Subway+ Bass DI-Preamp II

[agedhorse]

Yeah. That’s pretty much it, exactly. Pretty impressive.

Yeah, I can't let my pro audio brethren down... out of respect for the (and our) craft.

 

[Hot Rats]

I've been playing through the new D.I. tonight and, I gotta say; history will look back on these years of Andy's time at Mesa Boogie as some of the most ingenious contributions to the bass playing community and I believe, he will be considered a pinnacle of influence and creativity for decades. I didn't think any preamp could replace my beloved Aguilar Tonehammer but after tonight's recording session with the new Subway, I've already decided the Tonehammer can go into the closet for now. This thing gave new life to my AVRI jazz with Nordstrand single coils and DDT strings tuned DGCF and, ya know, I'm ready to embrace the experience. I know I sound like a fanboy but dammit, bravo Andy.

 

[Nebadon2000]

When anything with other circuitry can get you a signal as clean and full as a Radial JDI, that's impressive in my book. Of course given all Andy's years in the pro sound and touring world, he wasn't about to deliver any DI on anything he designs that isn't top tier quality.

I can't imagine giving a Sound Engineer or recording desk a better signal than DI out from my WD

I haven't heard the Noble but give Andy the same price range budget well......

 

[Turn Em Loose]

I can't imagine giving a Sound Engineer or recording desk a better signal than DI out from my WD

I haven't heard the Noble but give Andy the same price range budget well......

I’ve had a Noble and the Grace Felix and Alix. It’s been a few years since I’ve had those (Back when I was gigging a lot more. But that’s another thread/topic.) and I had the Grace and Noble at the same time.

Even with a notoriously bad memory I can say with a confident amount of confidence and be confident confidently saying the Noble is more towards the Subway DI and the Grace products are more towards the JDI. Not earth shattering news, I know. Just throwing that out there.

For a buck ninety nine this thing does more than hold its own. The JDI, of course, has no eq options. The Noble has great, but imo, limited eq options. The Grace Felix/Alix have a ton of eq and routing options. More geared towards the acoustic player. But also sounds incredible on electric. The new Subway is a farrrrr better value for us guys in the trenches. Quality DI with lotsandlotsa eq options. Kinda like a combo of the Noble and Grace.

 

[agedhorse]

I’ve had a Noble and the Grace Felix and Alix. It’s been a few years since I’ve had those (Back when I was gigging a more. But that’s another thread/topic.) and I had the Grace and Noble at the same time.

Even with a notoriously bad memory I can say with a confident amount of confidence and be confident confidently saying the Noble is more towards the Subway DI and the Grace products are more towards the JDI. Not earth shattering news, I know. Just throwing that out there.

For a buck ninety nine this thing does more than hold its own. The JDI, of course, has no eq options. The Noble has great, but imo, limited eq options. The Grace Felix/Alix have a ton of eq and routing options. More geared towards the acoustic player. But also sounds incredible on electric. The new Subway is a farrrrr better value for us guys in the trenches. Quality DI with lotsandlotsa eq options. Kinda like a combo of the Noble and Grace.

This preamp is intended to be a premium piece but designed and built in a way that is not an elitest high dollar, low value product. Its primary goal is to be an excellent preamp, quiet, reliable and of high value. In many ways, the Gibson infrastructure and economies of scale allowed this to happen.

 

[Turn Em Loose]

This preamp is intended to be a premium piece but designed and built in a way that is not an elitest high dollar, low value product. Its primary goal is to be an excellent preamp, quiet, reliable and of high value. In many ways, the Gibson infrastructure and economies of scale allowed this to happen.

Then from my experiences you guys nailed your goal.

I haven’t been this excited and/or pleased about a piece of gear in a long time.

 

[JJR58]

This preamp is intended to be a premium piece but designed and built in a way that is not an elitest high dollar, low value product. Its primary goal is to be an excellent preamp, quiet, reliable and of high value. In many ways, the Gibson infrastructure and economies of scale allowed this to happen.

All I can sincerely say is thank you for making this preamp happen.
I remember when you started the thread asking for thoughts and suggestions on new products.
A few of us mentioned seeing this preamp produced again.
You hit a grand slam with this Andy.
I’ve always loved Mesa products.
But always favored the pre’s, not so much the power sections.
No disrespect here to your designs.
But what the Subway DI+II does tonally is extremely hard to beat.
And it works so well with my amp.
Huge kudos to you for making it happen.

 

[Nebadon2000]

In many ways, the Gibson infrastructure and economies of scale allowed this to happen.

