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Noble Amps Preamp

#2,321
Ryo0227 said:
Hello.

I have a few questions about Noble Preamp/DI. There are no reviews in Japan, where I live, and I'm hesitant to buy this equipment because it's quite expensive. So, I'd love to get some feedback from people who have already used this preamp.

I don't have a bass amp at home, so I connect my UAD apollo twin to my PC and use headphones to record and practice.
I like the lightly overdriven (compressed) bass sound, so I honestly don't like the clean sound of the DI Box alone...
I'm using Aguilar Tone Hammer with the AGS switch on as the default.
I love the tone of this one. Because I feel like I'm standing in front of a bass amp and monitoring it.
However, it feels like the low end is gone. Sometimes I wonder if there is an amp-like pedal that has the right amount of distortion.

Looking at YouTube and Instagram, I wondered if Noble wasn't a pedal with an easy to understand tonal character like the numerous bass overdrive pedals (or amp simulators).

  • How much distortion do I get when I put the Passive Bass through this Pre/DI?
  • Is there a little bit of saturation when you turn up the EQ or volume knob?
  • Do you think the Noble is a pedal that can create an amp-like tone?



Thanks for reading this one, even though it's long! I'd love to hear from you.
Click to expand...

If you’re looking for saturation. Noble isn’t really the DI for that. Tho warm, it really doesn’t go to the OD territory. I’d recommend the SLO MKIIIS if you want saturation with your tone. It also has Cab sims which could help simulate an amp.

The Tone Hammer is a pretty good DI tho. I’m not sure why you’re losing low end with it, but probably your headphones isn’t the best to reproduce low frequencies?
 
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#2,322
Ryo0227 said:
Hello.

I have a few questions about Noble Preamp/DI. There are no reviews in Japan, where I live, and I'm hesitant to buy this equipment because it's quite expensive. So, I'd love to get some feedback from people who have already used this preamp.

I don't have a bass amp at home, so I connect my UAD apollo twin to my PC and use headphones to record and practice.
I like the lightly overdriven (compressed) bass sound, so I honestly don't like the clean sound of the DI Box alone...
I'm using Aguilar Tone Hammer with the AGS switch on as the default.
I love the tone of this one. Because I feel like I'm standing in front of a bass amp and monitoring it.
However, it feels like the low end is gone. Sometimes I wonder if there is an amp-like pedal that has the right amount of distortion.

Looking at YouTube and Instagram, I wondered if Noble wasn't a pedal with an easy to understand tonal character like the numerous bass overdrive pedals (or amp simulators).

  • How much distortion do I get when I put the Passive Bass through this Pre/DI?
  • Is there a little bit of saturation when you turn up the EQ or volume knob?
  • Do you think the Noble is a pedal that can create an amp-like tone?



Thanks for reading this one, even though it's long! I'd love to hear from you.
Click to expand...


I have owned and used both the Noble and Tone Hammer, as well as some others like the Shiftline Olympic, BDDI, VTDI, etc..

The Noble won’t get you overdrive/saturation, though you will get a nice mellow tube compression running through it. It is about as clean as it gets for a tube pre/DI.

The tonehammer is an amazing box, and I remember well everything you are describing about it.

The Shiftline Olympic could be a great option for you as it can deliver the breakup you want and give a nice and round tube amp-like sound.
 
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#2,323
Infidelity said:
If you’re looking for saturation. Noble isn’t really the DI for that. Tho warm, it really doesn’t go to the OD territory. I’d recommend the SLO MKIIIS if you want saturation with your tone. It also has Cab sims which could help simulate an amp.

The Tone Hammer is a pretty good DI tho. I’m not sure why you’re losing low end with it, but probably your headphones isn’t the best to reproduce low frequencies?
Click to expand...
Infidelity said:
If you’re looking for saturation. Noble isn’t really the DI for that. Tho warm, it really doesn’t go to the OD territory. I’d recommend the SLO MKIIIS if you want saturation with your tone. It also has Cab sims which could help simulate an amp.

The Tone Hammer is a pretty good DI tho. I’m not sure why you’re losing low end with it, but probably your headphones isn’t the best to reproduce low frequencies?
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply. So it's basically clean, even with the TUBE on board. Shift Line Olympic mk III is available in Japan, so I'll try it out! Also, I'm concerned about the AMPEG PF-20T.
 
#2,324
TREYontheBASS said:
I have owned and used both the Noble and Tone Hammer, as well as some others like the Shiftline Olympic, BDDI, VTDI, etc..

The Noble won’t get you overdrive/saturation, though you will get a nice mellow tube compression running through it. It is about as clean as it gets for a tube pre/DI.

The tonehammer is an amazing box, and I remember well everything you are describing about it.

The Shiftline Olympic could be a great option for you as it can deliver the breakup you want and give a nice and round tube amp-like sound.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply. After all, Noble DI is not suitable for me, I thought. I will try to find another pedal. I didn't check out Shift Line Olympic! I can't wait to see what it sounds like!
 
#2,327
IvanBassist said:
Did a comparison between two preamps :)
Click to expand...


Thanks for that!

I don't own a Noble, but I did go through both models of the Subway preamp and finally settled on the SLO. Tubes make a difference to my ears, and that's all there is to it. Mesa's Subway preamp voicing tends to be more transparent, with a boost in the high mids and treble that I always had difficulty dialing out. Funny enough, I own the Mesa D800 amp and I have nothing but praise for it. Everything becomes a little different flavor once it's paired with speakers, so that same preamp EQ gets masked by the speaker voicing.
 
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#2,328
Ryo0227 said:
Thanks for the reply. After all, Noble DI is not suitable for me, I thought. I will try to find another pedal. I didn't check out Shift Line Olympic! I can't wait to see what it sounds like!
Click to expand...

I have owned both the Noble and Shift Line Olympic and will pile on with @Infidelity and @TREYontheBASS and say that the ShiftLine Olympic sounds perfect for you.
 
#2,330
Infidelity said:
Thoughts on SLO vs Noble. What did you end up keeping?
Click to expand...

Well, at the moment I still have both, but will probably sell the Noble soon. To me the SLO has a very nice clean tube sound comparable to the Noble... the difference is not large to my ear.

The SLO of course is more flexible with its IR, ability to be overdriven into distortion, headphone out, and 3 band EQ. I sorely missed the HPF and high impedance input on the Noble (I play a lot of Double Bass) so I paired the SLO with a Broughton always on HPF with a 5MOhm input impedance.

Unfortunately I found that I couldn't really daisy chain the SLO and Broughton on the same wall wart without lots of noise. I hate carrying and connecting multiple power cords, so I ended up building a really tiny board (from a cutting board) with the little CIOKS 4 power supply, the SLO, Broughton HPF and a Korg pitchblack tuner.

Even with all those parts, in the end I have a setup that is still smaller and lighter than the Noble, cheaper, more flexible (variable HPF, tuner w/ mute, 3 band eq, IR, etc), and sounds pretty darn good to my ear.

All that said -- I have no complaints about the Noble either. And sometimes simplicity is nice too!
 
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#2,331
IvanBassist said:
Did a comparison between two preamps :)
Click to expand...

Very informative, thank you!
My first impression was that the Noble sounded scooped - but as the charts of @600 Ohms show it is actually flat. Very flat. I guess it's the same as with FRFR cabs: We are used to amps with mid boost and cabs with poor bass response and when we hear gear with flat response it's perceived as 'scooped'...
Anyway, I liked the Mesa better.
 
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