That’s exactly the video I’m talking about. As are all the others on the channel. The amp and cab sim and the compression are clearly audible in all the videos, to the point where I could approximate the settings using plugins I have at my own home studio.
I do 99% of my playing / recording going direct into a DAW on studio headphones so my ears are fairly well tuned into this stuff, a dry direct signal does not sound like that. It’s a heavily processed signal, albeit done tastefully and with expertise: it’s not over-hyped and it sounds relatively natural, but it most certainly is processed. If anything it seems like the videos are a testament to the Apollo Mk 2 and the bundled plugins (which sound great) more than the Noble.
I would be interested in hearing those recordings without the Noble in the chain. If the bass is going straight into the Apollo, the Noble isn’t doing much more than adding a touch of EQ. The Ian Allison video is interesting - he even says something along the lines of not needing to use parametric eq’s because the Noble nails the important frequencies. He’s effectively using it as an EQ.
Again nothing wrong with any of that, but as a product demo it should be made clear, in the same way outboard gear is always mentioned. If you were buying a camera, and the demo shots were heavily processed in Photoshop to enhance their appearance, you’d want to know about it. Using Photoshop is a part of the process in everyday camera use, but in a marketing video which people use to evaluate the qualities of the camera, those enhancements could be construed as misleading.
I have the actual Apollo device - do you? Sounds like you are making some assumptions here. I think we all know what a dry, direct signal sounds like. I get paid to play on sessions, so you are not the only one here that listens in this environment.
You said it was heavily-processed and then in the next sentence you said "it’s not over-hyped and it sounds relatively natural". You are going back and forth here. Ill listen again in a different environment and try and hear what you are describing.
I don't think it is a heavily processed signal. I get a similar sound with a touch of the Preamp engaged and the 1176 taking off about 2 db. That's my chain. I'll bypass the Noble again and see how it sounds. I just will need to get the gain staging right so there is not a volume difference.
Again, the signal in the roots video is not heavily processed to my ears. I heard that video and was like "yeah, that's the sound". So I simply don't think you are correct there. He also is using flats on an active J bass, which is a rather bad ass tone. There is a poster in here who recorded his sadowsky into the Noble and posted it here You should listen to that. If you are just hearing an EQ boost, than this box probably is not for you anyway.
EDIT - ok, I am taking a break from working now and knee-deep in a tune so I can't crank out a demo at the moment, but I did do this : I copy/pasted my apollo settings to channel 1 which is the DI of the apollo and then I matched the gain staging. I set the Noble to flat with no EQ and alternated plugging into each input.
My Apollo settings is the preamp with a level boost to 5.5 and then I use the output knob to match the gain. My 1176 takes 1db off on average. It was taking off 1b on each signal once I matched the staging.
The tonal difference - the Noble is my preferred sound. It sounds a little fatter, warmer and adds the 3D tone via some extra harmonics. The Apollo only sound is quite nice, and probably fine to many people, but the Noble just takes it up a notch. You get a deeper and warmer sound. I can hear this pretty obviously through headphones.
If all the Noble did was just this, it would be a rad $300-400ish dollar tube pre because it definitely makes a difference to the sound. But then you add in the EQ, which is seriously killer (I don't boost mine too much - around 8 o clock on bass and 9 o clock on treble, but it works on both active or passive basses. It is exceptionally clean) Then you add in the fact that I have a pedal board powered by the device plus the extremely high quality of the build and that is why I think it is worth the money.Especially huge if you play sessions and also use in ears at live gigs. It really changes the game there.
Hopefully this helps and once things settle down I will be able to do a demo where people can hear the two tones and what the difference is. Both the Apollo and the Noble are incredibly good for what they do.When you combine them it is a dream tone - at least for me.
