Sansamp Programmable vs Darkglass Vintage Deluxe V1

[Hardbassjunkie]

Good morning,

I own both of these preamp pedals and I must say, unless I am doing something wrong Darkglass is clearly a better quality pedal. I started with a Behringer bdi (which is awesome) upgraded to a Sansamp programmable and thought it was amazing. The sound is your quintessential rock sound and I have it on the SVT setting and it sounds great BUT is noisy even with a noise suppressor and Iffy with an active bass. But I was extremely happy with it until I got a DG Vintage Deluxe v1 in a trade.

The quality is much better, basically no noise. It doesn't have multiple stomp boxes but the one tone I have on it is good for everything! It does sounds good with a pick, my fingers, active or passive bass. It can get real loud on my dinky 30 watt amp and not have any unwanted distortion. The only thing is it doesn't quite have that SVT/Bass Driver grind that made me fall in love with the sansamp. It is very different and I'm not sure if I like it better.

I am wondering if any one has any suggestions.

My pedal board is pretty simple Tuner > Preamp (DG or Sansamp) > Noise suppressor > Diamond Bass compressor.

I like to keep it simple but does anyone have any suggestions as far as setting for the Sansamp that is active bass friendly? or a pedal I add with the Darkglass to get more of that SVT Grind.

 

[tech21nyc]

Good morning,

I own both of these preamp pedals and I must say, unless I am doing something wrong Darkglass is clearly a better quality pedal. I started with a Behringer bdi (which is awesome) upgraded to a Sansamp programmable and thought it was amazing. The sound is your quintessential rock sound and I have it on the SVT setting and it sounds great BUT is noisy even with a noise suppressor and Iffy with an active bass. But I was extremely happy with it until I got a DG Vintage Deluxe v1 in a trade.

The quality is much better, basically no noise. It doesn't have multiple stomp boxes but the one tone I have on it is good for everything! It does sounds good with a pick, my fingers, active or passive bass. It can get real loud on my dinky 30 watt amp and not have any unwanted distortion. The only thing is it doesn't quite have that SVT/Bass Driver grind that made me fall in love with the sansamp. It is very different and I'm not sure if I like it better.

I am wondering if any one has any suggestions.

My pedal board is pretty simple Tuner > Preamp (DG or Sansamp) > Noise suppressor > Diamond Bass compressor.

I like to keep it simple but does anyone have any suggestions as far as setting for the Sansamp that is active bass friendly? or a pedal I add with the Darkglass to get more of that SVT Grind.

How are you powering the Programmable Bass Driver? The pedal will be noisy if you are in edit mode and don't save the preset.

It shouldn't be problematic with an active bass provided you leave the active bass' tone controls flat. The thing is you are still running one preamp (active bass electronics) into a secondary preamp (SansAmp) and any noise will be multiplied. Plus, placing a compressor at the end of your signal chain will raise the the noise floor even more. If you are running the SansAmp with the aforementioned "grind" setting, that will be a nosier setting than running clean. Do you find the noise goes away if you reduce your instrument volume?

 

[Hardbassjunkie]

How are you powering the Programmable Bass Driver? The pedal will be noisy if you are in edit mode and don't save the preset.

It shouldn't be problematic with an active bass provided you leave the active bass' tone controls flat. The thing is you are still running one preamp (active bass electronics) into a secondary preamp (SansAmp) and any noise will be multiplied. Plus, placing a compressor at the end of your signal chain will raise the the noise floor even more. If you are running the SansAmp with the aforementioned "grind" setting, that will be a nosier setting than running clean. Do you find the noise goes away if you reduce your instrument volume?

I'm powering it with a 9v adapter. I have saved the preset. My bass has active pickups and only a volume and tone knob. It's a sterling sub bass with emg mmcs pickups. My other issue is that it cannot go nearly as loud without distorting as the DG. I know I'm using only a small amp but if it can get loud, why not?

 

[tech21nyc]

What are your settings? Do you have the 1/4" boost switch on?

 

[Al Kraft]

Sometimes a power adpator or "chaining the output" of a power adaptor to multiple boxes/pedals can introduce noise. IME different boxes/pedals have different tolerance for what they receive from. Additioanlly, placement in the signal chain (as has been mentioned) as well as physical placement (say like on top of an amplifier near its power supply or near a cell phone) can also introduce noise with some boxes/pedals. I would not automatically assume the noise in in the signal chain until you've ruled it out.

 

[Hardbassjunkie]

What are your settings? Do you have the 1/4" boost switch on?

The settings are the SVT ones from the manual.

 

[Hardbassjunkie]

Sometimes a power adpator or "chaining the output" of a power adaptor to multiple boxes/pedals can introduce noise. IME different boxes/pedals have different tolerance for what they receive from. Additioanlly, placement in the signal chain (as has been mentioned) as well as physical placement (say like on top of an amplifier near its power supply or near a cell phone) can also introduce noise with some boxes/pedals. I would not automatically assume the noise in in the signal chain until you've ruled it out.

I'm not very savvy with these things all I know is one makes noise and ones doesnr and its being used in the same way, in the same place, with the same adapter.

 

[Al Kraft]

I'm not very savvy with these things all I know is one makes noise and ones doesnr and its being used in the same way, in the same place, with the same adapter.

Fair enough...if you can, try the Tech 21 pedal on its own with nothing else in the chain...if it still has noise, try it with a different power adaptor if possible. That should help you troubleshoot the issue in terms of a pedal problem and/or power supply incompatibility.

When trying to troubleshoot a problem, the first step is to try and narrow down the variables a bit. For instance, what I suggested might tell you that regardless of power supply the pedal all by itself is noisy. That woudl be worth knowing and will save you hours of fooling around looking for that problem with all the pedals attached and the same power supply. It may also tell you that some power supplies allow the pedal to operate dead quiet and others do not - also worth knowing.

Once you have the Tech 21 pedal ruled in or out as a problem itself, you can begin combining it with othehr things (adding them back one at a time) to see if and when the noise issue returns. Once you go from no noise to noise, you'll have at least one of your noise generating culprits identified and can then figure out how to work the problem at that stage before moving on to adding the next thing (pedal/box) to the equation.

Don't be surprised if you find you add a box, get the noise, change the connecting cable and the noise goes away. Everything is in play in a system which is why you have to start simple and test at each step as you go.
Good luck!

 

[tech21nyc]

Yes the above would be the next steps. (Thanks Al Kraft).