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Noble Amps Preamp

#622
p0k said:
I've never really used the Low cut before. Do you guys find that it helps you cut through the mix better when the HPF engaged?
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I have used it in my church which has crappy PA. Cut the lows and add back by turning the bass knob to around 2 o'clock. I add a bump at 40hz via graphic equalizer AFTER the Noble but before going into my stage rig to restore the deep lows you can get from subs (which we don't have).

I ordered a Broughton combination HPF/LPF and may start using that instead of the low cut to start the rolloff lower in the spectrum. It may make the treble control more useful by chopping off the hissy/tweety highs before going into the box. The Noble HPF bass rolloff starts at a high-ish frequency but it's a gradual 6db per octave slope vs the 12db per octave which is more common in an active HPF.
 
#623
I got my Nobles a week ago and so far am happy with it.
The tone is great, but dont expect Squeezebox or REDDI like greasy. This baby is clean but got quite a bit of character.
It definitely helped with headroom, especially on the B string. Low notes could take more digging in if I wanted. Highs were "sweeter" I may end up trying passive on my Sadowskys live with this. usually active-live / passive-studio for them.

I used it in a recording session yesterday, and it sounded great there too. I did, BTW, use the HPF on the recording, and boosted lows to about 2 o'clock.This was on a COUNTRY session too! :woot: Sometime I'll get recording at home and compare it to my UA 6176 (My fave to track bass with)

I also have a Bergie IP112, and this sounded better than ANYTHING I've tried with it. (Demeter, Ampeg II, Squeezebox, Fishman) (yes, I'm too lazy to unrack my 6176 to try with the IP)

PROS:
  • Can't beat the form factor (95% of my gigs are in-ear with NO amps)
  • Doesn't heat up
  • Usable EQ (at least down low. Many pedals have same eq point on lows as my Sadowskys. Highs are same point, but this has a nice highend extension.
  • Super super quiet! (My squeeze box is jealous!)
  • HPS is very usable( i.e. Tonebone hpfs are too much. I DID use my microThumpinator live)
  • seems well built
CONS:
  • Not cheap (hey if you're a pro suck it up! I mean, you did spend 5k on that bass didn't you?????) :p
  • I wish it had an insert (I like my comp there in the chain)
  • May make me want a LPF (playing country most of the time)
  • I may need 2 of these
 
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#627
Dave W said:
Have you found so far that you get the same thickness of notes on the higher strings and higher registers as you do with Monique?
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Hi Dave

I haven't had a chance to do a good side by side but I think they're pretty similar. The noble adds an overall thickness but it doesn't seem to have quite the same 'feel' to the notes as Monique.

I gave the Noble its first gig on Saturday and and was really happy with the tone. Thick and punchy. Tonight I should be using it for recording for the first time. Should be cool!

Cheers

Ben
 
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#628
Have any of you folks thrown speaker sims (impulse response) after the Noble when recording? I am messing with it now. It almost feels wrong to mess with that in your face tone, but running it though a B15 cab Sim can result in a really round tone that is very clear in the mix.
 
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#629
AngelCrusher said:
Have any of you folks thrown speaker sims (impulse response) after the Noble when recording? I am messing with it now. It almost feels wrong to mess with that in your face tone, but running it though a B15 cab Sim can result in a really round tone that is very clear in the mix.
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Yes and I had the same thought as you(don't mess with the noble tone) but it sounded great. I ran the noble before my two notes torpedo CAB, and they went together perfectly! It still had that beautiful noble tone but it added a lot more space/air as it would through a nice cab recorded perfectly. Undoubtedly my favorite tone over any other rig I've ever had.
 
#630
Hubriser said:
Yes and I had the same thought as you(don't mess with the noble tone) but it sounded great. I ran the noble before my two notes torpedo CAB, and they went together perfectly! It still had that beautiful noble tone but it added a lot more space/air as it would through a nice cab recorded perfectly. Undoubtedly my favorite tone over any other rig I've ever had.
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Funny you mention it. That is what I am messing with too. I have the Torpedo Wall of Sound and have been playing through it for a while now tonight. I have a few questions on that thing:

Do you notice a lack of lows? The Noble has massive low end. When I try out the Ampeg B15 cab, it sounds really good but I notice that there is a rollof on the lowend at about 60hz and a bump at around 110hz. I'm using the RE20 mic. Basically, I really like the tone but I'm just making sure I'm dialing it in right. It may just be me used to going DI for so long. I don't really boost much on the Noble EQ, and I am messing with using the power amps as well.
 
