Lowendtech
Happily trending in my own peculiar direction.
Last time you posted a bunch of clips, I spent a bunch of money. So no.
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The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison
- Thread starter chadhargis
- Start date
I was about to suggest the Effectrode LA-1A, but we're in the wrong thread for that...
Last time you posted a bunch of clips, I spent a bunch of money. So no.
He so much as mentioned liking a preamp and I drank the Kool-aid. It tastes great.
If you get a chance to try a Starlifter. It's not an onboard preamp in a pedal as you assumed earlier, but an attempt at a highend pre like the Trickfish and Grace. Thanks. Would be interested to hear a comparison with the Grace.
Yeah, I'd like to try a Starlifter sometime... but the thing is I would never actually use it due to the AC power requirement and necessary wall wart. For that reason I've stayed away from it. If anybody has one they'd let me borrow, I'd be grateful.
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
I'm still intrigued by the AMT's if they go on sale stateside someday. What did you pick up instead?
Lowendtech
Happily trending in my own peculiar direction.
The LA-1A is on my wish list too. Another evil but very good thread.
So....in the FWIW department...
One of my gigs has been Ampless for the better part of 3 years. After trying several preamp/DI's, I ended up with this configuration. The "preamp/DI" is the little Demeter Bass400J, sitting up on the tripod above the pedal board.
My prefs for the preamp/DI generally fall into two categories. First, how does the preamp stand up to traditional preamp application. Second, how does the DI feed to the board behave. I realize a lot of players will mainly evaluate the latter; because, heck, we are increasingly playing without cabs. But, I still cling to the old school back line competency. Mea culpa.
The aspect of how the DI behaves going to the board is complicated by the variables associated with downstream signal handling. What is the board, who is the FOH engineer, etc. Whole bunch of stuff you have to deal with, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. All I will say is that I prefer having a transformer on the output to decouple from the various oddball stuff that can get back to the preamp/DI; and leave it there. One reason @scubaduba 's evals on the ALiX make it sound pretty interesting.
Getting back to the more traditional side of things, I ran a couple of basses, MTD 534 and Sadowsky 4-24, through a few preamp/DI's into this rig this morning, listening for what I prefer in rig behavior. The speakers are 2 x Bergantino HD112, and the power module is the Demeter Minnie 800D.
First up was my Bass400J:
I could easily play gigs with this as backline rig and be really happy. It has that steely clear Demeter sound, which I like a lot with my basses. But, it does not quite get the same "heft" as my Demeter VTBP-201/w Minnie 800D internal retrofit. Same power section; but, there are just some things happening with the way the preamp drives the power section that the smaller and separate preamp can't quite get. Still, in the right ballpark.
Next up was the ISP Beta preamp/DI.
Note that the ISP Beta has a footprint only slightly smaller than the Demeter Bass400J. On a pedal board, it will gobble up real estate. The ISP Beta is a really cool preamp. The things I like about it are that the Clean Tone is absolutely stellar. So, yes, I could do gigs with this as backline also. I don't like the parametric mids, when I get off off their center points. They just don't respond the way I expect. I don't like any of the circuits that have stomp buttons. The compressor just squashes everything, the exciter does nothing positive, and the distortion reminds me of the Acoustic 360 distortion circuit. So, all in all, I can get some good sounds out of it when set near flat with all the effects off; but the rest of the razzle dazzle is unimpressive. Also, the 9VAC pretty much makes it an albatross on a pedal board, in terms of power supply.
Next up was the SLO MkIIIs.
This little unit is great. No stomp buttons; so, I would tend to mount it on the mic stand using a phone bracket, where I could easily make adjustments. The tone is entirely gig worthy. Similar tone flavor to the Demeter, but lacks that steely thing going on. So, kind of a bland version of the Demeter. Still perfectly great. It is so small that it easily fits into the camera bag with my In Ears. This one is a keeper, purely because it checks so many boxes.
I'll probably get around to checking the ALiX at some point, hoping that it gets somewhere close to the ISP Beta with actually useful additional circuitry. At least, it looks that way. Cheers and stay safe.
One of my gigs has been Ampless for the better part of 3 years. After trying several preamp/DI's, I ended up with this configuration. The "preamp/DI" is the little Demeter Bass400J, sitting up on the tripod above the pedal board.
My prefs for the preamp/DI generally fall into two categories. First, how does the preamp stand up to traditional preamp application. Second, how does the DI feed to the board behave. I realize a lot of players will mainly evaluate the latter; because, heck, we are increasingly playing without cabs. But, I still cling to the old school back line competency. Mea culpa.
The aspect of how the DI behaves going to the board is complicated by the variables associated with downstream signal handling. What is the board, who is the FOH engineer, etc. Whole bunch of stuff you have to deal with, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. All I will say is that I prefer having a transformer on the output to decouple from the various oddball stuff that can get back to the preamp/DI; and leave it there. One reason @scubaduba 's evals on the ALiX make it sound pretty interesting.
Getting back to the more traditional side of things, I ran a couple of basses, MTD 534 and Sadowsky 4-24, through a few preamp/DI's into this rig this morning, listening for what I prefer in rig behavior. The speakers are 2 x Bergantino HD112, and the power module is the Demeter Minnie 800D.
