I wouldn't buy a Noble strictly for live use unless I really didn't need anything else and just wanted to throw some $ at it. Sure it would be cool to know you have it running up there but so much of the bass guitar's nuance is lost in a live situation, I wouldn't spend that kinda $ just for that use case. Personally, I do more recording than live work, and if I had one it'd stay in my studio and I'd use something cheaper for playing those dive bars.
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Should I get a Helix Stomp XL or a Noble?
- Thread starter LOVTHEBASS
- Start date
Just used a Noble board this weekend and I agree, going to use a BDDI-based board in the future.
I’m in between on this one. I’m playing in a busy cover band and don’t do any studio work. While I enjoy the sound of the Noble, the price and the realities of living with tubes give me considerable doubts. I had a HXS and used it for my ampless rig for a couple years. Serviceable, but still sounded “artificial” to my ears. After trying a few things, I ended up using a Bergantino Super Pre as the nucleus of my ampless pedalboard, and run a few pedals (octave, chorus, envelope) through its Fx loop. This works really well for me - the SP has some very useful DSP features and while arguably not as theoretically “powerful” as the HXS, it sounds better to me and gives me what I need with greater simplicity.
All that said, it’s easy to get into the weeds with tone tweaking, chasing small differences that largely go completely unnoticed in the band context. Get the basics right - pickups, strings, EQ/tone settings, and your hands - and most everything else is icing on the cake….
All that said, it’s easy to get into the weeds with tone tweaking, chasing small differences that largely go completely unnoticed in the band context. Get the basics right - pickups, strings, EQ/tone settings, and your hands - and most everything else is icing on the cake….
Don't worry about the tubes on the Noble. They're very long life. The only problem I've had is grabbing the upper part of the pedal to throw it in the case and, "Ouch", they get warm. No burns, but it gets you attention.
Yes I’m trying to transition away from the rack gear and tidy up my pedal board. I will post a pic and you’ll understand
Here is a pic, the 659 is on the bottom. This is my in-ear rig so I am hearing my bass loud and clear. I would like to simplify this, but am concerned I will lose my smooth fat tone. But, I need to get this smaller.
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I’ve had a three. Still have the Noble, and the HX. Sonically the HX is really close. I would recommend the HX. I REALLY LOVE the noble. It does sound better than the model, but for practicality the HX will get you were you want to go. I also really like the caveman audio BP1 as a preamp
Why don’t you sell me your DB659, that way you have money toward the HX or Noble?
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
For Noble money, I would looking into the Genzler Kinetix. There are people here on the list who have gotten the Genzler and discovered they no longer needed the Noble. I have the Kinetix but have never played through a Noble personally, but I am not feeling the necessity. All the tube goodness, and a tube EQ, with an 800 watt power section. I run an HX Stomp in the FX loop.
You can buy an HX stomp XL today. The Noble, not so much.
As others have mentioned, the helix family includes a Noble model called the Regal DI that sounds pretty good to me. I use it in a parallel path on my helix LT alongside an SVT model (taken from one of Ian Martin Allison’s presets). Really helps the two signals gel together.
Even the newish HX One includes the Nobel model and it can run direct to a mixer. Might be worth exploring.
There’s numerous Nobel/Regal comparisons on YouTube. Definitely worth listening to.
The Big Book of Helix Tips and Tricks has a graph that shows what the model is doing. As you can see, it does a pretty decent job of emulating a tube
As others have mentioned, the helix family includes a Noble model called the Regal DI that sounds pretty good to me. I use it in a parallel path on my helix LT alongside an SVT model (taken from one of Ian Martin Allison’s presets). Really helps the two signals gel together.
Even the newish HX One includes the Nobel model and it can run direct to a mixer. Might be worth exploring.
There’s numerous Nobel/Regal comparisons on YouTube. Definitely worth listening to.
The Big Book of Helix Tips and Tricks has a graph that shows what the model is doing. As you can see, it does a pretty decent job of emulating a tube
You almost got me you devil, but I think I’ll hold on to the DB659 after thinking it through!Why don’t you sell me your DB659, that way you have money toward the HX or Noble?
A digital modeller combined with a tube pre-amps/DI is the way forward. I run my stomp with an SN Space Heater up front and SB More at the end and transform the HXS very good amp sims into sounding like proper tube amps in a live rehearsal situation. The B15N block sounds amazing in this set up through a power amp an Ampeg SBVT212AV Cab. It replaces my Ampeg PF50T in almost every situation, I thought about selling the peg but they are more 2nd hand now than i paid for mine so i think it might appreciate fairly well, plus it's a fantastic amp and a lot of fun to play through
To the OP
Unless you're in the studio recording I think the Noble is gonna be overkill, as others said you can get yourself the stomp and something like the Sushi Box finally. V2 WBIM which is a fantastic tube DI pedal (other pedals are available, in affiliated, just a very satisfied customer ) and costs 1/5 of the Nobel, but they are different things, and pair something like that or/and a tube pre-amp with the HXS and that will create a fantastic realistic sounding in a live mix rig that is very versatile.
IMA presets rock and are worth the investment!
.Don’t know if anyone mentioned it but the Kahn VTDI is cheaper than the Noble and sounds great. I used one with an HX Stomp for a while. Then I bought a Helix floor and pretty much just use that. Really, a Stomp will pretty much get any tone you need on its own.
I have yet to hear anything that sounds as good as the Noble does for me. I don’t even like to practice without it.
Same, I have both. The stomp has the Noble Sim now. For the money, I like the sushi box stuff too. I kind of want one for portability throw in my bag when I don’t want to haul my board with the noble. Building my son’s pedalboard after we build his bass and may go that route.
I ordered the Noble and got a HX Stomp while it was on sale! I’ll see if I will use both when I get the Noble.
Consider the Neural Quad Cortex or Nano Cortex. There are several captures of the Noble and tons of other tube gear (and non tube gear). I’ve shared several tube preamp captures to the neural cloud.
This is exactly what I was going to say. I use the Sushi Box Neptunium and an HX Stomp. Sounds amazing! Add in the HX Stomp provided Noble patch and you have a magical best of both worlds sound.