I was going to ask if that had something to do with it's great value awhile back

But I remember Gibson got similar reaction to Made in China when it first happened

I mentioned Gibson in jest back then with a smiley face and got attacked unmercifully here from those who didn't get it

Fortunately you did understand and settled them down somewhat

 

[Kaepora]

I haven’t been this excited and/or pleased about a piece of gear in a long time.

I don't think I've had as much 'fun' with a pedal since I put a DiG on my board. Has for sure lit a fire under my ass for more playing.

3rd coffee of the morning type of question for the thread, is there/was there any clamor for a Carbine style Preamp in a Subway format? I'm taking out the M6 for a little love this afternoon.

 

[agedhorse]

I was going to ask if that had something to do with it's great value awhile back

But I remember Gibson got similar reaction to Made in China when it first happened

I mentioned Gibson in jest back then with a smiley face and got attacked unmercifully here from those who didn't get it

Fortunately you did understand and settled them down somewhat

Sometimes there is no other way to do something if we want to be accessible to everyone (not just the 1%). That’s what almost all other manufacturers have discovered, we had the choice of joining the others or simply not producing it.

In reality, for a product like this, doing it this way allows the Petaluma factory to focus on the higher end, US built products like Subway amps and cabinets. It also helps support some new projects for me too, including a new US built concept that I am working on.

 

[OldShark]

...inclding a new US built concept that I am working on.

Ah,, the new Mesa Cliffhanger...

 

[JJR58]

Out of extreme curiosity…….
I understand the function of the deep switch.
Here’s my question;
Is there a center point frequency that the bass is boosted at?
It’s one of a few things I haven’t experimented with yet.

 

[CaptainRuss]

Ah,, the new Mesa Cliffhanger...

 

[JJR58]

The more I dive into this preamp, the better it gets.
Now I get the deep switch.
I’m not a bass boost individual at all.
Usually, I’m cutting a bit, depending…..

This is one setting that I’m in love with.

 

[gustobassman]

The more I dive into this preamp, the better it gets.
Now I get the deep switch.
I’m not a bass boost individual at all.
Usually, I’m cutting a bit, depending…..

This is one setting that I’m in love with.

View attachment 7491790

One of my faves is Deep switch on, bass at about 10:00, and the HPF around 9:00-10:00- that just makes such a full and thick low mid setting. Robust and prominent without overpowering the low end.

 

[DJ Bebop]

The more I dive into this preamp, the better it gets.
Now I get the deep switch.
I’m not a bass boost individual at all.
Usually, I’m cutting a bit, depending…..

This is one setting that I’m in love with.

View attachment 7491790

I had an amp that had two mid cut points that were always on, you could only select between the two cut points but couldn't bypass them. Only by using the rotary EQ and the graph equalizer. So unless you did some heavy EQ’ing could you get anything that would cut through. This was during the Bedroom Tone is King time companies were leaning into that.

I bought my WD because it wasn't that. But then I was hearing from the brethren that the WD was too thin-sounding for some and the D800+ was the bees’ knees. With the release of thevSubway+ 2.0 based on the D+, I had to see what the talk was about.

I find that format can be deeper but that it can also be controlled. I like it for the fatness and feel it brings for my bedroom tones

Bedroom Tone

Live Tone

Best of both worlds

 

[agedhorse]

There are two things going on with the deep switch that make it usable, there is a mild boost centered around 60-70Hz (I'm going off of the top of my head as I'm not at the shop) combined with a slight lowering of the HPF. The key to this is that a little bit goes a long way. Of course, the HPF can be adjusted but that's basically what happens when you engage the deep switch

 

[JJR58]

There are two things going on with the deep switch that make it usable, there is a mild boost centered around 60-70Hz (I'm going off of the top of my head as I'm not at the shop) combined with a slight lowering of the HPF. The key to this is that a little bit goes a long way. Of course, the HPF can be adjusted but that's basically what happens when you engage the deep switch

Yes!
A little goes a long way.
The settings I posted look extreme.
But once you start fine tuning it.
Dayuuuuum!
Doesn’t take much with this pre.
Just gotta learn how to work it.

 

[JJR58]

One of my faves is Deep switch on, bass at about 10:00, and the HPF around 9:00-10:00- that just makes such a full and thick low mid setting. Robust and prominent without overpowering the low end.

Excactly!

 

[agedhorse]

Yes!
A little goes a long way.
The settings I posted look extreme.
But once you start fine tuning it.
Dayuuuuum!
Doesn’t take much with this pre.
Just gotta learn how to work it.

Yes, there is a learning curve to get the most performance out of it, but it's not that bad and once you get it figured out it's actually pretty easy. You might go back and read the owner's manual again, and you can also download the owner's manual from the Subway D-800+ as there may be some additional information that we couldn't fit into the pedal's manual.