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#631
AngelCrusher said:
Funny you mention it. That is what I am messing with too. I have the Torpedo Wall of Sound and have been playing through it for a while now tonight. I have a few questions on that thing:

Do you notice a lack of lows? The Noble has massive low end. When I try out the Ampeg B15 cab, it sounds really good but I notice that there is a rollof on the lowend at about 60hz and a bump at around 110hz. I'm using the RE20 mic. Basically, I really like the tone but I'm just making sure I'm dialing it in right. It may just be me used to going DI for so long. I don't really boost much on the Noble EQ, and I am messing with using the power amps as well.
Click to expand...

I definitely don't notice a lack of lowend with the torpedo at least not in my current cabs sim setups, I mean there's so many variables you most certainly could have that situation but it probably just requires a little more messing around. My main go to on the torpedo is power amp on- 6L6, dyn bass20, pentode and then mess with the mic placement: distance, center and power amp: depth, presence I'd guess one of these areas is where you're losing your low end.
I would add there's several mics I like but on bass I almost only use the 6l6s. I do notice some of the thick low end can be lost with some of the other tubes
Also which b15 are you using WgrandBlvd is really good, the other one isn't so much. I'm personally a big fridge guy but I also like to go real heavy on the lowend playing reggae.
 
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#632
Yeah im using the grand blvd and running through a spectrum analyzer. The noble on its own has a real wide response with a lot of lows and is crisp in the high end. Perfect for a pbass. No matter what i do with the wall of sound, the b15 just has a huge bump at 110hz and less lows under that. I made sure the high pass was off. No other plugs engaged.. I guess maybe im just not used to the sound of IR cabs. Im thinking it may just be that the re20 only goes down to 45hz. That has to be what causes the hump. Im so used to the noble that its tough to dial in other tones.
 
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#633
AngelCrusher said:
Yeah im using the grand blvd and running through a spectrum analyzer. The noble on its own has a real wide response with a lot of lows and is crisp in the high end. Perfect for a pbass. No matter what i do with the wall of sound, the b15 just has a huge bump at 110hz and less lows under that. I made sure the high pass was off. No other plugs engaged.. I guess maybe im just not used to the sound of IR cabs. Im thinking it may just be that the re20 only goes down to 45hz. That has to be what causes the hump. Im so used to the noble that its tough to dial in other tones.
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I would try the fridge and bw215 and see what you think. I use those more than any other cabs. I'd also try several mics. At the end of the day though you might just like the noble by itself better, which is obviously understandable. I like having the option of the DI as well as a mic'd cab
 
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#634
I approached this amp today with fresh ears and I loved the fridge cab and am much more into the B15. I think I had just spent too much time in the studio yesterday and my ears were so used to the Noble that I couldn't get into the the Mic'd cab sound. This is a really cool plugin for sure. I also like that I can blend the DI with the Cab sound all on one track. That eliminates a lot of phasing problems that can pop up when trying to line up a cab with a DI'd track.

It also seems that on the power amp, that maxing everything besides the volume seems to work very well.

With the Noble front ending this, it is a beastly studio option. Especially since you can bypass it anytime and just use the sweet direct tone.
 
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#635
AngelCrusher said:
I approached this amp today with fresh ears and I loved the fridge cab and am much more into the B15. I think I had just spent too much time in the studio yesterday and my ears were so used to the Noble that I couldn't get into the the Mic'd cab sound. This is a really cool plugin for sure. I also like that I can blend the DI with the Cab sound all on one track. That eliminates a lot of phasing problems that can pop up when trying to line up a cab with a DI'd track.

It also seems that on the power amp, that maxing everything besides the volume seems to work very well.

With the Noble front ending this, it is a beastly studio option. Especially since you can bypass it anytime and just use the sweet direct tone.
Click to expand...

Yes sir agreed with everything! its an amazing combination for any home studio for sure
 
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#636
I plan to use my Noble to record sound clips of my bass builds. Should I go straight in to the Noble then to USB interface to computer to Audacity? Anyone know if the Phil Jones Big Head interface is high quality enough as a companion to the Noble (it's a headphone amp but supposedly has a good USB interface and I happen to own one)? How about Audacity in terms of sound quality? Was thinking the Noble should be set flat for a demo of something other than the Noble itself, but am not sure on that.

Any thoughts/ideas from folks who do a lot of recording? I have done none so far.
 
#637
Noble into interface will be fine. Unless you want to invest high end convertors in an a/d you wont get much better tone.

Audacity sounds fine. It is digital so it wont matter. Just track in at 24 bit then convert to 16 bit WAV. Keep your peak volume at around -6db and then bring up the volume with light compression and limiting.
 
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#640
Kevan Campbell said:
How does the Noble handle the super-low end on a 5-string (strung BEADG)? Do the sub-E notes come through well with the Noble?
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They're fine so long as you don't use the HPF. When the HPF is engaged you loose some of the fundamental for notes below E, however, you can beef them up a fair bit with the low boosted. I haven't yet decided if that's how I want to run things.

Cheers

Ben
 
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