Subway+ Bass DI-Preamp II

[DJ Bebop]

Yes, this should work fine. I assume you mean WD effects send, which is a line level output.

Yes that is what I meant! Effects out rather than line out. I was using the term line out because of the line level output. But yes Effect Send

 

[DJ Bebop]

I am not shure this is going to work.

I would try this:

WD tuner into subway Pre+
Pre+ preamp out into A/B switcher A
WD effect send to A/B switcher B (this is a signal after the WD preamp)
A/B switcher out into effect return of the WD


A jack plug into the effects return switches off the connection between the WD preamp and the power amp.

Edit: I just ordered a A/B switch that will arrive tomorrow. I let you know if it works with my Subway Preamp + Mk I.

It is the same thing I was saying only I said line out rather than effects send from the WD. We are saying the same thing

 

[DJ Bebop]

I have an OG Subway Pre DI+ that I picked up used, but at this new price for the Mk II, it's tempting to pick up a backup. I may be one of the few who might miss the second XLR output. My usual way of using the DI+ live has been to run one XLR output to the Amp In connection on a Quilter BB800 (which is XLR) and reserve the other XLR out for the house. But from the sound of it, a TRS-to-XLR connection from the balanced 1/4" Mesa output to the Quilter amp input would work just as well, in which case I could just use the Mk II the same way, with a different cable.

I think gustobassman was doing something similar with his reggae setup. Running both a post EQ send from one and a pre EQ send from the other to FOH. Then balance the two, the straight bass signal mixed with post EQ. He called it his bi-amping I think

 

[agedhorse]

I have an OG Subway Pre DI+ that I picked up used, but at this new price for the Mk II, it's tempting to pick up a backup. I may be one of the few who might miss the second XLR output. My usual way of using the DI+ live has been to run one XLR output to the Amp In connection on a Quilter BB800 (which is XLR) and reserve the other XLR out for the house. But from the sound of it, a TRS-to-XLR connection from the balanced 1/4" Mesa output to the Quilter amp input would work just as well, in which case I could just use the Mk II the same way, with a different cable.

Correct, 1/4” TRS to XLR male into the Quilter’s XLR input is what I would recommend.

 

[Hamrlik]

This looks a well thought out and super useful tool. Even if you're not looking for a "Mesa sound" this thing checks a lot of boxes. Plus at this price point it's well ahead of many other available preamp pedals in what is now an overly saturated market. I may have to snag one at some point after the initial AHHHHH!-factor wears off.

 

[DustyBottom]

Got a chance to play around a bit, twiddling knobs, swapping pedals and trying the aux input to bypass the d350, headphones, etc. Everything works as advertised. Really liking where it is currently sitting and looking forward to the extra “tweakability” the subway pedal offers!

The only minor complaint, and I mean minor, is that the knobs move extremely easy. Had my bass cable lay across it while I was adjusting other things and I had a new sound I was not expecting until I realized what happened. Leaving everything at noon for now since I am just starting this journey but something to keep in mind for those on the move…

 

[73_Blazer]

The MKII is made in China, that’s the big cost saver. All parts are the same, designed and overseen by the old horse himself. There’s a whole discussion on it in the Amps section. Personally I don’t really care much where it’s made, as long as there is no exploitation involved. I will get this pedal as soon as I can get it.

All the parts are probably made overseas anyway so who cares who or where it's screwed together

 

[GTHintz]

This is good stuff! I appreciate the comparisons. I use both modes of the tone hammer depending on the gig. If drums are involved, I turn AGS on. The baked in HPF/LPF keeps me centered in the mix. I don’t shy away from boosting gain and turning the EQ knobs. For my bands, a thick, gritty low end fits. Both Aguilar and Tech21 do it well, without adding mud to the mix.

In the long ago, I gravitated towards Trace Elliot and SWR amps for their very punchy clean sounds. I’m thinking this approach to bass sounds is probably closer to what I’ll get with the Subway.

I’ve never tried trace. I’ve tried ampeg, fender, gk, Hartke, basson, swr as far as I remember with amps. I would say that you’ll get certain overtones and musical mids that you wouldn’t get with swr. At least the ones I’ve tried. The lows seem to get more rumble and the highs get more glassy type treble than on the mesa. The mesa has a little bit higher frequency lows and lower frequency highs that create a thicker richer punchier tone while swr was great for feeling the bass hit your chest and adding crunchy high end but I couldn’t get the mids where I liked them. The mesa seems to love mids but the cut and boost are powerful enough to really alter it. You can get fieldy from korn or you can get les claypool thanks to how wide of a boost and cut. But I think the main thing is mesa isn’t as glassy unless you really push the highs whereas swr was naturally glassy. Kinda like the solid state gk stuff but the gk has much more midrange presence you can dial in. I actually sold my swr because I wanted more versatile sound options and the mesa seems to deliver.

 

[agedhorse]

All the parts are probably made overseas anyway so who cares who or where it's screwed together

Actually, we care a lot about how well they are assembled and tested. By choosing the highest quality assembly facility, we have no problem continuing the same 3 year warranty that we have always offered on our pedals (in North America, because each region has their own warranty laws and regulations).

 

[GTHintz]

Actually, we care a lot about how well they are assembled and tested. By choosing the highest quality assembly facility, we have no problem continuing the same 3 year warranty that we have always offered on our pedals (in North America, because each region has their own warranty laws and regulations).

We know it’s all down to epa regulations and taxes that really drives the outsourcing of manufacturing but we in the west have outsourced so much already that as long as the product is quality and worth the price it’s just how it is. I prefer to pay Californians in Petaluma to build things over the Chinese but that’s the business culture we have now. That topic is for political forums. Lol main thing is this is going to get mesa in the hands of people who couldn’t afford the previous version so I’m all for it.

