Hey all. Has anyone had the chance to compare the Noble to this? Cheers!
Arkham Sound - the Oracle Amplifier
Arkham Sound - the Oracle Amplifier
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Double Bass Noble tube preamp
- Thread starter bassmanbrent
- Start date
In case anyone's interested, this is what Micah from Arkham Sound said when I enquired about the Oracle tube pre...
Hi Brent --
Yep, I've gotten some great feedback from folks using it for upright -
Input Z is 1M stock -- I can bump it up to 4.7M, but it's usually better to run a buffer pedal ahead of the Oracle.
Hi Brent --
Yep, I've gotten some great feedback from folks using it for upright -
Input Z is 1M stock -- I can bump it up to 4.7M, but it's usually better to run a buffer pedal ahead of the Oracle.
To a degree 12AX7 tube preamps like the Sarno BB and Arkham etc. do a similar thing, the differences are slight but can be significant (the Black Box has IMP matching and buffering as it's upright inclined additive but no eq) but the point of tubes mainly is the warm 3D sound that unless they are underpowered, they all share. Other tube amps like the Noble and Monique and Sarno V8 have different tubes, which really do have their own characteristics that (in the case of all three) are totally upright enhancements. I particularly like the color sound that the Octals (V8, Monique) impart (think:a high definition grainless photograph with a warming filter) the 12AX7 has a higher amplification factor (which you can hear) and it sounds like how the grain in a photograph works. I like that sound too. I love the sound of the Black box INTO the V8.
All of these preamps are going to sound great with upright and you wont notice the difference until you have two or three of them with different characteristic to hear. The Noble is a kind of sweetspot of upright bliss, handmade excellence small size, HPF, just the right eq but not too much. The Sarno V8 with it's feature set and Octals is killin. But the Noble has a kind of perfection that is super compelling for upright and IMHO totally worth putting down a grand for.
All of these preamps are going to sound great with upright and you wont notice the difference until you have two or three of them with different characteristic to hear. The Noble is a kind of sweetspot of upright bliss, handmade excellence small size, HPF, just the right eq but not too much. The Sarno V8 with it's feature set and Octals is killin. But the Noble has a kind of perfection that is super compelling for upright and IMHO totally worth putting down a grand for.
I thought the Noble used 12AX7's too... What's actually in there? I couldn't find it on their website.
Have you tried the noble, I know there are a few around our area..
I would be curious to try one, although I do love my Demeter.
I would be curious to try one, although I do love my Demeter.
Demeters are crazy good. I first had the Demeter Direct Box which should def get some mention (12AX7) as a totally great tube DI/piezo front end. The new Demeter tubepre/amp looks great too.
I haven't yet... COVID has gotten in the way of a bunch of my plans! What attracted me to the Oracle, aside from the lower price, is that is has a more flexible eq section. The input impedance is likely a deal breaker for me though.
Yeah for sure tough to do our bassgeeking sessions, Dave Reimer has a noble I believe..
I had a chance to play my new Noble the last 2 nights with my B bass (Shen 150) w full circle pickup and Evahs through mark bass combo, line to PA. Semi outdoor gig for a holiday market. Cold! It sounded really good. It wasn’t until the third set I hit the HPF and boosted the bass. sounded even better!
Very even sounding and thickened up the full circle. But also gave the bass clarity. I was much happier with the PA sound as well, usually the line out from my mark bass isn’t the greatest for upright- muddy. The line out on the PJB amp gainy, middy. Looking forward to playing more with the Noble!
The violinist on second night had an Alix, which I’d love to try too. I could just see myself turning knobs until I got tired tho!
Very even sounding and thickened up the full circle. But also gave the bass clarity. I was much happier with the PA sound as well, usually the line out from my mark bass isn’t the greatest for upright- muddy. The line out on the PJB amp gainy, middy. Looking forward to playing more with the Noble!
The violinist on second night had an Alix, which I’d love to try too. I could just see myself turning knobs until I got tired tho!
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A few more gigs with the Noble- for the first time ever I didn’t use an amp, just Noble to pa and a bit in the monitors. It was a great sound! I could hear it much better than an amp at my ankles. It was warm enough to take out the nice bass on one gig, it has a lifeline. I was thinking it might be too thick sounding- tubes and lifeline. It was very good and I preferred it to the full circle (as I normally do, but thought the fishman might be better through PA).
Does anyone here use the Noble with an extended range bass?
Is it possible to get a massive low end without distorting on the low B?
Is it possible to get a massive low end without distorting on the low B?
I just made the plunge! I ended up finding a used one here in Canada and have only just opened the box so far... I'm very much looking forward to putting this unit to work. Too bad gigs are so few and far between right now :-(
Quick question... Has anyone found a good case to pack this preamp around in? I know there's a pelican case available from the Noble website but I'm looking for something smaller. Some kind of camera/accessory case maybe? Thanks in advance!
My PedalTrain Nano+ pedalboard came with a padded case. The Noble is well protected and there's room for cables and whatnot. It's fine for local transportation but you'd probably want a hard shell case if you are touring.
Thanks! I'm probably not going to use a pedal board when I gig with the Noble on DB so I am looking for something smaller (just big enough to hold the preamp and power cable only).
Progris Riport: After playing a bunch of gigs and concerts with the Noble, I discovered two things:
- The Noble sounds best for DB amplification flat, meaning with the bass and treble controls all the way off.
- The issue that I thought I was having with my low F wasn't a string or a bass issue after all; it was the HPF on the Noble somehow dampening that single note.
So now I play with the knobs all the way down and the HPF off instead of the knobs slightly up and the HPF on. The concert I did recently with Vincent Herring in the notoriously futzy cavernous hall at the U. was the clincher. Several bass students with great ears came up after the set and complimented the sound in glowing terms. I had turned off the HPF because there was a tune with an extended pedal F that I really wanted to growl, and apparently it did! Now when I don't want that sound, I can dial it out by playing more on the tips than the pads down there. Live and learn.
- The Noble sounds best for DB amplification flat, meaning with the bass and treble controls all the way off.
- The issue that I thought I was having with my low F wasn't a string or a bass issue after all; it was the HPF on the Noble somehow dampening that single note.
So now I play with the knobs all the way down and the HPF off instead of the knobs slightly up and the HPF on. The concert I did recently with Vincent Herring in the notoriously futzy cavernous hall at the U. was the clincher. Several bass students with great ears came up after the set and complimented the sound in glowing terms. I had turned off the HPF because there was a tune with an extended pedal F that I really wanted to growl, and apparently it did! Now when I don't want that sound, I can dial it out by playing more on the tips than the pads down there. Live and learn.
