF and slightly boosted the bass and treble, maybe around 9:00. One of the engineer asked if I had a compressor on it. I didn't. He was blown away with the tone. I haven't heard a rough or final mix yet (they are still working on it). The second engineer said the rough mix sounds perfect with the bass totally untouched.
All that to say, I ended keeping it. It's not going anywhere. If my board was to get stolen/destroyed, it would likely be the first piece I would replace.
The 9V outputs have been powering the rest of my pedals, actually, 10 of them! And Jack was awesome to deal with!
One last thing - we were on a festival bill with Jason Isbell last summer. I watched his show from out front but our guitar player was hanging with Jimbo Hart before and after the show. His bass tone was massive, yet you could still make out every note (wicked player too!). My guitar player was hanging out with Jimbo before and after the show and I texted him to ask about his Noble. He sent me his settings and said he absolutely loved the preamp.
Hope this was somewhat useful.
..
!
