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The Great Bass Preamp/DI Comparison

#4,481
In the spirit of "what could go wrong?" I plugged my Ric 4003 into my Edison pre, then into the Hilbish Sol Invictus. Very nice sounds for solo bass playing. I might try to record something later, as an example. I've been running a Duncan compressor before the Sol with good results. I thought the Edison might provide a similar dab of compression, which it did.

The breakup on the Sol is absolutely working for me, and having the two channels running in parallel allows for some nice layering of gain and EQ settings. My experience with the Sol has me looking at the Hilbish Pessimiser distortion/fuzz pedal.
 
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#4,482
... Partners in grime.

B3C140D5-F733-4C0F-BA6B-9FDDA73F6A6A.jpeg
 
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#4,484
Finally learning how great the Khan sounds. I spent some time running my P with flats>Cali CB>NuX>FDeck>Khan. I don't know how much the NuX adds to the equation other than adding the cab IR. If I have a fairly strong output from the Cali, I left the NuX off, but with the IR switch on. Which leads me to 2 points. First, I sometimes I wish the on/off switch of the NuX was a total bypass. Second, maybe all that is needed between the Cali and the Khan is a cab simulator or programmable eq. Thoughts?
Thanks
 
#4,489
Boutique vs Budget Board Showdown

In the Boutique corner...weighing in at god knows what...but it's heavy....the boutique board...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Southhampton All Things Equal Buffer
Effectrode LA-1A Compressor with matched Mullard tubes
Arkham Oracle Preamp with high gain Mullard tube
[sfx]MicroThumpinator
Rupert Neve DI
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 1
GarageBand

Powered by an Eventide Powermax (Ciocks DC-7)

And in the Budget corner...weighing in as light as a feather, fitting on a small Pedaltrain Nano board. No pedal costing more than $160 (all but one were $150 or less)...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Nightowl Edison Tube pre with whatever tube came in it
Becos Compiq Mini Compressor
[sfx]microThumpinator
Nux Preamp
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 2
GarageBand

Powered by the MXR Mini Iso Brick

The Tracks

I was feeling 70's nostalgic tonight, so I went with America's "Tin Man" which has a nice little bass line.

Both tracks were recorded simultaneously to different channels using my Bluesman Vintage passive PJ. So it's the same bass...same everything. There is no EQ or other post processing done to the tracks (other than the song track where I dramatically rolled out everything under 500hz to remove as much of the bass in the track as I could). And yes...I play a big fat clam at the end of the song and didn't feel like punching in a fix...so I left it.

Here's the clips:

Boutique Board

Budget Board

And since I know many of you like the bass only....here are the bass only tracks:

Boutique Board - Bass Only

Budget Board - Bass Only

So you can spend $1000+ on a preamp and a compressor or you can spend about $300. Can your audience tell the difference?

Pic for settings reference:
6ABB637B-CC40-4328-BA69-2D6A13CE820E.jpeg
 
Last edited:
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#4,490
chadhargis said:
Boutique vs Budget Board Showdown

In the Boutique corner...weighing in at god knows what...but it's heavy....the boutique board...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Southhampton All Things Equal Buffer
Effectrode LA-1A Compressor with matched Mullard tubes
Arkham Oracle Preamp with high gain Mullard tube
[sfx]MicroThumpinator
Rupert Neve DI
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 1
GarageBand

Powered by an Eventide Powermax (Ciocks DC-7)

And in the Budget corner...weighing in as light as a feather, fitting on a small Pedaltrain Nano board. No pedal costing more than $160 (all but one were $150 or less)...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Nightowl Edison Tube pre with whatever tube came in it
Becos Compiq Mini Compressor
[sfx]microThumpinator
Nux Preamp
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 2
GarageBand

Powered by the MXR Mini Iso Brick

The Tracks

I was feeling 70's nostalgic tonight, so I went with America's "Tin Man" which has a nice little bass line.

Both tracks were recorded simultaneously to different channels using my Bluesman Vintage passive PJ. So it's the same bass...same everything. There is no EQ or other post processing done to the tracks (other than the song track where I dramatically rolled out everything under 500hz to remove as much of the bass in the track as I could).

Here's the clips:

Boutique Board

Budget Board

And since I know many of you like the bass only....here are the bass only tracks:

Boutique Board - Bass Only

Budget Board - Bass Only

So you can spend $1000+ on a preamp and a compressor or you can spend about $300. Can your audience tell the difference?

Pic for settings reference:
View attachment 3956720
Click to expand...
Cool. Nice side by side. In the intro (with music) the budget board seems to be at a lower volume but not so much once the vocals come in. Not sure if that is me or just how it sounds with the bass track out front. The sonic differences sure don't reflect the monetary differences that's for sure.
 
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#4,491
Rocksolid said:
Cool. Nice side by side. In the intro (with music) the budget board seems to be at a lower volume but not so much once the vocals come in. Not sure if that is me or just how it sounds with the bass track out front. The sonic differences sure don't reflect the monetary differences that's for sure.
Click to expand...

