Depends. For me, the DCX is a stomp box ahead of my SansAmp, but any BassRig would be used as amp sim/DI. The BassRig would replace the SansAmp if sounding good.
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Origin Effects BassRig Ampeg B15 Fliptop recreation
- Thread starter Quatschmacher
- Start date
Depends. For me, the DCX is a stomp box ahead of my SansAmp, but any BassRig would be used as amp sim/DI. The BassRig would replace the SansAmp if sounding good.
Please share your experience with the new bassrig. I hope to snag one on the secondary market
The below is edited from my Basschat posts.
My signal chain.
Passive Serek Midwestern 2 five string.
Dunlop flat wound strings.
AEA active DI.
Midas MR18
Presonus Air10 & Air15 sub.
I've tried so many preamp di pedals that I've almost given up. I prefer going straight into the mixer with a high quality transparent active DI.
I usually use an AEA active DI with just a little eq boost ( 3-4db ) around 80hz and 2khz. Also HPF around 50hz.
The Presonus PA is an entry level system with a defused sound that is just ok.
No matter what I did the Fifteen just sounded wrong. Bass was lacking and the treble was dull. Of course that is exactly what the B15 sounds like.
I took a break and came back with fresh ears. This time I used headphones connected to the Midas MR18 and I finally got the idea. It sounds like you are playing through the Ampeg B15, a fabulous vintage sound.
The pedal feels very responsive and the sound reacts to how hard you play just like a real amp.
I think through my Presonus PA the sound is a little lost. But with a better PA or while recording or using headphones the sound is very amp like.
I'm going to spend all of tomorrow morning playing with the pedal with backing tracks of our set. This should give a better idea how it sits in a mix. I'm sure it will sound great. If not it's going back to Andertons.
So after two hours of playing with backing tracks this morning it is a keeper. For the first time in ages I actually had goose bumps and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
The sound is so amp like through my iem and standard headphones it was a revolutionary.
I went back to just using my AEA active DI and small eq changes on the mixer and the sound collapsed. Yes it became more bass heavy and brighter but I was lost in the mix.
On its own the Fifteen sounds a little dull and very mid forward. But in a mix it stands out and really feels like you are playing through an amp.
I've finally found a preamp / Di that I can use on every occasion.
Moving on from this morning I've used the 1/4 inch amp out straight into my Ashdown ABM / 4x10 with no EQ, valve drive or sub harmonics turned on.
With the settings shown below it sounds almost the same as the Di out going into the PA.
This feature is great as I can duplicate the Di sound into any back line amp.
My signal chain.
Passive Serek Midwestern 2 five string.
Dunlop flat wound strings.
AEA active DI.
Midas MR18
Presonus Air10 & Air15 sub.
I've tried so many preamp di pedals that I've almost given up. I prefer going straight into the mixer with a high quality transparent active DI.
I usually use an AEA active DI with just a little eq boost ( 3-4db ) around 80hz and 2khz. Also HPF around 50hz.
The Presonus PA is an entry level system with a defused sound that is just ok.
No matter what I did the Fifteen just sounded wrong. Bass was lacking and the treble was dull. Of course that is exactly what the B15 sounds like.
I took a break and came back with fresh ears. This time I used headphones connected to the Midas MR18 and I finally got the idea. It sounds like you are playing through the Ampeg B15, a fabulous vintage sound.
The pedal feels very responsive and the sound reacts to how hard you play just like a real amp.
I think through my Presonus PA the sound is a little lost. But with a better PA or while recording or using headphones the sound is very amp like.
I'm going to spend all of tomorrow morning playing with the pedal with backing tracks of our set. This should give a better idea how it sits in a mix. I'm sure it will sound great. If not it's going back to Andertons.
So after two hours of playing with backing tracks this morning it is a keeper. For the first time in ages I actually had goose bumps and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
The sound is so amp like through my iem and standard headphones it was a revolutionary.
I went back to just using my AEA active DI and small eq changes on the mixer and the sound collapsed. Yes it became more bass heavy and brighter but I was lost in the mix.
On its own the Fifteen sounds a little dull and very mid forward. But in a mix it stands out and really feels like you are playing through an amp.
I've finally found a preamp / Di that I can use on every occasion.
Moving on from this morning I've used the 1/4 inch amp out straight into my Ashdown ABM / 4x10 with no EQ, valve drive or sub harmonics turned on.
With the settings shown below it sounds almost the same as the Di out going into the PA.
This feature is great as I can duplicate the Di sound into any back line amp.
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I’ll be curious to do a frequency sweep test on mine. The James EQ stack response looks not unlike the curve of the DCX tonestack posted awhile back by someone from Origin, but some models/eras of B15 had a factory bass-cut modification to the tonestack that would have changed the Bass response quite a bit (probably to avoid warranty claims due to blown speakers Is guess!). I’m guessing Origin didn’t incorporate that bass-cut part given it was designed to be played through modern speaker systems.
