Early on my vote was M700. Minnie sure does look cool, but I ust wanted to emphasize that, yes, "in actual performance and quality the M700 blows it away".
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Noble Amps Preamp
- Thread starter IanMartinAllison
- Start date
Yeah, its a bright-ish bass, too. I like how the Noble can be used in my case to warm up a bright bass and in @PFAC's case, it is used for the opposite. I really love the yin/yang of the very articulate Sadowsky bass paired with the warmth of the Noble. FYI, mine has NOS tubes in it. Sylvania's I believe.
Same boat here!
Yes, I use the eq on the noble to get my sound to FOH and my IEM's. My settings are usually Bass=11:00 Treble=9:00 bass cut switch off. This definitely warms it up and provides a good signal for FOH to work with. The settings vary slightly depending on the liveliness of my strings. That treble control is voiced perfectly to make dead-ish strings have a little more zing (for my bass anyway).
I'm definitely going to have to grab one of these at some point soon. It's just a no brainer for my session work.
I have a question - what activates the mid cut? I really hate the mid scoop on the sadowsky preamp I have. I have a classic Jazz 5 Moollon coming and I like my low mids a lot. I also like to add a hair of lows and highs to that sound without losing low mids. Ia this possible without incurring a scoop?
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
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EQ is relative. If you boost bass and treble you end up with a mid scoop relatively speaking. If you want to add highs, lows AND mids, set everything flat and turn up the volume. You might need an EQ pedal to get more precise than that. Of course EQ on your amp and/or different strings might help.
The Noble (and the Sadowsky too I think) are boost only EQ. So all the way counterclockwise is flat.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
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I emailed Demeter to ask about the hiss issue today. They said they are using a different driver chip now and it reduces the hiss/noise by 6db relative to the original design. I didn't ask when the switch was made. Thought I should share that with the group since some others seem to be looking at both the Demeter and the Jule as a companion to the Noble.
Yeah I get that, and I do like boost only eq a lot. What I am asking really is how dramatic the scoop is if you just boost a little low and high, and where is it focused? I think the Sadowsky is at around 300 hz.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
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Was trying to answer without being a smarta$$ and knowing that most guys looking at this sort of gear understand that sort of thing.
If you equally boost the bass and treble on the Noble you effectively get a mid cut around 700 hz according to Jack Roan. The less you boost the less deep the effective mid cut is AND the wider it is (makes sense if you think about the slope of the shelving controls). Also I think if you boost the bass a little more than treble you would slightly shift the notch lower and vice-versa. I think the scoop is around 7db with the controls both at noon.
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ahhh...very nice, that is what i was looking for, thanks!
7db is a lot. So boosting all the way to noon is probably a pretty dramatic tonal difference. That is basically how the Sadowsky is as well. Difference is that the Noble sounds like it may enhance the low mids if you run it flat with no boosts.
I'd love to see what happens when you shelve the lows and boost them less subtle than the video with Tim showed.
I'll just have to track down more demos of this thing to check out. Honestly my favorite was probably the Sadowksy one in this thread because I'm so familiar with that sound, and it made it a lot thicker.
The audio samples from Juan Nelson on the Noble website are what ultimately sealed the deal for me. Perfect jazz bass tone right there!
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
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I spent a lot of time playing with the bass dial and the bass cut switch one Saturday to try to hear how they interact. To my ear, the two "offset" at around 2pm on the boost control but the tone is different. When you use the cut switch and then boost with the dial it seems like the bass boost is at a higher frequency. I think the really low lows get rolled off and you end up with a boost in the upper bass and lower mid range. I prefer to leave the switch off and get the deeper lows, but I can see how some would like it. I'm not sure what Tim Lefebvre means when he says it gives more of a tube vibe in the video (he uses the cut switch and then turns the bass dial all the way clockwise). Some tube amps roll off the low lows, so maybe that's it.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
- 6,819
- Disclosures
- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
Have you had yours for long? Sounds like they made a change to address the hiss complaints but not sure when.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
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Guess I should answer my own question too. Most of the time I'm between 8 and 10 o'clock with both bass and treble - typically a tad more treble than bass. Cut switch not cut.
The Noble is based on a Fender tonestack (same as Sadowsky)...as was mentioned earlier, B and T all the way down is flat.
I was using one that was just built in the last 6 months, no hiss. I just purchased one built 2 years ago and it sounds like the 6 month model.
Doner Designs
Steve Doner
- Jun 2, 2012
- 5,784
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- Doner Designs is an alias for Steve Doner
I'm not sure that's entirely true. Both Noble and Sadowsky are boost-only, but I don't think either are passive tone stacks.
Just reemphasizing Mr. Jeff Moote, if I was too discriminating, please accept my apology.
Needless to say, for decades the established Demeter has produced some of the finest bass equipment around.
There are many insightful posts/threads concerning "Minnie vs. M700", I just happen(along with most others) to dig the M700, hiss or not. We all know power ratings are subjective, but consider what are the actual users saying. I also hear the term "dead quiet" being used to describe the M700 over and over. It goes on and on concerning most if not all aspects. Anyway, the back end of my Jule Tardis M700 is relentless and sounds spectacular especially when paired with the NOBLE.
I am keen on the M700 but one must factor the price and wait time as well, Jule was backlogged the last time we spoke. Additionally Jule also offers a full money-back guarantee.
I really want one! drool Tell you what, I can and will wait, so if you order one and for whatever reason find yourself unhappy with it I'll take it off your hands at your cost.
Seriously, you can't lose...
read back a few pages the owner/creator himself said its a based on a fender tone stack he meant it for guitar. save 500 bucks and buy a vintage bassman for 400 and at least you get a power section.