The signal from the bass is split by the JHS Splitter and sent to the respective boards....so there is no difference in the volume of the note. It's just how that particular board processed the note. I can tell you that the Becos compressor has a "deep" sidechain that compresses the bass notes less than the high ones....and it's glorious!

I can't believe this thread has turned into such a huge thread with so much great info in it. I enjoy expensive gear, and I think there is a quality to it that can't be matched by lower cost gear...better pots, better jacks, better quality components....but as far as the sound goes....I even fool myself. I have actually twisted knobs on one board, only to realize that I'd muted that board and was listening to the other one.
 
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#4,492
chadhargis said:
Boutique vs Budget Board Showdown

In the Boutique corner...weighing in at god knows what...but it's heavy....the boutique board...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Southhampton All Things Equal Buffer
Effectrode LA-1A Compressor with matched Mullard tubes
Arkham Oracle Preamp with high gain Mullard tube
[sfx]MicroThumpinator
Rupert Neve DI
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 1
GarageBand

Powered by an Eventide Powermax (Ciocks DC-7)

And in the Budget corner...weighing in as light as a feather, fitting on a small Pedaltrain Nano board. No pedal costing more than $160 (all but one were $150 or less)...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Nightowl Edison Tube pre with whatever tube came in it
Becos Compiq Mini Compressor
[sfx]microThumpinator
Nux Preamp
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 2
GarageBand

Powered by the MXR Mini Iso Brick

The Tracks

I was feeling 70's nostalgic tonight, so I went with America's "Tin Man" which has a nice little bass line.

Both tracks were recorded simultaneously to different channels using my Bluesman Vintage passive PJ. So it's the same bass...same everything. There is no EQ or other post processing done to the tracks (other than the song track where I dramatically rolled out everything under 500hz to remove as much of the bass in the track as I could). And yes...I play a big fat clam at the end of the song and didn't feel like punching in a fix...so I left it.

Here's the clips:

Boutique Board

Budget Board

And since I know many of you like the bass only....here are the bass only tracks:

Boutique Board - Bass Only

Budget Board - Bass Only

So you can spend $1000+ on a preamp and a compressor or you can spend about $300. Can your audience tell the difference?

Pic for settings reference:
View attachment 3956720
Click to expand...

Nice! Your playing is great.

Through my Beyerdynamics differences are readily apparent. Which is more pleasing to your ear? Which has more fundamental and wider dynamic?

I'd be interested in hearing the tracks again minus all the buffers and thumpinator.
 
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#4,493
Further to my above post, I think I treat bass gear a bit like buying wine. There are some premium wines I will just buy because there is just no substitute for them, but other than that I'm always on the lookout for that x factor wine that I can cellar for a few years or I taste something that I think will develop into something amazing.

Likewise there are pieces of Bass gear that I just think you can get around owning while looking for great tone, like a P Bass, or Fender Super Bassman perhaps, or an LA-1A if compressors and Preamps are your thing. However I find myself less inclined to drop a bomb on something like a Tonecraft or whatever. Finding a Combo like an MXR M81, Fairfield Modele B and Becos CompIQ is a bit more rewarding to me (YMMV etc) or the LA-1A into a Particle accelerator or Barber Linden EQ. Maybe I'm a bit of a Salmon, swimming against the tide of Logic or simplicity, but I like it.
 
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#4,495
scubaduba said:
Nice! Your playing is great.

Through my Beyerdynamics differences are readily apparent. Which is more pleasing to your ear? Which has more fundamental and wider dynamic?

I'd be interested in hearing the tracks again minus all the buffers and thumpinator.
Click to expand...

The buffers are transparent. They don't have any form of tone shaping on them. Now, the microThumpinator does indeed have magic sauce in it. That's why I have one on each board. It's one of those pieces of kit that once I used it I was like....WOW! It really works as advertised and better than other HPFs I've tried.

But you are right...the boutique board has a sort of "trueness" to it. That's really the best word I can use to describe it. Like there is no processing or digital crap going on...just old school analog stuff. I think it has a much richer midrange than the budget board.
 
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#4,496
I hear y'all. The quest for tone and also the ultimate signal chain, they can and they should go on forever. And I totally agree, there's a certain amount of premium heft and detail that comes with extremely artistically built premium equipment.

I, however, am still in the honeymoon phase with my Particle Accelerator. I know Nathan knows there's pedals out there that do what he did, and on paper, "even 'better'", and of course bells & whistles are a thing, but maybe we're making out with this pedal because I hear these Olympic mkIII demos, and Noble & Smokehouse or whatever it is. Meatsmoke? They all sound killer. But I'm like, my PA sounds killer and I think I just landed on the right number of controls and the right tube sound for me.

Also I paid $135 and he custom designed my pedal, and it's tiny. Like... sits on a Pedaltrain Nano+ tiny.

