SANSAMP PREAMP COMPARISON

[johnnycat42]

OK, I just bought a Crown Power Amp to pair with a SANSAMP preamp of some sort. I have a PBDDI already so I am curious if anyone has compared the different SANSAMP Bass Pre's driving a power amp. Is there any advantage to going to a RBI other than the dedicated Mid? Is it worth it? I like the PBDDI since you can get 3 different tones at your feet. Anyone try all of them in front of power as well.

PARA
BDDI
PBDDI
RBI
RPM

Note: The newest generation of SANSAMP pedals has a 1/4" OUT BOOST.

 

[silky smoove]

My comparison of running the following into a QSC PLX1602:

The BDDI and the PBDDI sound identical to my ears. One is programmable, the other is not.

The RBI sounds very different to the BDDI/PBDDI despite them being marketed as sounding similar. The RBI seemed to have much lower levels of OD even with the drive control cranked. The RBI also seems to have a generally brighter tone, but one that remains more full than the BDDI/PBDDI. The BDDI/PBDDI by comparison sounded darker in the lows/low-mids but clankier in the upper-mids/highs. I don't know that either is better or worse, just different.

They are all mid-scooped by default (this is not speculation, it was confirmed in an email from Lloyd at Tech21). Rolling back the blend knob helps this a TON. The mid knob on the RBI can be used to add some mids back into your tone, but its voiced at 1khz so I didn't find it to be the most useful of frequencies to boost heavily.

I've not had much of a chance to try the PARA/RPM, but I would really like to as I think they'd be more my flavor than the RBI/PBDDI/BDDI. Hopefully that helps

 

[JGR]

i have both the rpm and rbi and use them to push both SS and tube power amps. i've posted a lot on this so give the ol search button a try.

JR