Sushibox FX - Finally v3 vs Neptunium

[shirojiro]

I recently got a Neptunium (and a Finally v3)mainly out of curiosity.

I've been fooling around with them with various amps and headphones. I haven't used them to record, but that's probably the most likely application for me to use these preamps.

So far, they both sound great. They're quiet and add a bit of warmth, and the Finally v3 can be driven into a bit of overdrive, while the Neptunium generally stays clean. The eq of the Neptunium is musical, and they both have HPF with the one on the Finally having control over the frequency where it takes effect.

I haven't found either of them to be a game changer for me, but I need some more time with them, and I suspect they could take the place of my ever present SansAmp BDDI that I've been using for decades. I like the idea of using real tubes, and maybe having a smaller footprint. I was thinking of pairing the Neptunium and the Finally v3, or even adding a Spark boost preamp or a Smoothie compressor.

It's all for fun though, and I don't think any of it will be mind blowing, but it's nice to have options, and mixing up preamps might lead to some sounds that I might not have found with the maked in tone from the SansAmp.

 

[mikeswals]

thanks @tidbits and @meisi

certainly happy with the sound of the acb50 so will use the DI on that and see how it goes!

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I own two tube amps and one class D amp; I do not use my Finally or More with my tube amps, I leave those at home.
If I use my class D, then yes my More comes along.
When I do my weekly ampless gig, then my small pedalboard with the Finally on it is what's used.

 

[Collin Bass]

You most certainly can't go wrong choosing absolutely any sushi box pedal! I was faced with the exact same decision not too long ago as I only had limited space on the small board that I was putting together. They are both well made and fantastic andhile I prefer the look of the Neptunium, that is hardly a reason to choose a certain pedal over the other. I ended up going with the Finally V3 and I will tell you why:

1. Gain control. Excellent for dialing in that sweet, warm, just on the cusp of breakup, delicious tubey goodness! While the neptunium has bass and treble adjustment, I mean between my bass, effects pedal, amp... I have enough EQ options!

2. Variable High pass filter! Excellent for dialing in your sound to a specific room especially if you have four strings and five strings.

3. The option to send a dry signal to my amp while still sending a wet signal to front of house and the dual volume controls on each line out is excellent for still getting a great quality sound at lower volumes when practicing at home.

And who doesn't love that beautiful purple glow! What a great sounding preamp in the perfect size enclosure.

The neptunium is good but in my honest opinion I believe the Finally is just a better evolution of that pedal.

 

[Jesuguru]

You most certainly can't go wrong choosing absolutely any sushi box pedal! I was faced with the exact same decision not too long ago as I only had limited space on the small board that I was putting together. They are both well made and fantastic andhile I prefer the look of the Neptunium, that is hardly a reason to choose a certain pedal over the other. I ended up going with the Finally V3 and I will tell you why:

1. Gain control. Excellent for dialing in that sweet, warm, just on the cusp of breakup, delicious tubey goodness! While the neptunium has bass and treble adjustment, I mean between my bass, effects pedal, amp... I have enough EQ options!

2. Variable High pass filter! Excellent for dialing in your sound to a specific room especially if you have four strings and five strings.

3. The option to send a dry signal to my amp while still sending a wet signal to front of house and the dual volume controls on each line out is excellent for still getting a great quality sound at lower volumes when practicing at home.

View attachment 7322622

And who doesn't love that beautiful purple glow! What a great sounding preamp in the perfect size enclosure.

The neptunium is good but in my honest opinion I believe the Finally is just a better evolution of that pedal.

Are you sending the 1/4" out of your Finally to your amp's front end, or effects return? When I go into the front, it's plenty loud (compounding my amp's preamp), but into the return it doesn't seem to have enough gain to push a strong signal unlike my other pre's into the return.

 

[andare]

Are you sending the 1/4" out of your Finally to your amp's front end, or effects return? When I go into the front, it's plenty loud (compounding my amp's preamp), but into the return it doesn't seem to have enough gain to push a strong signal unlike my other pre's into the return.

My Finally has a 12AX7. That's definitely loud enough to drive a power amp. It's hard to make it sound subtle though. It breaks up too suddenly. I need a 5751 or a 12AT7.
So consider a tube with more gain.

 

[SteveFromBerlin]

My Finally has a 12AX7. That's definitely loud enough to drive a power amp. It's hard to make it sound subtle though. It breaks up too suddenly. I need a 5751 or a 12AT7.
So consider a tube with more gain.

I happily live with a 5751!

 

[Ritter667]

Judging effects such as these by videos generally does not work. What sounds subtle in video can be heard clearly at stage volume.

Well, I can clearly hear the difference, but suppose it is subtle.

There is also the fact that tonal differences will be felt in your fingers when playing much stronger than they are consciously heard, which then again rubs off on what you actually consciously perceive the sound/tone, this can not be conveyed in videos either.