Also I recorded it & the rest of my mini tone 'board thru the RNDI tonight and it's easily the best bass tone I've ever tracked. I put an Artcore hollowbody guitar thru the board to an amp, and also amazing. (The Broughton HPF does absolute wonders for hollowbody guitar btw)


The funny thing is, I know my search is done for now. But I still keep a tab open on my phone in this thread just because the subject never gets old. Haha
 
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#4,497
chadhargis said:
Boutique vs Budget Board Showdown

In the Boutique corner...weighing in at god knows what...but it's heavy....the boutique board...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Southhampton All Things Equal Buffer
Effectrode LA-1A Compressor with matched Mullard tubes
Arkham Oracle Preamp with high gain Mullard tube
[sfx]MicroThumpinator
Rupert Neve DI
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 1
GarageBand

Powered by an Eventide Powermax (Ciocks DC-7)

And in the Budget corner...weighing in as light as a feather, fitting on a small Pedaltrain Nano board. No pedal costing more than $160 (all but one were $150 or less)...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Nightowl Edison Tube pre with whatever tube came in it
Becos Compiq Mini Compressor
[sfx]microThumpinator
Nux Preamp
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 2
GarageBand

Powered by the MXR Mini Iso Brick

The Tracks

I was feeling 70's nostalgic tonight, so I went with America's "Tin Man" which has a nice little bass line.

Both tracks were recorded simultaneously to different channels using my Bluesman Vintage passive PJ. So it's the same bass...same everything. There is no EQ or other post processing done to the tracks (other than the song track where I dramatically rolled out everything under 500hz to remove as much of the bass in the track as I could). And yes...I play a big fat clam at the end of the song and didn't feel like punching in a fix...so I left it.

Here's the clips:

Boutique Board

Budget Board

And since I know many of you like the bass only....here are the bass only tracks:

Boutique Board - Bass Only

Budget Board - Bass Only

So you can spend $1000+ on a preamp and a compressor or you can spend about $300. Can your audience tell the difference?

Pic for settings reference:
View attachment 3956720
Click to expand...

Great playing and demos, thanks! To me, just listening to the bass only tracks, first time through, both sound really good, but the boutique seems just a little fuller or girthier. Of course I'm just listening thru some cr@ppy THX confuser speakers. But that's my take. Is girth worth $700? I like it, and there's nothing like a good solid and articulate bottom end.
 
Last edited:
#4,498
chadhargis said:
Boutique vs Budget Board Showdown

In the Boutique corner...weighing in at god knows what...but it's heavy....the boutique board...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Southhampton All Things Equal Buffer
Effectrode LA-1A Compressor with matched Mullard tubes
Arkham Oracle Preamp with high gain Mullard tube
[sfx]MicroThumpinator
Rupert Neve DI
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 1
GarageBand

Powered by an Eventide Powermax (Ciocks DC-7)

And in the Budget corner...weighing in as light as a feather, fitting on a small Pedaltrain Nano board. No pedal costing more than $160 (all but one were $150 or less)...

Signal path is as follows:
JHS Buffered Splitter
Nightowl Edison Tube pre with whatever tube came in it
Becos Compiq Mini Compressor
[sfx]microThumpinator
Nux Preamp
Allen & Heath Mixer - Channel 2
GarageBand

Powered by the MXR Mini Iso Brick

The Tracks

I was feeling 70's nostalgic tonight, so I went with America's "Tin Man" which has a nice little bass line.

Both tracks were recorded simultaneously to different channels using my Bluesman Vintage passive PJ. So it's the same bass...same everything. There is no EQ or other post processing done to the tracks (other than the song track where I dramatically rolled out everything under 500hz to remove as much of the bass in the track as I could). And yes...I play a big fat clam at the end of the song and didn't feel like punching in a fix...so I left it.

Here's the clips:

Boutique Board

Budget Board

And since I know many of you like the bass only....here are the bass only tracks:

Boutique Board - Bass Only

Budget Board - Bass Only

So you can spend $1000+ on a preamp and a compressor or you can spend about $300. Can your audience tell the difference?

Pic for settings reference:
View attachment 3956720
Click to expand...
Nice! You could hardly tell which one is which in a blind test.
 
#4,499
SteveC said:
They both sound good - especially "in the mix" as they say. I think solo'ed there's a difference, but not as huge as one might think.

Why am I looking at $500-$1,500 DI's??
I am keeping my LA-1A.
Click to expand...
I think the LA-1A makes any Preamp you put after it sound better. My VT Bass Deluxe, Particle Accelerator, and Joyo American Sound all did. Next IEM gig I play I'll use the MXR M81 after it to see how that goes. Once my Barber Linden EQ and YYZ arrive I'll try them also.
 
#4,500
Sometimes what sounds great solo'd isn't the best for a mix. IME leaner, flat-ish tones work the best, which is why I really like the P-15 with the 10-10-10 setting; just a little mid bump (and a HPF). Of course the fatter, scoopy tone of a Noble kills for a P bass in a Motown-type setting, etc, but, that's not for me. It's all about being heard while keeping the mix clean. Go listen to the isolated bass tracks on YT from some of your favorite songs. It's sometimes shocking how anemic the bass tones really are.
 
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