First up was my Bass400J:
I could easily play gigs with this as backline rig and be really happy. It has that steely clear Demeter sound, which I like a lot with my basses. But, it does not quite get the same "heft" as my Demeter VTBP-201/w Minnie 800D internal retrofit. Same power section; but, there are just some things happening with the way the preamp drives the power section that the smaller and separate preamp can't quite get. Still, in the right ballpark.
Next up was the ISP Beta preamp/DI.
Note that the ISP Beta has a footprint only slightly smaller than the Demeter Bass400J. On a pedal board, it will gobble up real estate. The ISP Beta is a really cool preamp. The things I like about it are that the Clean Tone is absolutely stellar. So, yes, I could do gigs with this as backline also. I don't like the parametric mids, when I get off off their center points. They just don't respond the way I expect. I don't like any of the circuits that have stomp buttons. The compressor just squashes everything, the exciter does nothing positive, and the distortion reminds me of the Acoustic 360 distortion circuit. So, all in all, I can get some good sounds out of it when set near flat with all the effects off; but the rest of the razzle dazzle is unimpressive. Also, the 9VAC pretty much makes it an albatross on a pedal board, in terms of power supply.
Next up was the SLO MkIIIs.
This little unit is great. No stomp buttons; so, I would tend to mount it on the mic stand using a phone bracket, where I could easily make adjustments. The tone is entirely gig worthy. Similar tone flavor to the Demeter, but lacks that steely thing going on. So, kind of a bland version of the Demeter. Still perfectly great. It is so small that it easily fits into the camera bag with my In Ears. This one is a keeper, purely because it checks so many boxes.
I'll probably get around to checking the ALiX at some point, hoping that it gets somewhere close to the ISP Beta with actually useful additional circuitry. At least, it looks that way. Cheers and stay safe.
I've went through alot of the Preamps posted on here and the Starlifter is by far the best overall for most diverse and best sounding. The power issue doesn't bother me at all as I have a T-Rex Chameleon to run it. We will see if the Noble is able to knock it off since I have the RNDI paired with it now. Both together are pretty special.
Have been loving this thread - and scuba's preamp test thread. I'm building a new pedalboard and was able to grab an Effectrode LA-1A and a very slightly used Trickfish Trilobite. The aux in and headphone outs are important for me - and the size didn't deter me. I had Mike at NYC Pedalboard build me a cool board that has room for a riser behind the LA-1A, and I have an idea that I was curious for the hive to comment on....
I've not had the chance to try an Oracle - but was curious if the effects send/return on the Trilobite would be an interesting place to hang something like an Nightowl Edison - allowing me to kick in a tubey vibe for certain basses and tunes.
Have never tried anything like that - not sure any of you have - but given the sophistication of experience here with preamps, I'm kind of hoping you guys would weigh in.... Thanks for all the great info - fun thread.
I've not had the chance to try an Oracle - but was curious if the effects send/return on the Trilobite would be an interesting place to hang something like an Nightowl Edison - allowing me to kick in a tubey vibe for certain basses and tunes.
Have never tried anything like that - not sure any of you have - but given the sophistication of experience here with preamps, I'm kind of hoping you guys would weigh in.... Thanks for all the great info - fun thread.
@jefframm The effects loop on the Trilobite is fantastic. Would certainly be worth trying the Edison in the loop. I don't have experience with the Edison but I venture a guess it would sound great set up that way.
Hmm... maybe I should try it with the Alix.
Hmm... maybe I should try it with the Alix.
Did u find u needed a comp or limiter with the fwonk? I feel like I gave up too soon on that one. Same with the Shift Line. I moved it before I really explored it.
I ended up stumbling across a Lightning Boy Audio NuVision in the TB classifieds and immediately snatched it up. I'd been wanting one of those for a while but Dr. Mike had stopped making them, so I started shopping around for other flavors. I was about to grab one of the AMT A-bass bricks when the NuVision popped up. I still want to try one of the AMT's. I looked at the website earlier just for gits and shiggles...they're out of stock but they're on sale for $165 US shipped & VAT (if I read it right). Wait list, maybe?
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Interesting that they show 4 in stock on their Reverb page: https://reverb.com/item/29830292-amt-electronics-amt-bricks-a-bass-1-channel-tube-bass-guitar-preamp-alembic
Good eye! I went to the AMT website...forgot all about good ol' Referb.
And now...back to reeeeeeeaaaaaaallllllyyyyy wanting to get my hands on an Edison and a Starlifter.
I think I have a problem...
jacoby75
Supporting Member
- Mar 11, 2010
- 5,661
- 10,716
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Mike Lull Custom Guitars, DR Strings
There was a Starlifter for $250 on Reverb. I almost pulled the trigger yesterday, but I hesitated and it's gone.
Ummmm...great Q. It's pretty easy to overdrive the FWONK. Great flanger+ vibes, but a little goes a loooong way. I can see cats wanting a comp with that one. I don't use one; but have to be careful. I use it for stuff like the bass break on Hey Ya.
Thanks for the quick reply Scuba. I checked their website and they don't have available stock so I've sent an email to see what lead time is like. I'll update here with what I hear back from them...