If you are going direct into the Presonus using the DI out, have you tried turning off the cab-sim on the Fifteen? The cab-sim cuts a TON of lows and highs, basically like a bandpass filter. Of course this will make any drive from the pedal more harsh and present as well. Or you could use the 1/4” out for the Presonus and have a lot more tone-sculpting tools available
Here you can see the eq points on the amp out which I’m assuming are going to be similar to the DI out to match the sound. The lpf/hpf is essentially the cab sim and HF/LF knobs should match bass/treble controls. Maybe @Origin_Effects could clarify di out freq curves.
You sound surprised by this...Its what is says on the tin isn't it?
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Yeah that makes sense, though I believe that EQ is mostly there to try to match your speaker/amp rig to the cab-sim part of the equation since the B-15 EQ/preamp is active on both outputs already and in most cases it is cabinets that are providing the most color assuming you set your amp as neutral as possible. Those amp-out HF/LF curves do look similar to the DCX curves and similar to a typical James/Baxandall tonestack, at least on the boost side of things (I think the cuts are a little funkier while the boosts are pretty predictable, but I’m certainly no expert on these things)
I’m not the best player but wanted to throw something out there. The mids on it are just killer.
Eq flat, drive at 10, full blend, cab sim on.
Eq flat, drive at 10, full blend, cab sim on.
Was just A/B’ing them. This setting on the DCX will get you in the ballpark but there’s still a lot of difference.
The more you push the drive the more different they get and the cab sim (where the magic happens) cuts bass pushes mids in a way the DCX can’t.
The more you push the drive the more different they get and the cab sim (where the magic happens) cuts bass pushes mids in a way the DCX can’t.
I am pinching these settings, sounds lush. Followed your page and great sound mate
I’m not sure what topology the DCX uses, but based on a graph Origin posted of the DCX EQ curves it seems to have a very similar response to a Bax. One thing that is novel about the DCX is that the EQ apparently comes both before and after the clipping section depending on where the settings are (according to another post from Origin)- so boosting treble mostly comes before, while boosting bass mostly comes after the clipping circuit. Then vice-versa where cutting bass mostly comes before and cutting treble mostly comes after the clipping circuit. Very cool!
Here’s the DCX EQ response:
So when set clean they can probably get very close from the 1/4” output, but I can verify the drive between the two is very different. I personally don’t find much range of “subtle” drive from the DCX, while the Fifteen does this really well. The heavier drive is also unsurprisingly more amp-like from the Fifteen. Remains to be seen for me if it will sit in the mix as well as the DCX
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Here are a few clips of the FIFTEEN (preamp out) running into the Noble. Nothing scientific—just had some spare time today to experiment with some of my preamps and grab a few sound samples.
Bass: Rama D71 with TI flats
Signal chain: Cali76 (V1) > FIFTEEN → Noble (DI out) → Apollo interface
One sample is just Bass rolled up and treble down. I just wanted to see what it gives me - The Noble adds some big, chewy vintage bloom
Second sample is more drive (1:00) and bass treble pretty much flat.
I have a feeling the FIFTEEN paired with the Neve RNDI-M could deliver a really nice record-ready setup
... back to the lab…..
Bass: Rama D71 with TI flats
Signal chain: Cali76 (V1) > FIFTEEN → Noble (DI out) → Apollo interface
One sample is just Bass rolled up and treble down. I just wanted to see what it gives me - The Noble adds some big, chewy vintage bloom
Second sample is more drive (1:00) and bass treble pretty much flat.
I have a feeling the FIFTEEN paired with the Neve RNDI-M could deliver a really nice record-ready setup
... back to the lab…..
So I've spent a couple hours with my Fifteen now, just run as a preamp into the FX Return of my little home rig (Mesa WD800 into Ampeg SVT210) playing with settings including all the Amp Out EQ and I'm really loving it! Hard to find a bad setting- it really brings the sweetness out of rounds and the thump out of flats and no harshness through my rig at the drive levels I would utilize most (and the Lo/Hi cuts work great to tame higher drive settings as needed). Great mids all around. I can't wait to try recording direct with the cab-sim at my next band rehearsal to see how that translates. Even without the sim I'm really impressed with the overall feel and tone and how I don't really miss my amplifier's tone. I haven't even tried running it as an effect pedal into the front of the amp yet, which is how I suspected I would use it.
In my testing, here are the settings that A/B tone match very closely between the Fifteen amp sim (no cab) and the DCX using a P bass with rounds and especially a P bass with flats. The Fifteen retains a bit of amp-ish tone but in a mix it's about even sounding. YMMV, of course. I used the Boss line selector with volumes matched closely with output into my Rolls headphone amp using DT770 pro cans.
I'm liking the Fifteen more every day testing at home with tracks and headphones. I will use it at church next Sunday with cab sim and see how that band-pass portaflex rig tone sounds in the full band. I used the Origin SV cab sim for worship last Sunday and enjoyed it. Nice to venture away from the CCM Bethel Tone Hammer tone for a while. As Gregor Fris said in his review, he prefers the Fifteen without the cab sim, but it's probably the right choice to use it - to better serve the song and band. I have to better learn this lesson.
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“Hard to find a bad setting” - So true! I really like the EQ. It's very musical.
