The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison

[ekfritz]

<snip>... Less Claypool...</snip>

Lol! I know you're being gracious and diplomatic, but it seems your true feelings slipped out a bit!

 

[PeterH]

Lol! I know you're being gracious and diplomatic, but it seems your true feelings slipped out a bit!

His newer stuff with Claypool Lennon Delirium might be up your alley @chadhargis

 

[Low Down Brown]

You could buy the AMT if you sell me your Nuvision

Oh man....the NuVision gooooooood! It's a bummer that he stopped making it cause it's such an awesome pedal. Of course, i haven't tried the other tube pre's mentioned in this thread, so I can't compare it to any of them. But I have owned and used a lot of tube gear and the Nuvision does the tube warmth to full on tube drive as well as my SWR Interstellar Overdrive did - and even has hpf/lpf and a bitchin' Bax EQ to boot.

My board setup for our last gigs before Corona-cation:

Of course, I'm content with what I have there, but I still G.A.S for that dang Starlifter and the Edison.

 

[chadhargis]

Lol! I know you're being gracious and diplomatic, but it seems your true feelings slipped out a bit!

You can thank autocorrect I'm sure. I'd never spell Les's name wrong.

 

[John D Harris]

The first clip is normal phase and the second is reversed. Signal path is Sadowsky into Effectrode LA-1a into Grace ALiX to Audio interface to Garage Band.

Here's the EQ setting for both clips. The only difference is the position of the phase switch.

View attachment 3813023

You will not notice any difference between phase settings if nothing is in front of the ALiX but certainly interesting when there is.

I thought the 2nd half sounded slightly thicker. I suspect that in comparison the HF seems less bright, but I think if you were to scope them, the HF levels would be the same in both.
Not that big of a difference between the two overall (with some decent earbuds).
Both sound great!

 

[Lowendtech]

Here's a fun one. Can you tell the difference? How would you describe the difference between the two clips?

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Listening on an iPad and a set of Westone 20's ,the upper mids seem more pronounced in the first clip. More modern The second clip seems more of a vintage vibe and was my preference. More low middy. Almost like you switched to a P Bass. Ymmv.

 

[mostvaliant]

@scubaduba how would you say using the Oracle Into the Humboldt Bass Simplifier? I got a simplifier on the way to go into headphones and for routing. I just know you've had both at some point. Thanks!

 

[scubaduba]

Yeah, that would be crazy cool. I tried it briefly when I had my Oracle. I should probably try it with the Noble and Grace Alix I currently have on hand. I still have my Simplifier.

 

[Mr. voodoobass]

Listening on an iPad and a set of Westone 20's ,the upper mids seem more pronounced in the first clip. More modern The second clip seems more of a vintage vibe and was my preference. More low middy. Almost like you switched to a P Bass. Ymmv.

I can in all seriousness not hear any difference in that example. I don't understand what many of you hear or think you hear?

 

[PeterH]

@scubaduba Ever try a Simone?

 

[scubaduba]

@scubaduba Ever try a Simone?

No. It is one I definitely want to try.

 

[scubaduba]

I can in all seriousness not hear any difference in that example. I don't understand what many of you hear or think you hear?

Please make sure you are using good earphones that are flat or neutral, not something emphasizing bass. iPhone earphones aren't going to cut it. I suspect the clips will sound nearly identical with iPhone earphones or most earbuds.

 

[mostvaliant]

Yeah, that would be crazy cool. I tried it briefly when I had my Oracle. I should probably try it with the Noble and Grace Alix I currently have on hand. I still have my Simplifier.

I was figuring I'd do something crazy and run the Oracle and my Tone Hammer (mainly using as an OD) in some separate routing of the Simplifier. Run a Cali76 and an octave pedal before the simplifier. This may replace my Bass Interfacer.

 

[Lowendtech]

I can in all seriousness not hear any difference in that example. I don't understand what many of you hear or think you hear?

Might be all in my head. That was my impression last night. Using the same iPad and Westones now, the difference seems less than it did last night. Weird.

 

[SteveC]

I think that when dealing with the level of preamp and DI we are in this thread, the differences are going to be be very slight and open to much debate, which is fine. Describing what one hears to someone else is incredibly difficult, almost impossible I'd say. It's a fun discussion, with lots of audio clips.

In the end, everyone is going to like something different because we all hear things slightly differently. This is a great resource, but in the end you're going to have to bite the bullet, buy one (or more) and try them for yourself...or be happy with what you have as it's probably really nice. Many people on TB have gear that is far and away better than the average player.

Go play and quit chasing tone. And I can say that as I have been a tone chasing, gear flipping, sell it before I even receive it person.

 

[Mr. voodoobass]

The thing is, at first i thought i heard differences. Then listening again and again, i just can't. Still... playing the pedal, i'm sure the feel or sound could very well be different. I'm just not hearing it with my headphones.

 

[monsterthompson]

Here's a fun one. Can you tell the difference? How would you describe the difference between the two clips?

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The biggest difference I hear on my Grado 125e headphones is around 0:11 vs 0:38. The first clip sounds beefier.

 

[scubaduba]

It is subtle. The difference is in the attack and the bloom of the note. I do find the first clip (which is normal phase position) to be more round and forward. The second clip is a bit softer and the attack not as round and focused.

 

[monsterthompson]

It is subtle. The difference is in the attack and the bloom of the note. I do find the first clip (which is normal phase position) to be more round and forward. The second clip is a bit softer and the attack not as round and focused.

I'd never guess specific preamp models, but I do prefer 1 over 2. It sounds more "produced" vs "direct" between the 2. I'm guessing they feel different when playing.

 

[Ryno1330]

I think that when dealing with the level of preamp and DI we are in this thread, the differences are going to be be very slight and open to much debate, which is fine. Describing what one hears to someone else is incredibly difficult, almost impossible I'd say. It's a fun discussion, with lots of audio clips.

In the end, everyone is going to like something different because we all hear things slightly differently. This is a great resource, but in the end you're going to have to bite the bullet, buy one (or more) and try them for yourself...or be happy with what you have as it's probably really nice. Many people on TB have gear that is far and away better than the average player.

Go play and quit chasing tone. And I can say that as I have been a tone chasing, gear flipping, sell it before I even receive it person.

Agree 100%. Really if you're not just using it to play with high quality monitors solo then it comes down to feel/attack and the eq and options you want. With similar settings no one is going to tell the difference in a finished recording mix or live after FOH compresses or eqs things (other than drastic differences like a warm fat tube type vs a fast and clean SS). You grab a bunch of these units in same classes and the finished products will be affected a lot more by string type than a Grace vs Nordstrand vs Trickfish etc.

But the minutiae is why a lot of guys are here nerding out which is fun too, especially with more time on our hands!