 

[agedhorse]

We know it’s all down to epa regulations and taxes that really drives the outsourcing of manufacturing but we in the west have outsourced so much already that as long as the product is quality and worth the price it’s just how it is. I prefer to pay Californians in Petaluma to build things over the Chinese but that’s the business culture we have now. That topic is for political forums. Lol

Actually, a big part of it is that most of the parts come from that region and are available in production quantities within a very short period of time without needing to process the import paperwork (custom forms, clearing fees, duty, tariffs, processing fees, shipping fees) for a large number of individual parts from a number of component manufacturers. It's also a very high level of automation, including fully computerized performance testing of every single unit in both PCB form and finished form. In our case, it has nothing to do with the EPA or taxes.

This also frees up our US resources so that we can build our Petaluma built amps and cabinets with shorter lead times.

 

[GTHintz]

We know it’s all down to epa regulations and taxes that really drives the outsourcing of manufacturing but we in the west have outsourced so much already that as long as the product is quality and worth the price it’s just how it is. I prefer to pay Californians in Petaluma to build things over the Chinese but that’s the business culture we have now. That topic is for political forums. Lol

Actually, a big part of it is that most of the parts come from that region and are available in production quantities within a very short period of time without needing to process the import paperwork (custom forms, clearing fees, duty, tariffs, processing fees, shipping fees) for a large number of individual parts from a number of component manufacturers. It's also a very high level of automation, including fully computerized performance testing of every single unit in both PCB form and finished form. In our case, it has nothing to do with the EPA or taxes.

This also frees up our US resources so that we can build our Petaluma built amps and cabinets with shorter lead times.

That too. It’s all supply chain and now that everyone is global it’s all part of it. You said it a bit better than I did.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Not a joke. I heard from many players (and in discussions here on TB) that the cost and size of the original Subway+ pre-DI made it a complete non-starter for them.

Because of this, we couldn’t continue to justify building them until we could find a way to solve those very significant issues. This is the result, now time will tell if it’s a success or not.

I just spent about $150 more on an Ampeg STG-DI about 3 weeks ago. I’m not a huge Ampeg fan (even though it’s a fine unit and serves the purpose on my ampless gigs), had I’d known this would have been available or was going to be available soon, I would have waited.

I also still have my perfectly functioning Eden WTDI which is not a bad unit either, as well as Digitech BR355 bass effects unit, both more than suitable for ampless gigs.

 

[GTHintz]

I just spent about $150 more on an Ampeg STG-DI about 3 weeks ago. I’m not a huge Ampeg fan (even though it’s a fine unit and serves the purpose on my ampless gigs), had I’d known this would have been available or was going to be available soon, I would have waited.

I also still have my perfectly functioning Eden WTDI which is not a bad unit either, as well as Digitech BR355 bass effects unit, both more than suitable for ampless gigs.

I have only tried the scrdi but aside from it obviously being a very ampeg sounding pedal it surprisingly has an awesome aux and headphone sound. I use one solely for the aux and headphone. I run my Mesa subway into the ampeg and that’s my headphone practice setup. I have the gen 1 subway without the built in phones and aux this new one has. If you bought the new subway you could still run it into the ampeg if you wanted. You might actually like the tone of both on at the same time. I like having the ultra lo I can switch on if I want a lot of lo end. And without it I can just bypass the ampeg circuit. Not going to lie though I think the deep switch sounds just a bit better than ultra lo but it’s just more well rounded to me. That ultra Lo rumble is perfect for certain things.

 

[73_Blazer]

Sweetwater has them. I just ordered mine. I was always curious what the Subways sound like compared to my M3 Carbine and Walkabout

 

[Dark Horse]

I LOVE my “old” Subway DI/Pre, so I won’t be needing the new one, but if it delivers like the earlier version that I have, most people who get one are going to LOVE it ! It has a beautiful tone. Fat, warm, but still has great definition and cut. Quiet output, and soundmen always love the tone coming through.

Y’all are gonna be real happy… and $200 is sounding like a STEAL on the new version….


(I’m reworking the order and adding pedals to my board, so I shot a quick pic of my Subway…

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have only tried the scrdi but aside from it obviously being a very ampeg sounding pedal it surprisingly has an awesome aux and headphone sound. I use one solely for the aux and headphone. I run my Mesa subway into the ampeg and that’s my headphone practice setup. I have the gen 1 subway without the built in phones and aux this new one has. If you bought the new subway you could still run it into the ampeg if you wanted. You might actually like the tone of both on at the same time. I like having the ultra lo I can switch on if I want a lot of lo end. And without it I can just bypass the ampeg circuit. Not going to lie though I think the deep switch sounds just a bit better than ultra lo but it’s just more well rounded to me. That ultra Lo rumble is perfect for certain things.

I have a WD-800 and have used the effects return a lot. Thanks for the info.

 

[Krakmann]

Salud!

I like this one... LIKE A LOT. Patiently waiting for it to arrive at Thomann.

 

[DJ Bebop]

@agedhorse,I don't know if this has been addressed.

I see the active/passive switch and the FX send/return have been dropped from this variant. Was that due to real estate concerns, circuit simplification, or both?

 

[agedhorse]

@agedhorse,I don't know if this has been addressed.

I see the active/passive switch and the FX send/return have been dropped from this variant. Was that due to real estate concerns, circuit simplification, or both?

A little bit of both.

The active/passive switch isn’t really necessary or as useful on this pedal because the input gain control has a wider range and the effects loop was eliminated to allow space for the aux in and headphone jacks on the back. Both are more useful functions for a greater number of players based on comments I have received.