And add YouTube compression and general poor sound quality to that.

The fact that you can even hear a subtle difference, attest that there is definitely more to it than that.

 

[BPonBass]

I love my Finally v3!

In addition to just overall sounding nice and offering options for DI and 1/4” out, the adjustable HPF was something I didn’t know I needed but makes such a huge difference when it matters.

I prefer the functionality of the Finally, so that’s what I went with… but I really like the aesthetics of the Neptunium. If Sushi releases a Finally in that dark style box I’d probably buy one for each board.

 

[thisSNsucks]

I really, really like my Finally. It’s been on my ampless gig board this whole past year. I never used the Neptunium but my Noble has been staying home since I got it.

 

[Collin Bass]

Are you sending the 1/4" out of your Finally to your amp's front end, or effects return? When I go into the front, it's plenty loud (compounding my amp's preamp), but into the return it doesn't seem to have enough gain to push a strong signal unlike my other pre's into the return.

That's odd. I typically just plug it in to the front end of the amp. Because I have the HX Stomp if I'm deciding to use my amp or cab sims then I will put it into the effects return so that it feeds directly into the power amp section of my head but I haven't had any problems whatsoever with the line level going in. I just have the stock tube that it came with, I don't remember which that is, and it can get more than loud enough for whichever input I use in my head. But I actually find I have to tone down the line level, especially if I'm using gain, just to get unity volume. What head are you using?

 

[Collin Bass]

I love my Finally v3!

In addition to just overall sounding nice and offering options for DI and 1/4” out, the adjustable HPF was something I didn’t know I needed but makes such a huge difference when it matters.

I prefer the functionality of the Finally, so that’s what I went with… but I really like the aesthetics of the Neptunium. If Sushi releases a Finally in that dark style box I’d probably buy one for each board.

I'm on spot the neptunium just because of the aesthetics! LOL very happy with my finally however. I too prefer its functionality. And I think it's a better evolution from the nobelium and neptunium, functionality, for me.

 

[BPonBass]

I'm on spot the neptunium just because of the aesthetics! LOL very happy with my finally however. I too prefer its functionality. And I think it's a better evolution from the nobelium and neptunium, functionality, for me.

I saw a post somewhere on here of a small board with an earlier iteration of the Finally in a black enclosure and it looked as sleek in the photo as I imagined it. Maybe it’ll come back around some day.

Either way, I have no desire to chase down a Noble or Neptunium because this thing just does everything it needs to.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Are you sending the 1/4" out of your Finally to your amp's front end, or effects return? When I go into the front, it's plenty loud (compounding my amp's preamp), but into the return it doesn't seem to have enough gain to push a strong signal unlike my other pre's into the return.

Is yours a FInally v3? The v1 and v2 do not have an output buffer on the 1/4" output so the output impedance might be a little high for some power amps. The output buffer helps it play nicer with some stuff that's picky about the input.

 

[Jesuguru]

Is yours a FInally v3? The v1 and v2 do not have an output buffer on the 1/4" output so the output impedance might be a little high for some power amps. The output buffer helps it play nicer with some stuff that's picky about the input.

Hi Mr. Sushi! Yes it's a v3. I love the tone, but going into the effects return of my old (but great) Nemesis (from Eden) 210 combo, it's just a little shy. Turning up the level and/or gain enough adds a bit too much noise/hiss. I'll experiment with some of my higher power heads, and may otherwise resort (happily) to using it mid-stream in my pedalboard in front of some higher-gain pre's, for the tube gain and HPF benefits.

 

[Jesuguru]

That's odd. I typically just plug it in to the front end of the amp. Because I have the HX Stomp if I'm deciding to use my amp or cab sims then I will put it into the effects return so that it feeds directly into the power amp section of my head but I haven't had any problems whatsoever with the line level going in. I just have the stock tube that it came with, I don't remember which that is, and it can get more than loud enough for whichever input I use in my head. But I actually find I have to tone down the line level, especially if I'm using gain, just to get unity volume. What head are you using?

Hey, right now it's a Nemesis 210 combo. At "only" 200 watts it's my lowest powered amp, so will experiment further. But some other higher-gain pre's don't have this issue, I would consider offloading it but I'm liking the tone (and HPF) too much.

 

[Collin Bass]

Hey, right now it's a Nemesis 210 combo. At "only" 200 watts it's my lowest powered amp, so will experiment further. But some other higher-gain pre's don't have this issue, I would consider offloading it but I'm liking the tone (and HPF) too much.

Yeah the HPF is a very nice touch and very useful! My newest head however has a HPF so I don't really use the one on the pedal too much as it is a rare occasion that I wouldn't be using my head and cab and it's much easier to tune to the room when the knob is at face level instead of at your feet. But certainly on the rare occasion that I am going ampless I love having that HPF!